The 1st Siege of Vienna. In 1529 the Ottoman Empire made a determined effort to capture Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire. The failure to take it marked the end of Turk expansion into Europe and was followed by the diversion of Ottoman effort toward Asia & the Med.

This battle would pit Ferdinand I of the Hapsburg Austrian Empire, against Süleyman the Magnificent & his expanding Ottoman Empire.

After the defeat of the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohacs, the Ottoman Empire and Austria were brought into direct contact along a border across Hungary. In 1529, Suleiman launched a campaign against Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand I with an army of more than 100,000.

Suleiman’s advance from the Black Sea, which began in May, was arduous because the weather had been particularly wet, with many lives lost due to the spread of illnesses through the soaked ranks of the sultan’s army.

Most heavy artillery that would have been vital had to be abandoned when it became stuck in mud. Suleiman reached Vienna with his army greatly weakened. Ottoman attempts to mine the walls were hampered by a counterattack, & more rains in October dampened much of the gunpowder.

Attack after attack was repulsed by the defenders, who picked off the Ottoman troops with arquebuses from the high walls and forced back those who scaled the walls by using long pikes. In late October, Suleiman ordered one last all-out assault, but this was also repulsed.

Suleiman then ordered a retreat of his battered army, which turned into a disastrous ordeal as winter snows came early causing many deaths and loss of the remaining artillery.

Defeat at Vienna forced Suleiman back into Ottoman Hungary and, after a second failure to take Vienna in 1532, he abandoned thoughts of conquering Europe.

Losses: Austrian, unknown; Ottoman, 16,000 of 100,000, thousands more died in the retreat.

This would be yet another climactic battle between East &West, the Ottoman defeat in the first siege of vienna effectively halted their progress into Europe. From this point on they would advance no further than this, truly humbling Süleyman the Magnificent.