Siege of Belgrade

Overview

The siege of Belgrade was the capture by the Habsburg forces under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy of the strategically-important city of Belgrade from the Ottoman Empire. It took place during the Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718), barely a year after the Habsburg victory at the Battle of Petrovaradin (Peterwardein). The Imperial Army routed the Ottoman relief army under Grand Vizier Hacı Halil Pasha on 16 August. As a consequence, the Belgrade garrison, deprived of relief, surrendered to Habsburg forces on 21 August. Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III sued for peace, resulting in the Treaty of Passarowitz a year later, which completed the transfer of the remainder of Hungary, the Banat of Temeswar with lower Syrmia, and the city of Belgrade with central Serbia into Habsburg hands.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Siege of Belgrade, conducted from 18 June 1717 during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718, pitted a Habsburg force of 100,000 under Eugene of Savoy and supporting commanders including Alexander von Württemberg, János Pálffy, Antoniotto Adorno, Count von Mercy, and the Marquis de Maffei against an Ottoman army of 210,000 under Hacı Halil Pasha. The disparity in force sizes — with the Ottomans fielding more than twice the Habsburg strength — made the engagement one of the most asymmetric confrontations of the war. Habsburg casualties of 30,000 against Ottoman losses of 20,000 reflect the heavy toll the operation exacted on the besieging force despite its ultimate place within a campaign that ended with the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, under which the Habsburg monarchy secured significant territorial gains at Ottoman expense. The siege represented a central effort by Eugene of Savoy to extend Habsburg control over the Balkans during the final phase of the war, and its outcome contributed to the broader reshaping of the Ottoman–Habsburg frontier that the 1718 peace settlement formalized.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (7)