| Battle of Olaschin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Great Turkish War and Ottoman-Habsburg wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Holy League: | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Augustus II the Strong | Sultan Mustafa II | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 38,000[1] | 60,000[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| >3000[1] | 4000 [1] | ||||||
The battle of Olaschin (also Olasch or Olas) or battle at Bega river was an indecisive engagement between between an army of the holy roman empire under the command of Augustus II the Strong and an Ottoman army lead by sultan Mustafa II.
Background edit
In second half of the 1680s the Holy Roman Empire inflicted a series of severe defeats on the Ottoman armies and conquered almost all Hungary. Troops of the empire moved even South of the Danube capturing Belgrad and Niš. In 1688 the Holy Roman Empire got involved in the Nine Years' War and had to move some of its troop to the west. The Ottomans appointed more capable military leaders and managed to reconquer Belgrad and Niš in the following years. Petrovaradin and the Hungarian areas north of the Danube however remained under imperial control. The early 1690s saw some fighting along the border areas at the Danube and in Transylvania favouring the imperial troops for the most part, but the Ottomans managed to maintain their stronghold in Temesvar. In 1695 Augustus II took over the command of the imperial troops in Hungary, while the young Mustafa II ascended to the Ottoman throne. The energetic Mustafa decided to lead the armies himself. He marched his army into Transylvania and captured and plundered the cities of Lipova, Lugoj and Sebeş. Near Lugos he also defeated imperial under Veterani, which did not receive the expected reinforcements from the main army under the command of Augustus II.
Campaign in 1696 and the battle at Beda river edit
Aftermath edit
References edit
- Tony Sharp:Pleasure and ambition: the life, loves and wars of Augustus the Strong, 1670-1707. I. B. Tauris 2001, ISBN 9781860646195, p. 125, 279 (restricted online copy, p. 125, at Google Books)
- Johann Sporschil: Geschichte der Deutschen von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf unsere Tage. Band 3, Georg Joseph Manz Verlag, Regensburg 1859, S. 585 (online copy (German), p. 585, at Google Books)
- Mustafa II. In Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder, Gerda Bartl: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas. Band 3, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag 1979, ISBN 9783486489910, p. 266-268 (restricted online copy (German), p. 266, at Google Books)
- Johann N. Preyer: Monographie der königlichen Freistadt Temesvar. Rösch 1853, p. 45-47 (online copy (German), p. 45, at Google Books)
- Johann Mailath: Gedrängte Geschichte des östreichischen Kaiserstaates bis auf die neueste Zeit: Zum Gebrauche für Realschulen und Gymnasien. Mayer & Co 1858, p.135-136 (online copy (German), p. 135, at Google Books)
- Thomas Benfield Harbottle: Dictionary of Battles from the Earliest Date to the Present Time. BiblioBazaar 2009, ISBN 9781110057788, p. 30 (restricted online copy, p. 30, at Google Books)
Notes edit
- ^ a b c d e Tony Sharp:Pleasure and ambition: the life, loves and wars of Augustus the Strong, 1670-1707. I. B. Tauris 2001, ISBN 9781860646195, p. 125, 279 (restricted online copy, p. 125, at Google Books)