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THE WORLD FROM THE CATHOLIC ANGLE

Vienna330 years ago the Turkish Ottoman army of 110-300 thousands, under the command of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha besieged Vienna, the strategic stronghold at the gates of Christian Europe in order to conquer the continent. After two months of siege the crew defending Vienna was preparing for combat within the city walls. In the mean time an envoy was sent to a Polish ally, king John III Sobieski to request a relief, which ended up with one of the most important battles of all times.


ViennaJohn III Sobieski was already known in Ottoman Empire as a great strategist and fierce warrior called by Ottomans the “Lion of Lechistan”. The allied forces of 27 thousands of Polish Crown forces including Polish cavalry called hussars, and Austrian and German Troops of about 33 thousands, under the command of the Polish king, reached Vienna in early September. The German and Austrian troops were given the order to attack Ottoman forces as a decoy whereas Polish forces led by Sobieski himself moved to the Vienna Forest to prepare the main attack. The battle started in the morning of 12th of September with an attack of Polish infantry which cleaned the way for hussars and gathered intelligence for the main forces. The subsequent charge of the cavalry took only half an hour to wipe Ottoman forces. The Ottomans lost about 40 thousands during the battle, comparing to about 15 hundred of allied forces. Kara Mustafa was executed by strangulation at the order of sultan of Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV. The Ottoman Empire never recovered after the battle and abandoned their plans to conquer the Christian Europe.
After the battle Sobieski, sitting in the captured Vizier’s tent, wrote two letters, one to Pope Innocent XI and the other one to king’s beloved wife, Marie. In the letter to the pope he paraphrased Julius Caesar's quote, “Veni, vidi, vici” by writing "Venimus, Vidimus, Deus vincit", “We came, we saw, God won”.
89 years later Austria along with Germany and Russia started the first partition of Poland and after another 23 years Poland disappeared from the map of Europe until 1918.
The only country which did not recognize the partitions of Poland was the Ottoman Empire.

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