Capture of Belgrade (1739)

1739 recapture of the Habsburg-ruled city of Belgrade by the Ottoman Empire

This article is about 1739 siege of Belgrade. For other uses, see Siege of Belgrade.

Capture of Belgrade

Part of the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)

Signing of Treaty of Belgrade, 1739
| Date| July – 18 September 1739

|

Location|

Belgrade

44°48′N 20°28′E﻿ / ﻿44.800°N 20.467°E﻿ / 44.800; 20.467
Result|  Ottoman victory
Territorial
changes|  The Ottoman army captured Belgrade in 1739
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire|  Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
Ivaz Mehmed Pasha
Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha|  Count Wallis
Strength
Unknown|  Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  Heavy

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Russo-Austro-Turkish War (1735–1739)

* Leontiev expedition to Crimea
* Azov
* Perekop
* Lacy's campaign to Crimea
* Ochakov
* Serb Rebels
* Ostrovica
* Banja Luka
* Laba River
* Radujevac
* Krajova
* Užice
* Orșova
* Bender
* Grocka
* Belgrade
* Stavuchany

The capture of Belgrade was the recapture of Belgrade (capital of modern Serbia) by the Ottoman Empire in 1739.[1][2]

## Background

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Main article: Russo-Austrian-Turkish War (1735–1739)

According to the Treaty of Pruth signed in 1711 between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, the Russians had stipulated to stop interfering in the affairs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738), Habsburg Austria and the Russian Empire were allies. The Ottomans saw this alliance as a violation of the treaty and engaged in a war against Russia. Being an ally of Russia, the Austrians also declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1737. The Austrian army was defeated in two major battles, the Battle of Banja Luka and the Battle of Grocka, and had to fall back on Belgrade.

## Siege

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The Ottoman Empire had first captured Belgrade in 1521 (the first campaign of Suleyman I), but lost it to Eugene of Savoy of Austria in 1717 (see siege of Belgrade (1717)). The Ottomans had since then been waiting for an opportunity to regain the city. After the battle of Grocka the grand vizier Ivaz Mehmed Pasha laid siege to Belgrade (July 1739). In August, Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha (former grand vizier) joined him from the western front, a Bosnian militia also took part in the attack.[3] After a siege of 51 days Count Wallis, the Austrian commander, ordered the burning of the Danubean fleet under his command and sued for peace.[4]

## Peace talks

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Main article: Treaty of Belgrade

During the peace talks in Belgrade, Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg represented Austria, while Ottoman delegates including Mektupçu Ragıp (future grand vizier Koca Ragıp) represented the Ottoman Empire. Changing the borders caused no big problem; Austria agreed to cede territories to the Ottoman side. The major issue, however, was the future of Belgrade. The earliest Austrian offer was to keep Belgrade in return for the territories ceded to Ottoman side, which the Ottoman representatives refused. The second offer of the Austrian side was to cede Belgrade on the condition that the fortifications were to be demolished. Ivaz Mehmed Pasha also refused this offer. Negotiations broke down. Finally, Louis Sauveur Villeneuve, the French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire proposed a compromise in which only the former Ottoman fortification would be kept. Both sides agreed on the proposal and the treaty was signed on 18 September 1739.

## Aftermath

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Except for a brief occupation during the Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791) the Austrians were never able to capture Belgrade. The Ottomans kept the city up to the Serbian Uprising. Until 1878, Belgrade was a city of semi-independent Serbia under Ottoman suzerainty. Serbia gained full independence by the Treaty of Berlin (1878).

## References

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1. ^ Ćirković 2004, p. 154, 176.
2. ^ Hochedlinger 2013, p. 215-216.
3. ^ Uyar, M.; Erickson, E.J. (2009). A Military History of the Ottomans: From Osman to Atatürk. Praeger Security International. Praeger Security International/ABC-CLIO. p. 106\. ISBN 978-0-275-98876-0.
4. ^ Prof.Yaşar Yücel-Prof Ali Sevim:Türkiye tarihi IV, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, 1991, pp 20

## Sources

[edit]

* Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
* Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
* Hochedlinger, Michael (2013). Austria's Wars of Emergence: War, State and Society in the Habsburg Monarchy, 1683–1797. London & New York: Routledge.
* Kurtaran, Uğur (2018). "Ottoman-Austria border determination works and newly determined borders according to the treaty of Belgrade of 1739". Belgrade 1521-1867. Belgrade: The Institute of History. pp. 169–192.
* Oruç, Hatice (2018). "Belgrade according to the 1741 dated tahrir defter on the Smederevo sanjak". Belgrade 1521-1867. Belgrade: The Institute of History. pp. 193–257.

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* e

Major sieges involving the Ottoman Empire by century

13th-14th|

* 1285 Kulaca Hisar
* 1326 Bursa
* 1328–1331 Nicaea
* 1333–1337 Nicomedia
* 1360s Adrianople
* 1385 Sofia
* 1393 Tarnovo
* 1394–1402 Constantinople

15th|

* 1411 Constantinople
* 1422 Constantinople
* 1422–1430 Thessalonica
* 1428 Golubac
* 1440 Belgrade
* 1440–41 Novo Brdo
* 1448 Svetigrad
* 1450 Krujë
* 1453 Constantinople
* 1455 Berat
* 1456 Belgrade
* 1461 Trebizond
* 1462 Mytilene
* 1463 Jajce
* 1464 Jajce
* 1466–67 Krujë
* 1467 Krujë
* 1470 Negroponte
* 1474 Scutari
* 1477–78 Krujë
* 1478–79 Scutari
* 1480 Rhodes
* 1481 Otranto
* 1484 Chilia

16th|

* 1500 Cephalonia
* 1517 Cairo
* 1521 Belgrade
* 1522 Knin
* 1522 Rhodes
* 1529 Peñón of Algiers
* 1529 Vienna
* 1531 Diu
* 1532 Güns (Kőszeg)
* 1532 Maribor
* 1533–34 Coron
* 1534 Tunis
* 1534 Baghdad
* 1537 Klis
* 1537 Corfu
* 1538 Diu
* 1539 Castelnuovo
* 1541 Buda
* 1543 Nice
* 1543 Esztergom
* 1548 Aden
* 1548 Van
* 1551 Tripoli
* 1552 Muscat
* 1552 Hormuz
* 1552 Temesvár
* 1552 Eger
* 1556 Oran
* 1559 Bahrain
* 1563 Oran
* 1565 Malta
* 1566 Szigetvar
* 1570–71 Famagusta
* 1574 Tunis
* 1578 Gvozdansko
* 1592 Bihać
* 1593 Sisak
* 1596 Eger

17th|

* 1601 Nagykanizsa
* 1621 Khotyn
* 1603 Tabriz
* 1606 Ganja
* 1607 Shamakhi
* 1624 Baghdad
* 1625–1626 Baghdad
* 1630 Baghdad
* 1635 Erivan
* 1636 Erivan
* 1638 Baghdad
* 1663 Uyvar
* 1664 Novi Zrin
* 1648–1669 Candia
* 1672 Kamenets
* 1683 Vienna
* 1684 Buda
* 1684 Santa Maura
* 1685 Érsekújvár
* 1686 Buda
* 1686 Pécs
* 1688 Negroponte
* 1688 Belgrade
* 1690 Belgrade
* 1695 Azov
* 1696 Azov

18th|

* 1711 Brăila
* 1715 Nauplia
* 1716 Corfu
* 1716 Temeşvar
* 1717 Belgrade
* 1733 Baghdad
* 1734–35 Ganja
* 1737 Ochakov
* 1739 Belgrade
* 1788 Ochakov
* 1788 Khotin
* 1789 Belgrade
* 1789–90 Izmail
* 1799 El Arish
* 1799 Jaffa
* 1799 Acre

19th|

* 1801 Cairo
* 1806 Belgrade
* 1821 Patras
* 1821–22 Acropolis
* 1821 Tripolitsa
* 1822 Missolonghi
* 1823 Missolonghi
* 1825–26 Missolonghi
* 1826–27 Acropolis
* 1828 Kars
* 1828 Varna
* 1854 Calafat
* 1854 Silistra
* 1854–55 Sevastopol
* 1855 Kars
* 1877 Plevna

20th|

* 1912–13 Scutari
* 1912–13 Adrianople
* 1915 Van
* 1915–16 Kut
* 1916–1919 Medina

Ottoman defeats shown in italics.
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