344

Transylvania and Poland

[1656-60

throne. His advent in Sweden was followed by the revolt of that country under a younger and Protestant branch of the House of Vasa, and in the resultant war Poland had been stripped of her provinces on the eastern Baltic. This war was, as has been related in a previous volume, renewed in 1656, when the bellicose Charles X attacked John Casimir of Poland, who had refused to recognise the former's accession. to the Swedish throne. One of the last acts of Ferdinand III was to conclude a treaty for the defence of Poland against the dreaded power of Sweden. Leopold I inherited this alliance and did not hesitate to fulfil its obligations. The Tsar of Russia, though he was actually quarrelling with John Casimir over the Ukraine, was equally ready to oppose the Swedes. Charles X, who might have called in the Turks to help him against this coalition, appealed to a more congenial though weaker ally, the Prince of Transylvania. George Rákóczy II, who had succeeded his father in 1648, found his mountainous principality, over which both Turkish Sultan and Hungarian King claimed the suzerainty, by no means adequate to his ambition. He accepted the overtures of Sweden in the hope that, like his predecessor Stephen Báthory, he might find his way to the Polish throne. But Charles X was recalled by the news that the Danes, the inveterate enemies of Sweden, had attacked his peninsular kingdom. In his absence the combination of Poles, Russians, and Austrian troops under Montecuculi, made short work of Rákóczy, who was driven back to Transylvania. Charles X found consolation and revenge in the rapid reduction of Denmark; but, as has been related, his enemies were too many for him. After profiting by his enterprise to throw off Polish suzerainty over East Prussia, the Great Elector of Brandenburg co-operated with Montecuculi; and the English and Dutch fleets threatened to carry the allied forces into Zealand and even into Sweden itself. Louis XIV had found it necessary to threaten a diversion in western Germany in favour of his ally, when, at the critical moment, the death of Charles X brought about the pacification of the North by the treaties of Oliva (between Sweden and Poland, May 3, 1660), Copenhagen (between Sweden and Denmark, June 5, 1660), and Kardis (between Sweden and Russia, June 21, 1661).

Meanwhile, Mohammad Kiuprili had found in this war the pretext which he desired for intervention in eastern Europe. He had no reason to support the integrity of Poland or to desire the victory of the Poles; but he was determined to restore Turkish control over Transylvania, and he had reason to suspect Rákóczy of tampering with the fidelity of the rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia. On the pretext that the invasion of Poland was a breach of Rákóczy's obligations as a vassal, he decreed his deposition and ordered the Estates to choose a successor. They submissively chose Francis Redei; but Rákóczy speedily deposed his feeble rival, in the confident hope that the Turks would be too fully occupied in Crete to pay much attention to the affairs of a distant province.

1658-61]

Turkish attack on Transylvania

345

Kiuprili met this defiance by leading an overwhelming army in 1658 to co-operate with the Pasha of Buda against Transylvania. The open country was laid waste, and the population sold into slavery. The towns only saved themselves from the same fate by payment of heavy contributions. The haughty Vezir nominated Achatius Barczai Prince of Transylvania, and forced the Estates to acknowledge him. All pretence of free election was disregarded. The annual tribute was raised from 15,000 to 50,000 florins, and a large war indemnity was demanded. But Rákóczy obstinately continued the struggle against overwhelming force, and appealed to Leopold I as King of Hungary to send him assistance. The Court at Vienna was watching with growing uneasiness the treatment of Transylvania as a dependency of the Porte. But Leopold had no standing army; he was anxious to avoid a great eastern war; and Rákóczy's recent action in Poland was not yet forgiven. All that Austria would do in 1658 was to offer diplomatic remonstrances, which the Porte treated with contempt. In spite of the return of John Keményi, Rákóczy's lieutenant in the Polish war, who had been carried off into captivity by the Crimean Tartars, and in spite of assistance from the deposed Hospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia, Rákóczy's cause was hopeless. In May, 1660, he was mortally wounded in a heroic struggle against heavy odds, and a fortnight later he died at Gross wardein.

In August, after an obstinate resistance, Gross wardein was forced to surrender to the Turks. But the patriots were not yet reduced to despair. In January, 1661, John Keményi was chosen Prince of Transylvania; and soon afterwards Achatius Barczai, whose troubled reign was identified in the people's mind with humiliating submission to the oppressive invader, was put to death. Keményi renewed the appeal for help to Vienna, where, as a born Hungarian, he was more acceptable than Rákóczy had been. The appeal was supported by the Palatine and the chief nobles of Hungary, and Leopold could hardly refuse to help in the defence of his own kingdom, which was now threatened by the victorious Turks, though he was still desirous of avoiding any open declaration of war. In 1661 Montecuculi was sent into Hungary with the wholly inadequate force of 10,000 men, which were to be reinforced by Hungarian levies. This was a virtual recognition of Keményi; and the Turks replied by forcing the Estates of Transylvania to accept another nominee of their own, Michael Apaffy, the fifth holder of the perilous dignity within three years. Meanwhile Montecuculi's campaign had produced little result. His original plan of diverting the Turks from Transylvania by an attack upon Buda was overruled from Vienna, and he was ordered to effect a junction with Keményi on the Theiss in Upper Hungary. Together they advanced into Transylvania as far as Klausenburg (Kolozsvár); but the population gave them a cold welcome. The Turks refused to fight a battle, and the army was seriously weakened by disease and privation. Montecuculi, a cautious

346 Austria involved in war with the Turks

[1661-3

and methodical general, determined to retreat towards his base. Leaving a garrison in Klausenburg, and 2000 men to act with Keményi, he returned to the valley of the Theiss. During the winter Keményi nearly succeeded in surprising Apaffy at Schässburg in the Saxon region, but he was detained by artful pretence of negotiation until the arrival of a Turkish relieving force, and in the encounter which followed he was slain, whether by the enemy or by treachery was never known (January 23, 1662).

After the death of Keményi hostilities languished for a year; Mohammad Kiuprili had died in November, 1661, and the Sultan gave the vacant office to his son Ahmad Kiuprili, the ablest and most famous Turkish commander of the century. The success which had attended the father's severity enabled the son to rule with greater leniency; and for a time Europe hoped that the Porte under new guidance might abandon its aggressive policy. The Hungarians demanded the withdrawal of the German troops, whom they had called to their assistance. The Protestants clamoured for the redress of their grievances and resisted all proposals in the Diet for a reasoned plan of defence. The Austrian Ministers were so irritated by what they considered gross ingratitude that they opened negotiations with the Turks; and the Vezir was only too glad to lull suspicions while he made preparations for a campaign on a grand scale, which was intended to complete the conquest of Hungary and to carry the Crescent to the walls of Vienna. The result was a futile congress at Temesvar, and a complete neglect of military preparations on the part of Austria. In 1663 the Turks threw off all concealment, and commenced open war against the Emperor. At Adrianople Ahmad Kiuprili received the sacred standard from the hands of the Sultan, and in June he led an imposing army of over 120,000 men to Belgrade. In face of such a force it was hopeless to think of defending Transylvania. Klausenburg opened its gates to Apaffy, whose authority remained undisputed till his death. Meanwhile, the Vezir had advanced from Belgrade to Buda, whence his army threw itself like a slow but irresistible flood upon western Hungary. The Austrian Government was wholly unprepared for resistance. Leopold was ill with small-pox, and all that the Ministers could do was to send Montecuculi with some 6000 troops to "play the Croat" in face of the overwhelming enemy. Fortunately the Turks, in spite of their strength, were delayed by the necessity of capturing the various fortresses which defended the course of the Danube and its tributaries. One of these, Neuhäusel (Ursek Ujvar), offered an invaluable resistance, and it was not till September 25 that the garrison surrendered with the honours of war. Montecuculi, too weak to attempt the relief of Neuhäusel, sought to cover Pressburg and the eastern frontier of Austria by throwing himself into the long island of Schutt, formed by two channels of the Danube, where he was joined by the tardy levies of

1664]

Battle of St Gothard

347

Hungarian militia, and by the warlike Ban of Croatia, Niklas Zrinyi, whose dashing guerilla tactics were lauded by fiery patriots in contrast to the methodical procedure of the Commander-in-Chief. The strength of Montecuculi's position was never seriously tested, as Kiuprili contented himself with the capture of Neuhäusel, and retired into winter-quarters to prepare for a more energetic advance in the following year.

The news that, after the interval of a century, a Turkish army comparable to that of Solyman the Magnificent was advancing westwards under a young and capable leader, made a profound impression in Europe, and woke some faint echo of the old crusading ardour. Hungarian malcontents rallied to the House of Habsburg when they found their homes desolated by the Tartar bands, whose predatory instincts were imperfectly restrained by the discipline enforced among the regular troops of Turkey. The sluggish Diet at Ratisbon, to which Leopold appealed in person, voted a levy of money and troops from the Empire. Even Louis XIV, abandoning the selfish alliance with the Turks which his predecessors had maintained, and not unwilling to pose as the disinterested protector of a rival State, sent 4000 men under General Jean de Coligny to serve with Montecuculi. The prospect of external assistance encouraged the Austrian troops to begin the campaign instead of waiting to be attacked. The cavalry under Souches defeated and harassed the outlying forces on the right wing of the Turks, and even recovered some of the forts which had been taken in the previous year. Kiuprili was slow to commence his march, and his delay enabled the French and German auxiliaries to effect their junction with the main army. When the Turks advanced, it was seen that they kept to the southern side of the Danube, and that they were diverging from the main valley towards Styria in order to turn the defences of Pressburg. Montecuculi waited for them behind the Raab. As the Turks marched south-westwards along the right bank of the river, the Christians kept pace with them on the other side. At last, under the convent of St Gothard, Kiuprili found a convenient angle of the river at which the passage of troops could be protected by artillery placed at the two corners of the arc. Here he determined to brush away the one serious obstacle to his advance. A victory would give him unimpeded entry into the main Austrian dominions; and already the Imperial Court was preparing to abandon Vienna for greater safety in Linz. On August 1 large bodies of Janissaries were thrown across the Raab and began to fortify a position on the left bank. Montecuculi, unable to dispute the actual passage, drew up his army in three divisions. The centre was formed by the troops of the Imperial Diet, the French were on the left wing, and the Austrians and Hungarians were on the right. Their great advantage was that the Turks could only cross in detachments, and were therefore unable to make full use of their superior numbers. But the first onslaught of the infidels, delivered with the

348

Peace of Vasvar

[1664-9

confidence begotten of past victories, broke the ill-organised Germans in the centre and produced serious disorder. The Austrian right wing, however, taking the advancing Turks on the flank, gave the Germans time to rally, and the impetuous onslaught of the French completed the rout of the Janissaries, who refused quarter and were cut to pieces. Meanwhile, Turkish reinforcements had crossed the Raab in the rear, and against them Montecuculi hurled his united forces. After an obstinate conflict, the Turks were utterly broken and driven back into the river. Most of the cannon on the right bank were captured, and the projected invasion of Austria had perforce to be abandoned.

The battle of St Gothard is of supreme importance in the light of future events, because it gave the first proof that the Turks had lost their military superiority. Their courage and their obstinate fighting power were as indisputable as ever; but their arms and their tactics were those of the time of Solyman, and they had made no progress in the art of war. On the other hand, the Christian troops had profited by the lessons and experience of the Thirty Years' War. In artillery, in cavalry, and above all in the use of the pike, the supreme infantry weapon of that day, they were the masters of their opponents. The great achievement of Montecuculi foreshadowed the later victories of Charles of Lorraine and Prince Eugene. But while Europe was exulting at the disappearance of a great danger, it was astounded to learn that the victor had made a hasty and not very creditable peace. Montecuculi's army was too exhausted and too ill-united to attempt the arduous task of driving the Turks out of Hungary; and there were Ministers in Vienna who held that the continuance of the Turkish peril served a useful purpose in making Hungary dependent upon Austria. By the Treaty of Vasvar, signed on August 10, a truce for twenty years was arranged between Austria and the Turks. Apaffy was recognised as Prince of Transylvania; the free election of his successor was guaranteed, and the principality was to be evacuated both by Turkish and Austrian troops; but the Sultan's suzerainty over it was maintained. The Turks kept their most important conquests, Grosswardein and Neuhäusel; but, in compensation for the latter, the Emperor was to be allowed to build a new fortress on the Waag. Finally, a sum of 200,000 florins was to be given to the Porte. The Austrians called it a gift; but it was easy to regard it in Constantinople as a tribute. Ahmad Kiuprili, in spite of his defeat, was able to return with the credit of one who had enlarged the bounds of Turkish rule, and he set himself to maintain and enhance his reputation by bringing the long war of Candia to an end. In 1666 he took the command in person, and against his iron determination the heroic efforts of the great Venetian general, Francesco Morosini, and of the volunteers who flocked from all countries to the service of the Republic proved unavailing. In September, 1669, the defenders of Candia capitulated, and the whole island of Crete, with the exception