Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to Western CIV Episode three hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty one. And the Ottomans. Of course, it should go
Speaker 1: without saying that one of the most pressing external threats
Speaker 1: on the Holy Roman Empire in the Habsburg Lands were
Speaker 1: the Ottomans. The Turks were one of those ever present
Speaker 1: threats that tended to wax and weigh in importance depending
Speaker 1: on how aggressive the present sultan was in the present
Speaker 1: state of the Empire and or Austria in general. As
Speaker 1: we have already seen, different Catholic and Protestant kingdoms had
Speaker 1: no issue allying themselves with the Islamic Ottoman state, felt
Speaker 1: that doing so gave them an advantage. But the Ottomans
Speaker 1: were also a kind of boogeyman that the Holy Roman
Speaker 1: Emperor could point to every time they wanted to raise
Speaker 1: taxes or for some kind of unity. But the Turkish
Speaker 1: War that began in fifteen ninety three was different, and
Speaker 1: that it was so long and so costly for both
Speaker 1: sides and left the Habsburg state essentially financially and politically bankrupt.
Speaker 1: That was Emperor Rudolph, who confidently began the conflict in
Speaker 1: fifteen ninety three. The thirteen year struggle contributed to a
Speaker 1: chain of problems that kept the Ottoman Empire out of
Speaker 1: the Thirty Years War that ensured a relatively tranquil piece
Speaker 1: for Hungary. With hindsight, this was undoubtedly a benefit for
Speaker 1: the Habsburgs, since it enabled them to concentrate on the
Speaker 1: problems of the empire and their Western and Northern European emperies. However,
Speaker 1: this was by no means clear at the time, and
Speaker 1: the Turkish menace remained a constant source of anxiety. Worse,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned, the Turkish War left the Habsburgs financially bankrupt,
Speaker 1: contributing to the outbreak of renewed conflict in sixteen eighteen. Now, look,
Speaker 1: the Ottomans were the superpower of the early modern world.
Speaker 1: Their empires stretched for two point three million square kilometers
Speaker 1: across three continents. They had at least twenty two million inhabitants,
Speaker 1: well over three times the number in the Habsburg monarchy.
Speaker 1: Much of the initial impetus of the empire was lost,
Speaker 1: as we know after the death of sule Mon the
Speaker 1: Magnificent in fifteen sixty six, but it would be wrong
Speaker 1: to categorize the Ottomans in decline. They remained at the
Speaker 1: terror of Europe, associated by Protestants and Catholics alike with
Speaker 1: the scourge of gods and to punish a sinful mankind,
Speaker 1: and viewed with a kind of mixture of awe and revulsion. Now,
Speaker 1: the internal problems of the empire made the Ottomans frankly
Speaker 1: more unpredictable in their actions, aiding to an already unstable
Speaker 1: situation in Southeast Europe at the point where their empire
Speaker 1: met that of the Habsburgs and the lands of the
Speaker 1: Poles to the north. The war that broke out in
Speaker 1: fifteen ninety three was essentially a struggle between these two powers,
Speaker 1: the Habsburgs and the Ottomans. We're trying to extend influence
Speaker 1: over the intervening region while denying access to their rivals.
Speaker 1: Here we're really talking about a couple of key areas.
Speaker 1: We're in the Balkans. We're talking about Serbia, Transylvania, Hungary.
Speaker 1: To an extent, Hungary was already split into Habsburg and
Speaker 1: Ottoman spheres of influence. The Emperor controlled the north and
Speaker 1: southwest along with Croatia, while the Sultan commanded the central
Speaker 1: area and the southeast. Neither side had a clear position
Speaker 1: in the region. The to the east of Hungary, which
Speaker 1: was split into four principalities, all of which were nominally
Speaker 1: at least under the control of the Turks, but pursuing
Speaker 1: varying degrees of autonomy. The area along the northern shores
Speaker 1: of the Black Sea belonged to the Crimean Tartars, the
Speaker 1: long descendants of Djengis Khan. These had paid tribute to
Speaker 1: the Ottomans since the later fifteenth century. They provided useful
Speaker 1: auxiliaries for the Turkish armies, but they were largely left alone,
Speaker 1: mostly because they served as a key buffer between the
Speaker 1: Ottomans and the Russian Czar as we know. Further to
Speaker 1: the northeast, the three Christian principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia and
Speaker 1: Transylvania lay to the north and west of the Tartars.
Speaker 1: They likewise paid tribute but were or open to influence
Speaker 1: by Poland and Austria. The Poles wanted access to the
Speaker 1: Black Sea and pushed into the area between Moldovia and
Speaker 1: the Crimea. Polish influence grew pronounced in Moldovia during the
Speaker 1: fifteen nineties, and they also worked within the internal and
Speaker 1: domestic politics of Transylvania and Willachia. Of the three principal
Speaker 1: and peripheral territories, Transylvania is by far the most significant
Speaker 1: to our story. Transylvania had been a part of Hungary
Speaker 1: until the fifteen forties. It was composed of four major
Speaker 1: and several minor communities. Transylvania was an impoverished region. Over
Speaker 1: half of its territory was blanketed in forest, and only
Speaker 1: about a fifth of its total land was under cultivation.
Speaker 2: In an era when.
Speaker 1: Economic success was still driven by agriculture, those were bad
Speaker 1: places to start. Each of its communities was effectively an island,
Speaker 1: cut off from the others because of said forests and
Speaker 1: no shortage of mountains. As a result, it was impossible
Speaker 1: for Transylvania to maintain a Western style standing army. But
Speaker 1: Transylvania's terrain also made it extremely difficult to conquer. As
Speaker 1: a consequence, both the Habsburgs and the Ottomans looked on
Speaker 1: the region as a potential buffer zone, though in reality
Speaker 1: they wanted nothing more than to add it to their
Speaker 1: respective empires. Now, from the Habsburg perspective, this was all
Speaker 1: about defense, at least for the moment. To keep the
Speaker 1: Ottomans at bay, the Habsburg essentially turned their Hungarian borders
Speaker 1: and their periphery states into a militarized defensive zone. I
Speaker 1: mean that this was about a forty mile deep swath
Speaker 1: of territory that ran the entire border between the Hungarian
Speaker 1: and Ottoman states. The heart of the defense were twelve
Speaker 1: major and one hundred and thirty minor fortifications. By the
Speaker 1: fifteen seventies, these posts were manned by no less than
Speaker 1: twenty two thousand men who formed permanent garrisons. However, because
Speaker 1: of financial constraints, the Habsburgs often had to rely on
Speaker 1: local magnates to keep their defensive border in some form
Speaker 1: of fighting shape. Now, before we go on to the
Speaker 1: Turkish war itself, however, I want to spend a little
Speaker 1: time breaking down early seventeenth century warfare so we can
Speaker 1: understand how the coming conflict is going to be fought.
Speaker 1: A long Turkish War saw the largest mobilization of troops
Speaker 1: in the history of the Holy Roman Empire and really
Speaker 1: the habsburg Lands at least since fifteen sixty eight. It
Speaker 1: was the opportunity for many soldiers to gain experience of
Speaker 1: major operations prior to sixteen eighteen. In that way, it
Speaker 1: functioned a lot like the US Mexican War and the
Speaker 1: lead up to the American Civil War. It was an
Speaker 1: opportunity for many generals to try out new techniques and frankly,
Speaker 1: to learn a lot about how warfare had changed. The
Speaker 1: list of Rudolph's officers reads like a roll call of
Speaker 1: senior generals of the first half of the Thirty Years War.
Speaker 1: If we look at it. There were Germans, Austrians, but
Speaker 1: there were also Italians and some Spaniards who participated in
Speaker 1: the Turkish War and were also going to play major
Speaker 1: roles to come in the Third Years War. The presence
Speaker 1: of some of these outside figures has been largely overlooked
Speaker 1: by military historians who concentrate on warfare and Western Europe
Speaker 1: and underestimate the impact of the Turkish campaigns on subsequent developments.
Speaker 1: This Western focus is kind of embedded in this concept
Speaker 1: of what we call the military revolution, which has been
Speaker 1: an accepted way of viewing early modern warfare. The proponents
Speaker 1: of this approach stress Spain and the Dutch, as we've
Speaker 1: talked about already in Sweden, as sort of the leading
Speaker 1: stars of these new ways of fighting during the sixteenth century.
Speaker 1: These are new ways that rely on gunpowder, weaponry wielded
Speaker 1: by large disciplined units. Innovations and tactics and strategy allegedly
Speaker 1: made warfare more decisive, as well as increasing its scale
Speaker 1: and impact, and state and economy developments you could fit
Speaker 1: into sequence with one power replacing another as the most
Speaker 1: efficient war maker. Beginning, we have the Spanish, whose predominance
Speaker 1: gets shaken first by the Dutch, who develop a more
Speaker 1: flexible military system, and then later on Sweden, which improves
Speaker 1: upon than, of course, financially, which France is going to
Speaker 1: perfect in the later seventeenth century. There's been little attention
Speaker 1: paid to the Imperial forces during the Thirty Years War
Speaker 1: because they're often perceived to have clung to the obsolete
Speaker 1: Spanish system of the past that is associated with essentially
Speaker 1: positional warfare. In fact, Spanish ways of fighting often proved
Speaker 1: successful and were in constant evolution rather than being static.
Speaker 1: Methods that were developed from the fifteen seventies to deal
Speaker 1: with the Dutch were also very effective against the Turks,
Speaker 1: who likewise frequently evaded battle and sheltered behind fortifications. However,
Speaker 1: the Hungarian theater of war encouraged its own practices that
Speaker 1: influenced how armies would fight later on in Germany, so
Speaker 1: it's more appropriate I think if we take a step
Speaker 1: back and we look at a macro level of fighting
Speaker 1: in the Holy Roman Empire in this era as really
Speaker 1: a combination of a bunch of different styles, rather than
Speaker 1: as a one size fits all approach. The Spanish style
Speaker 1: developed following the Real Military Revolution in the sense of
Speaker 1: a largely technologically driven change in warfare. This is the
Speaker 1: time period between fourteen seventy and fifteen twenty that really
Speaker 1: saw the widespread adoption of handheld firearms by both cavalry
Speaker 1: and infantry, and their combination with new shock tactics by
Speaker 1: large discipline bodies of troops. These developments, in turn, sprang
Speaker 1: from changes in metallurgy and gunpowder milling that made firearms
Speaker 1: truly effective for the first time in Europe. Relatively rapid
Speaker 1: improvements followed in both handguns and cannon that forced commanders
Speaker 1: to re think their use of these weapons. Guns and
Speaker 1: artillery were deployed on a larger scale in battle, and
Speaker 1: were combined with existing weapons in new offensive and defensive tactics.
Speaker 1: The pace of technological change slowed from the mid sixteenth century,
Speaker 1: by which time all basic weapons had appeared, while further
Speaker 1: developments were restricted by manufacturing problems. For example, cannon production
Speaker 1: lagged considerably behind ballistic theory because gun foundries were unable
Speaker 1: to deliver pieces that matched the potential that mathematicians had calculated.
Speaker 1: It proved difficult to bore a straight tube in a
Speaker 1: solid barrel before the mid seventeenth century. Instead, the canons
Speaker 1: that we're going to see used iron rod coated with clay,
Speaker 1: horsehair and manure. That bore was covered with a mixture
Speaker 1: of molten copper, tin, lead, and brass, and the mold
Speaker 1: would form essentially a bronze barrel. The core was then
Speaker 1: removed and a drill used to finish the to the
Speaker 1: required caliber and a method that was time consuming and
Speaker 1: by no means reliable. There was amazing variety of heavy guns,
Speaker 1: but they essentially fell into two types. There were cannons.
Speaker 1: These are short barreled, thin walled pieces, firing round shot,
Speaker 1: usually between about twenty five to seventy five pounds. They
Speaker 1: were used mostly to attack fortifications. These guns were extremely
Speaker 1: heavy and were required more than ten horses or more
Speaker 1: to move them into position. Then there were the so
Speaker 1: called culverins. These were long barreled thicker, tubed weapons. These
Speaker 1: were safer to use and had greater range and accuracy.
Speaker 1: They had stronger barrels that required more metal, making them
Speaker 1: generally twice as heavy as cannons firing shots of equivalent weight.
Speaker 1: These tended to be used for six to twelve pound
Speaker 1: cannon balls. They were produced in smaller pieces, and they
Speaker 1: could be pulled into position by as few as two horses.
Speaker 1: These guns were supplemented for siege work by mortars, which
Speaker 1: were short, stubby guns that could fire shot in a large,
Speaker 1: overarching ballistic fashion. Beginning in the seventeenth century, fire and
Speaker 1: arms started to diverge into cavalry pistols and muskets for
Speaker 1: infantry men. Muskets were around four feet long in the
Speaker 1: seventeenth century and had a firing range of around two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty yards. The effective range of a shot
Speaker 1: which it would do actual damage, however, was less than
Speaker 1: half of that. There were heavier weapons with a longer range,
Speaker 1: but those generally required some sort of stand to hold it,
Speaker 1: which of course limited mobility. Muskets typically used newer flint
Speaker 1: locks to fire, while hand goods or pistols used mechanical
Speaker 1: wheel locks. Contemporary drill books convey a false image that
Speaker 1: it elect abate sequence of hand, arm and body movements
Speaker 1: were all necessary to load and fire a musket. In fact,
Speaker 1: the carefully itemized movements reflected the prevailing scientific concern to
Speaker 1: fix and understand human movement rather than an actual practice.
Speaker 1: The most complicated maneuver was the countermarch, intended to provide
Speaker 1: continuous fire during an advance or a retreat. Each rank
Speaker 1: had to fire in turn. Those who had just discharged
Speaker 1: their weapons remained stationary to reload, while the next line
Speaker 1: stepped through the gaps in each man to take his turn.
Speaker 2: By the time the last line had.
Speaker 1: Fired, those who had shot first would have reloaded and
Speaker 1: could move forward. This was modified around fifteen ninety five
Speaker 1: so that men stood in blocks of five, peeling off
Speaker 1: as their group went right or left once they had fired,
Speaker 1: so as to reduce the number of gaps required in
Speaker 1: the line. Arquebuses and lighter muskets took around a minute
Speaker 1: to load, require bring fewer ranks to maintain confinuous fire
Speaker 1: than heavier muskets that needed up to three minutes to reload.
Speaker 1: The Dutch practiced the retiring counter march enabling them to
Speaker 1: fire while avoiding contact with the approaching enemy.
Speaker 2: Well trained, motivated.
Speaker 1: Troops could cover up to forty meters a minute with
Speaker 1: an advancing counter march at about half of that if retreating.
Speaker 1: The system could be also used while stationary, with each
Speaker 1: man peeling off to the rear once he had fired,
Speaker 1: and the soldier behind him stepping into his place to fire.
Speaker 1: The Dutch deployed in only ten ranks, accepting lighter firearms
Speaker 1: as a consequence, so as to keep these movements relatively simple.
Speaker 1: The Spanish preferred much deeper formations of ten two fifteen,
Speaker 1: as much as sometimes even twenty five ranks, and appeared
Speaker 1: to have let their men fire in their own time,
Speaker 1: simply ignoring those with lighter, quicker firing weapons nearer.
Speaker 2: To the front.
Speaker 1: Musketeers also carried short sores for peronnual protection, either a
Speaker 1: tuck for stabbing or a heavier weapon called a hangar
Speaker 1: for cutting. Most were of poor quality that bent or blunted,
Speaker 1: so when meles did happen, they were largely fought by
Speaker 1: simply inverting the musket and using the heavy angled stock
Speaker 1: as a club. It was considered best practice by the
Speaker 1: seventeenth century to combine musket men with pikemen to defend
Speaker 1: the formation against a charge while the musket men were
Speaker 1: reloading the formation when the pikes were presented, would quite frankly,
Speaker 1: have looked not much different than Alexander the Great's phalanx
Speaker 1: about nineteen hundred years earlier. The seventeenth century is also
Speaker 1: when we see armies develop uniforms for the first time.
Speaker 1: The Swedes are usually given credit for that innovation, though
Speaker 1: it appears that Germans were using uniforms prior to sixteen eighteen.
Speaker 1: When the Thirty Years War erupted, two states effectively set
Speaker 1: the standard for formation and tactics heading into our conflict,
Speaker 1: the Spanish and the Dutch. The large square formation that
Speaker 1: became known as the tercero, after the term used by
Speaker 1: the Spanish for their infantry formations. The thinner, longer Dutch
Speaker 1: formation became known as the battalion. It's become historical convention
Speaker 1: to see the Dutch formation as inherently superior to the Spanish,
Speaker 1: not the least because of its association with firearms that
Speaker 1: have appeared to later generations as more obviously advanced than
Speaker 1: Pike's weapons, of course, first used by the ancient Greeks.
Speaker 1: This distinction is not accurate, nor does it correspond to
Speaker 1: sixteenth century military thinking that drew directly on the ancient
Speaker 1: world for its inspiration. The deeper block formation offered better
Speaker 1: all around fighting ability than the thinner Dutch lines, where
Speaker 1: each unit relied on its neighbor standing firm or its
Speaker 1: vulnerable flanks would be exposed if the.
Speaker 2: Enemy broke through.
Speaker 1: Though only the first five ranks of their tersero could
Speaker 1: fire at any one time, the presence of another ten
Speaker 1: or more men behind stiffened the resolve of those in
Speaker 1: the front, or at least it made it a lot
Speaker 1: harder for them to run away.
Speaker 2: The unit assumed a.
Speaker 1: More imposing presence on the battlefield, something that was a
Speaker 1: considerable advantage as it bore down on a foe that
Speaker 1: might be wavering in their morale. In an age of
Speaker 1: black powder, the battlefield was soon filled with smoke, making
Speaker 1: it extremely difficult for commanders to see what was happening.
Speaker 1: It was easier to lose control of long, thin lines
Speaker 1: composed of smaller but more numerous battalions than a deployment
Speaker 1: of fewer, larger terseros. These could be positioned in echelon
Speaker 1: which means they're diagonally positioned in sort of a checkerboard
Speaker 1: fashion about two hundred meters apart. If one became detached
Speaker 1: or separated, it was big enough that it could just
Speaker 1: fight on its own until it was rescued.
Speaker 2: Now by fifteen.
Speaker 1: Ninety, cavalry had evolved into five distinct types in an
Speaker 1: effort to address the different tactical rolls of shock, firepower,
Speaker 1: and reconnaissance. Shock tactics exploited the physical and psychological impact
Speaker 1: of a charge by heavily armored and armed horsemen riding
Speaker 1: large horses. Cavalry mounts were around sixteen hands that's how
Speaker 1: you measure a horse high, weighing up to almost four
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty pounds, and could gallop at nearly thirty
Speaker 1: five miles per hour, though the way to the rider
Speaker 1: meant that those attacks were delivered at a much much
Speaker 1: slower pace than that. Horses were conditioned by being exercised
Speaker 1: and field full of blazing straw and heaps of rotting
Speaker 1: meat to get them used to the sites and smells
Speaker 1: of the battlefield. They were also trained to kick and
Speaker 1: maneuver in formation at various gates. As a result of
Speaker 1: changing tactics. Two types of heavy cavalry evolved. One was
Speaker 1: the lancer, which is kind of what it sounds like.
Speaker 1: These were quasi armored, knight like fighters who carried heavy
Speaker 1: steel tipped wooden lances capable of executing the kind of
Speaker 1: charge that heavy cavalry had been doing for centuries.
Speaker 2: The other type was the curisser.
Speaker 1: These armored riders were identical to lancers, but used long
Speaker 1: slashing swords instead. Both types carried pistols. These were now
Speaker 1: becoming just as revolutionary to cavalry as muskets were to infantry.
Speaker 1: German cavalry troops had developed the carricle tactic as early
Speaker 1: as the fifteen thirties. For this, successive ranks would trot
Speaker 1: within range, fire and then ride back to reload, sacrificing
Speaker 1: the psychological impact of shock tactics to the accumulation of
Speaker 1: figher power. The carricle was less tiring on horses and
Speaker 1: required less resolve from soldiers than a charge, since men
Speaker 1: did not need to close with the opponents. Even men
Speaker 1: trained to charge home with cold steel would often panic
Speaker 1: and break off their attack about ten meters from their targets,
Speaker 1: quote bouncing back to their starting positions. According to one
Speaker 1: source end quote. This explains why contemporary accounts speak of
Speaker 1: repeated charges by the same unit in battle. The desire
Speaker 1: to improve mounted firepower led to a third type of
Speaker 1: I guess we call medium power cavalrymen called the caribiner
Speaker 1: or arquebuser, equipped with a large arquebus or caribbeine within
Speaker 1: greater range and penetrating power than the kystol. These generally
Speaker 1: were less armor, usually no more than a helmet, may
Speaker 1: be a breastplate to coat, boots and gauntlets. They rode
Speaker 1: smaller horses, which were cheaper to raise. They carried two
Speaker 1: pistols and a sword as well, so they could be
Speaker 1: used with shock tactics, and consequently gradually replaced more expensive
Speaker 1: curisers and lancers. By about sixteen thirty. Many regiments were
Speaker 1: composed of a mix of curissers and arquebussers into the
Speaker 1: sixteen twenties, with the former deployed in the front ranks
Speaker 1: if the unit made a charge. The fourth type of
Speaker 1: cavalry was a form of mounted infantry called dragoons, who
Speaker 1: rode light horses or ponies and generally lacked any armor,
Speaker 1: including the high boots that were difficult to walk in.
Speaker 1: Dragoons were a mix of pikemen and shot, using their
Speaker 1: mounts for rapid movements to stiffen scouting parties, to support infantry.
Speaker 1: Skirmishers sent forward to secure key positions or occasionally to
Speaker 1: turn the enemy flank. The last type was often employed
Speaker 1: on similar tasks, but remained mounted to fight. These light
Speaker 1: cavalry were most numerous in the Hungarian, Polish and Transylvanian armies.
Speaker 1: Then where there were the last groups that I want
Speaker 1: to briefly mention, and those are the Cossacks. Cossacks were
Speaker 1: an ethnic group centered around what is today southern Poland
Speaker 1: and Ukraine. They were light armored and carried lances. Cossacks
Speaker 1: made up around one fifth of all imperial cavalry. While
Speaker 1: they do not play a large role in the Thirty
Speaker 1: Years War, they will play an increasingly important role in
Speaker 1: our Eastern European story going forward. So I wanted to
Speaker 1: mention them now. Now, the primary unit of military organization
Speaker 1: for both infantry and cavalry was the regiment. The regiment
Speaker 1: was made up of companies, and in the Empire these
Speaker 1: were still called banners, a holdover from the old medieval period.
Speaker 1: Companies were organized based on recruiting needs, not around tactics
Speaker 1: or strategy. Captains were contracted by local rulers to raise
Speaker 1: companies based on the needs of the region. These companies
Speaker 1: then formed together larger regiments. Interestingly, the military hierarchy of
Speaker 1: the twenty first century was relatively in place already by
Speaker 1: the year sixteen hundred. There were generals, colonels, captains, lieutenants
Speaker 1: of various kinds, and majors. Now, colonels and captains did
Speaker 1: most of the heavy lifting because they did most of
Speaker 1: the recruiting. Spanish and Imperial colonels recruited regiments of around
Speaker 1: two to three thousand infantry and maybe a thousand horse.
Speaker 1: From there, these groups would be broken down in different
Speaker 1: amounts based upon tactical considerations. Battles hacked sought to combine
Speaker 1: the three main military arms, cannon, musketers, and then of cavalry.
Speaker 1: Battles generally opened with a cannonade at under a thousand paces,
Speaker 1: while skirmishers went forward to probe and test the enemy position.
Speaker 1: These moves bought time for the rest of troops to
Speaker 1: assemble and could be used simply to delay an enemy
Speaker 1: while the army made good an escape. The preference for
Speaker 1: large infantry formations kept up deployment relatively varied, since these
Speaker 1: could be interspersed with artillery and cavalry in different patterns
Speaker 1: according to the terrain and the commander's intentions. Dutch style
Speaker 1: firing tactics became increasingly influential, and so the infantry tended
Speaker 1: to be massed in the center in one or more
Speaker 1: continuous line, with only narrow gaps between each battalion to
Speaker 1: prevent enemy cavalry from striking the vulnerable flanks. Second and
Speaker 1: subsequent lines were kept usually between let's say, about one
Speaker 1: hundred or three hundred yards behind the first. If there
Speaker 1: were any closer, they risked shooting their comrades in the back,
Speaker 1: but any further back it would be too far away
Speaker 1: to assist in the event of a crisis. This linear
Speaker 1: tactic encouraged commanders to place their cavalry on the wings
Speaker 1: of the infantry lines, in a manner that became standard
Speaker 1: in later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Full adoption of linear
Speaker 1: tactics was inhibited by doubts about the relative merits of
Speaker 1: firepower over the old charge, and of course, by the
Speaker 1: conditions in Eastern Europe were the Turks and others employed
Speaker 1: more flexible, enveloping tactics, using large numbers of light troops.
Speaker 1: Imperial generals operating in Hungary relied on earthworks or wagons
Speaker 1: and other movable defenses to protect their foot soldiers. Generally,
Speaker 1: each of the three arms fought against its mirror counterpart.
Speaker 1: The artillery sought to take out the enemy heavy guns
Speaker 1: before its own troops move forward and obscured the feel
Speaker 1: of fire. The cavalry, of course, would engage the opposing horse,
Speaker 1: trying to drive them from the field and expose the
Speaker 1: flanks of the enemy foot, much as they had been
Speaker 1: doing all the way back in the era of Alexander
Speaker 1: the Great. Each side hoped that it would have sufficient
Speaker 1: artillery and cavalry left to tip the balance by the
Speaker 1: time the slower moving foot soldiers had closed within musket range.
Speaker 1: Since the combination of two or more arms was generally
Speaker 1: superior to only one as it is today, infantry could
Speaker 1: be pinned down by the threat of a cavalry attack,
Speaker 1: forcing them to remain in defensive formation while the enemy
Speaker 1: pounded them with artillery and musketry. Firepower could also be
Speaker 1: used to crack opposing formations encouraging them to make a
Speaker 1: premature attack or lose cohesion and so open them up
Speaker 1: to a charge. Generalship and tactical innovation relied on variations
Speaker 1: in this standard pattern to achieve the effective combination of
Speaker 1: three arms at an earlier stage in the engagement, thereby
Speaker 1: securing an easy and less costly victory. Now, the Turkish War,
Speaker 1: which lasted from fifteen ninety three to sixteen oh six,
Speaker 1: did not give either side the opportunity to test many
Speaker 1: new tactical developments. Most of the conflict consisted of sieges
Speaker 1: and skirmishes. The war developed because of a conflict between
Speaker 1: the ethnic Croats and the Ottomans. The Crowats rebelled and
Speaker 1: managed to score a quick victory over the nearby Ottoman garrison,
Speaker 1: which encouraged Emperor Rudolph to consider intervention. So in the end,
Speaker 1: this was a purely opportunistic war from the standpoint of
Speaker 1: the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire, which saw it
Speaker 1: as a good opportunity to steal Transylvania away from the
Speaker 1: Ottomans for good. Rudolph believed that other entities could be
Speaker 1: brought in, such as the Russians, who might support the
Speaker 1: war effort and perhaps deal a major blow to the
Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire. The Reichstag convened in fifteen ninety four and
Speaker 1: voted a tax subsidy to support the war effort. Everyone
Speaker 1: was on board, but after all the effort, the result
Speaker 1: was a crushing disappointment.
Speaker 2: Some of the assistants.
Speaker 1: Proved rather meager in practice, as in the case of
Speaker 1: the Russians are who sent a huge consignment of furs
Speaker 1: that flooded the market but brought little military assistance. Worse,
Speaker 1: imperial planning was unrealistic. Talks were opened with Morocco and
Speaker 1: Persia to open additional fronts, but an embassy from Shah
Speaker 1: Abbas did not arrive until sixteen hundred, by which time
Speaker 1: it was unlikely that the emperor could win. The Sultan
Speaker 1: managed to keep between sixty to one hundred thousand men
Speaker 1: in the field and so generally was able to keep
Speaker 1: the initiative on the Ottoman side throughout. The war opened
Speaker 1: in the south, where the main Ottoman offensive made some
Speaker 1: gains at Croatian expense in fifteen ninety three, before the
Speaker 1: onset of winter forced them all to suspend operations. Thereafter,
Speaker 1: the Croatian Slovenian and Senji borders held their own. Other
Speaker 1: Ottoman assaults against both the ends of Lake Balatan were
Speaker 1: driven off, and by November fifteen ninety three, the Habsburgs
Speaker 1: made periodic counterattacks from this area, trying to seize a
Speaker 1: nearby Turkish fortress that guarded the southwestern approach to Buddha.
Speaker 1: The next Hungarian offensive hit the crucial central Hungarian sector,
Speaker 1: scoring a major success with the capture of a few
Speaker 1: major towns in fifteen ninety four, opening up the way
Speaker 1: to Vienna. Habsburg efforts concentrated on reversing or at least
Speaker 1: offsetting this blow. An Archduke Matthias managed to puncture the
Speaker 1: Ottomnan line by taking Grand and Visigrad the following year.
Speaker 1: The Sultan then retaliated by shifting the war north eastward,
Speaker 1: leading his army in person in fifteen ninety six and
Speaker 1: defeating a relief army, which was really the war's only
Speaker 1: major pitched battle. All attention now turned to three principalities, Transylvania, Wallachia,
Speaker 1: and Moldavia. These entered the war on the imperial side,
Speaker 1: defying the Sultan. Transylvania was seen as a strategically essential
Speaker 1: region to the Habsburgs. Therefore, the moment seemed opportune. The
Speaker 1: current Transylvanian prince seemed to welcome a Habsburg takeover, but
Speaker 1: the subsequent invasion of Transylvania went disastrously. There were some
Speaker 1: back and forth fighting, the Habsburgs were not ever even
Speaker 1: able to gain any serious advantage. Instead, unofficial Polish intervention
Speaker 1: made any thought of annexation obsolete. But rather than cutting
Speaker 1: their losses, the Habsburgs decided to step up operations.
Speaker 2: But all these.
Speaker 1: Efforts in Transylvania only weakened the defenses of every other
Speaker 1: military sector, and the Ottomans advanced all the way up
Speaker 1: into the central Hungarian plane in the summer of sixteen hundred.
Speaker 1: Though Archduke Matthias was able to capture a couple of
Speaker 1: key Turkish forts in sixteen oh one, this was lost
Speaker 1: the following year. Worsening financial problems prevented a coordinating defense,
Speaker 1: as parts of the Imperial army were paralyzed by mutinies
Speaker 1: as a result of not being paid. Matthias tried to
Speaker 1: revive the situation by capturing Pest in October sixteen oh two,
Speaker 1: which actually caused a brief crisis for the Ottomans, who
Speaker 1: now fit revolts in five separate provinces. Sultan Metmet died
Speaker 1: of a heart attack and was succeeded by his thirteen
Speaker 1: old son, ahm At. The First jah Abbas now seized
Speaker 1: his chance and attacked from Persia, recapturing Iserbaijan and Georgia
Speaker 1: in sixteen oh four. Faced with the war on two
Speaker 1: fronts ahm At open peace talks with the Emperor in
Speaker 1: February of sixteen oh four, but by making excessive and
Speaker 1: frankly ludicrous demands, Rudolph squandered his last chance to end
Speaker 1: the war before his own political position collapsed. Illustrating the
Speaker 1: intersection of issues that will prove important in the Thirty
Speaker 1: Years War, Rudolph undermined his own position in Transylvania by
Speaker 1: continuing to insist on a pro Catholic policy throughout habsburg Lands.
Speaker 1: All this did was make disaffected nobles in Hungary sympathetic
Speaker 1: to resistance. In Transylvania, a major Calvinist Hungarian landowner led
Speaker 1: a successful upright which managed to cut off Habsburg's supply
Speaker 1: lines to Transylvania, leaving roughly five thousand Imperial soldiers isolated
Speaker 1: by roughly January sixteen oh five. This landowner was then
Speaker 1: proclaimed the new Transylvanian Prince by the local diet that
Speaker 1: same February. The Habsburg position quickly unraveled. Ottoman troops drove
Speaker 1: north toward Hungary throughout the summer of sixteen oh four.
Speaker 1: By July, the Imperial army had yielded pest a portion
Speaker 1: of modern day Budapest, and Hungary itself teetered on the
Speaker 1: verge of collapse. Ultimately, what ended up happening here is
Speaker 1: the Hamsburgs had no choice but to try to get
Speaker 1: the Transylvanian and Hungarian nobles back firmly behind them. In
Speaker 1: order to do that, they ended up granting huge religious
Speaker 1: concessions as well as political autonomy for both Protestants and
Speaker 1: Calvinists living in the region. Luckily for the Habsburgs by
Speaker 1: this time, by the mid sixteen head about both sides,
Speaker 1: the Ottomans and the Empire were fully exhausted. The Emperor
Speaker 1: and the Sultan both desperately needed a final peace. The
Speaker 1: Emperor agreed to a final gift of two hundred thousand
Speaker 1: florins to the Ottomans, but that was an exchange for
Speaker 1: recognition of the Emperor and the Sultans as equal, and
Speaker 1: the elimination of a thirty thousand florin yearly tribute that
Speaker 1: the Habsburgs had been paying to the Ottoman Empire since
Speaker 1: fifteen forty seven. The war, though, had been devastating to
Speaker 1: imperial forces, but the peace did offer a major change
Speaker 1: in the status quo. The Habsburgs were no longer willing
Speaker 1: to see themselves as a minor player in this relationship.
Speaker 1: Coupled with the Laws of Georgia and iSER Paijan in
Speaker 1: sixteen eighteen, the outcome of the war indicated a major
Speaker 1: shift in the European balance of power away from the
Speaker 1: Ottomans and toward Europe in general. Frankly, it was Ottoman
Speaker 1: wid weakness, not Hungarian strength, which had allowed the Transylvanians
Speaker 1: to join the fight in the first place. But for
Speaker 1: the Habsburgs this is all far from great news, particularly
Speaker 1: in the short run. The weakness of the imperial state
Speaker 1: evident during the Turkish War led almost immediately to another
Speaker 1: debilitating conflict, the Brothers Quarrel. The moment the Turkish War ended,
Speaker 1: the Archdukes Rudolph and Matthias turned on each other. The
Speaker 1: immediate cause of the conflict had been the perceived poor
Speaker 1: performance of the Austrian military in the war, but the
Speaker 1: underlying cause had a lot more to do with the
Speaker 1: unresolved succession issues. Rudolph had agreed with his five brothers
Speaker 1: in April of fifteen seventy eight not to repeat the
Speaker 1: partition of fifteen sixty four that had fragmented Austrian lands.
Speaker 1: As the eldest representative of the main branch, he would
Speaker 1: retain Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, giving his brothers allowances and
Speaker 1: roles as provincial governors, pending more suitable accommodations when they
Speaker 1: can be found. Unfortunately, the spread of Protestantism throughout the
Speaker 1: Empire reduced the number of opportunities within the Imperial Church,
Speaker 1: as bishoprics fell slowly but steadily under Lutheran administration in
Speaker 1: the fifteen eighties. One of the five brothers, Wenzel, died
Speaker 1: early in September of fifteen seventy eight, which meant that
Speaker 1: there were only four brothers to be provided for. Ernest,
Speaker 1: the next eldest, appeared content with his post as governor
Speaker 1: of Austria and Hungary after fifteen seventy eight, and his
Speaker 1: death removed him entirely from the equation in fifteen ninety five. Albert,
Speaker 1: the youngest surviving brother, was in Spain after fifteen seventy one,
Speaker 1: and was eventually chosen by Philip the Second as the
Speaker 1: husband for his daughter Isabella, whom Rudolph had previously refused
Speaker 1: to marry. Though his name was invoked by a number
Speaker 1: of parties throughout these years, Albert's Spanish associations prevented him
Speaker 1: from becoming a serious contender for succession in Austria and
Speaker 1: throughout the Empire, which at this point was decisively German.
Speaker 1: A childhood illness had kept Maximilian, the middle brother, from
Speaker 1: the customary trip to Spain. He had been groomed by
Speaker 1: his mother for a career in the Imperial Church, but
Speaker 1: showed more military ambitions. A compromise was found by engineering
Speaker 1: his appointment as the Grand Master of the Old Crusading
Speaker 1: Teutonic Order in fifteen eighty five. Maximilian had by far
Speaker 1: the strongest and widest contacts among the German princes. He
Speaker 1: now emerged as the only honest broker who could act
Speaker 1: between the princes and the archdukes. Matthias probably seemed like
Speaker 1: the least likely candidate throughout all the turmoil of the
Speaker 1: early seventeenth century. He had been relatively uninterested as a
Speaker 1: prince early on in life. It was moderate, which meant
Speaker 1: that perhaps he might be able to solve the religious
Speaker 1: crisis facing the Habsburgs, But he foolishly joined the Dutch
Speaker 1: revolt in fifteen seventy seven, albeit only briefly, and that
Speaker 1: move cost him a lot of personal standing at court. Still,
Speaker 1: by sixteen hundred it was clear that Matthias was beginning
Speaker 1: to mature a little bit. Rudolph by the early sixteen
Speaker 1: hundreds was increasingly erratic in his behavior, and this condensed
Speaker 1: some of the archdukes that they had no choice but
Speaker 1: to act. The Spanish ambassador had already raised the possibility
Speaker 1: of deposing the emperor in sixteen oh three, but the
Speaker 1: Pope was reluctant to condone such a step. But the
Speaker 1: actual and abysmal performance of the imperial troops throughout the
Speaker 1: Ottoman conflict subsequent conflicts in Hungary and Transylvania convinced everyone,
Speaker 1: including the Pope, that such scruples were no longer necessary.
Speaker 1: In April of sixteen oh five, everyone agreed that Rudolph
Speaker 1: would at least be forced to hand over Hungary. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: all this did was start the dominoes falling. What ends
Speaker 1: up happening here is once Rudolph is compelled to hand
Speaker 1: over Hungary, which he does to Maximilian. As a result,
Speaker 1: what ends up transpiring is now every little territory throughout
Speaker 1: the Empire decides that it's going to throw in with
Speaker 1: one of the three brothers, Rudolph, Matthias or Maximilian. And
Speaker 1: what they start to do is they start to shop
Speaker 1: around to see what the best deal is that they
Speaker 1: can get from any one of the three brothers. Whoever
Speaker 1: is going to offer them more autonomy is the brother
Speaker 1: that they'll swear allegiance to. Rudolph is in perhaps the
Speaker 1: worst position here, as everybody seems to be fleeing from
Speaker 1: his position like rats from a sinking ship. Ultimately, it
Speaker 1: came down to the Bohemians. In the Bohemians were to
Speaker 1: go against the Emperor, he would effectively be alone. Moravia
Speaker 1: paid homage to Matthias on June twenty ninth, sixteen oh eight,
Speaker 1: in exchange for promises of religious and political liberty, and
Speaker 1: here is where we continue to see the intersection between
Speaker 1: faith and politics that will utterly plague the Habsburgs for
Speaker 1: the next half century. Then, in November of that same year,
Speaker 1: Matthias was recognized as the new King of Hungary, after
Speaker 1: again having provided ample promises of autonomy for everyone living there.
Speaker 1: Next on the list was Austria. Austria was willing to
Speaker 1: go along with Matthias as well, but only if he
Speaker 1: gran serious reforms. In the end, he agreed and conceded
Speaker 1: most of the demands, halting Catholic reform, restoring religious assurances
Speaker 1: of fifteen seventy one, and extending this by a verbal
Speaker 1: promise of free worship for all crown lands. The painstaking
Speaker 1: effort to combine Habsburg authority and Catholic conformity over the
Speaker 1: previous thirty.
Speaker 2: Years were all swept away.
Speaker 1: Though the Austrians now accepted Matthias as Archduke, he had
Speaker 1: alienated the Catholic minority, which felt utterly abandoned. With everything
Speaker 1: around Rudolph collapsing, the Bohemians decided they needed to get
Speaker 1: some guarantee of their liberties before it was too late.
Speaker 1: With Rudolph ensconced nearby, that wasn't hard. The Protestant members
Speaker 1: of the Bohemian estates literally broke into Rudolph's palace and
Speaker 1: demanded action. Some of the men gathered openly shouted, quote,
Speaker 1: this king is no good, we need.
Speaker 2: Another end quote.
Speaker 1: But on July ninth, sixteen oh nine, Rudolph capitulated, signing
Speaker 1: the famous Letter of Majesty, which granted Bohemian Protestants religious
Speaker 1: and liberties of a political nature exceeding those won by
Speaker 1: the Hungarians. In effect, this letter created a parallel system
Speaker 1: of government, specifically for the Bohemians.
Speaker 2: I bet you can guess how long that is going
Speaker 2: to last.
Speaker 1: In Salatia, the people there extracted similar concessions, as Lutherans
Speaker 1: suddenly found themselves the political equals of Catholics. The problem
Speaker 1: with this is that the Catholic princes had long been
Speaker 1: the bulwark of the Habsburg state. But with all these
Speaker 1: grants of liberty, the Catholics realized they could no longer
Speaker 1: count on the Habsburgs, and their prestige plummeted. But no
Speaker 1: major war followed. While sixteen oh eight to sixteen oh
Speaker 1: nine witnessed remarkable achievements for the Protestants of the Empire,
Speaker 1: little did they know that all they had done was
Speaker 1: so the seeds of a war that would nearly see
Speaker 1: Protestantism eliminated within.
Speaker 2: The Empire an entirety.
Speaker 1: Sixteen years of unbroken international and civil war had now
Speaker 1: left the Austrian Habsburg monarchy severely weakened. Chaos beckoned. But
Speaker 1: as you might have noticed, I just added the word
Speaker 1: Austrian in front of the word Habsburg for the first
Speaker 1: time in this episode, because of course, there were two
Speaker 1: branches to the Habsburg line. While the Austrians might be
Speaker 1: in the doldrums as we will see next week, the
Speaker 1: Spanish Habsburgs were ready and eager for the conflict to come.