Ottoman Retreat: From Vienna to the Republic

The second Ottoman siege of Vienna (July-September 1683), led by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha, came close to success before a relief coalition led by King John III Sobieski of Poland broke the siege at the Battle of Kahlenberg on 12 September 1683, the famous charge of the Polish "winged hussars" proving decisive. The defeat marked the definitive end of Ottoman expansionist ambitions in central Europe, and the subsequent "Great Turkish War" (1683-1699) cost the empire nearly all of Hungary. The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) was the first major treaty in which the Ottomans formally ceded substantial territory to Christian powers, conventionally marking the start of sustained Ottoman territorial retreat.