The Battle of Vienna: The ancient conflict that may have inspired 9/11
The Battle of Vienna was a disaster for the Ottoman Empire in September 1683, but may have had much more disturbing, far-reaching effects centuries later.
Image: The Battle of Vienna | Public Domain
It’s hard to overstate the era-defining significance of 11th September 2001, when two terrorist-hijacked planes were driven into New York City’s World Trade Center. The attacks claimed thousands of lives, leading the United States to launch the global ‘War on Terror’.
‘9/11’ (as the tragedy came to be colloquially known) was orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, head of the Islamic militant organisation al-Qaeda. Many aspects of the planning that went into 9/11 remain shrouded in mystery. These include why 11th September was chosen as the specific date for the attacks.
It has been suggested that al-Queda may have sought to avenge the Ottoman Empire’s military defeat at the Battle of Vienna. This conflict – dated to 11th September 1683 – halted Ottoman attempts to extend Muslim influence in Central Europe. It all leaves us at Sky HISTORY wondering – is there really credibility to theories that this failed attempt to take Vienna inspired 9/11?
The historical context in 1683
The Ottoman Empire formed in 1299 and, over the next few centuries, expanded from its core holdings straddling Southeast Europe and West Asia. The Ottoman Empire and its European neighbour, the Holy Roman Empire, each claimed to be the rightful successor of the (by then defunct) Roman Empire.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, military conflict would periodically break out between the Ottomans and the HRE. In the early 16th century, Suleiman the Magnificent made major inroads into Europe and the Mediterranean. Belgrade and Rhodes both fell into Ottoman hands in the 1520s.
This run of success came to an end with Suleiman’s aborted siege of Vienna in 1529. However, the Austrian city remained a tempting prize, the ‘Golden Apple’, the Ottomans were determined to seize. They gave it another good go in 1683, but their Christian enemies in Europe had prior warning of what was going down.
The Second Siege of Vienna
What has often been dubbed the ‘Second Siege of Vienna’ began on 14th July 1683. That’s the day when Kara Mustafa Pasha, the Ottoman Empire’s personally ambitious Grand Vizier, arrived at Vienna with an army reportedly of about 150,000 men.
In contrast, the garrison defending the city is estimated to have numbered about 12,000 soldiers. These figures suggest that the Viennese defenders were outnumbered more than ten to one. Not that you would have thought it from the length of the siege…
Despite the Ottomans cutting off major supply lines into the city, the siege turned out to be a long, hard slog. Over the next two months, the besieging army’s size is thought to have dwindled by 25% due to desertion by demoralised troops.
How the Battle of Vienna was won
In March 1683, the Holy Roman Empire had already formed a ‘Holy League’ with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One key clause of this agreement was that the Poles would come to the Habsburg monarchy’s aid if the Ottomans attacked Vienna.
Hence, the Christian army that turned up to relieve Vienna consisted of both Imperial and Polish troops. These disparate units gathered atop the Kahlenberg mountain just outside Vienna on 11th September. However, it was not until the early hours of the following day that the Battle of Vienna got underway.
If you like pub quizzes, listen out for this question: ‘The largest recorded cavalry charge occurred at which battle?’ Yes, that’s right, it’s the Battle of Vienna. The Polish king John III Sobieski led 18,000 horsemen deep into the Ottoman lines, sending the Grand Vizier’s dispirited soldiers scattering.
The Battle of Vienna’s lasting legacy
The Ottoman Empire’s military capitulation at Vienna is considered one of its most disastrous. Kara Mustafa Pasha paid the ultimate price for his part in it. On 25th December 1683, he was executed at the behest of the Ottoman sultan Mehmed IV.
The Ottoman Empire went through a protracted decline before eventually coming to an end in the 1920s. So, did al-Qaeda symbolically choose 11th September 2001 as the date for Islam’s intended ‘comeback’? There’s no solid evidence that the terrorists were inspired by the Battle of Vienna, which arguably took place on 12th September, not the 11th.
The Turks left a lot behind on the battlefield that fateful day. Did this include coffee beans? Quite possibly. Contrary to myth, however, this does not appear to have played any major part in the rise of Europe’s coffeehouse scene. Coffeehouses had already opened elsewhere in Europe, including in England and Venice.
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