After Suleiman the Magnificent’s death in 1566, his successors, starting with Selim II, posed less of a direct threat to Europe. Selim’s reign was notable for the Ottoman victory in Cyprus, but otherwise marked a weakening military focus. By the time Murad III assumed power, the Ottomans were plagued by internal issues, facing substantial resistance in Europe, including the Habsburgs in Austria. This shift would set the stage for a series of conflicts that, although ferocious, gradually tipped the balance away from Ottoman expansion and toward an Austrian resurgence.
Early Conflicts: Battle of Sisak and Renewed Warfare
In the 1590s, under the reign of Mehmed III, the Ottomans attempted to regain their footing against European forces but encountered substantial obstacles. The Austrians had technological and tactical advancements that the Ottomans struggled to match. In the Battle of Sisak in 1593, for example, Habsburg forces defeated Ottoman raiders, marking a shift in power dynamics in Croatia. Enraged, the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha led 13,000 Janissaries into Hungarian territories, but ultimately, the Ottomans achieved little more than temporary footholds, constrained by logistical challenges and internal discord.
The Long War and Christian Resistance
The period known as the “Long Turkish War” or “Thirteen Years' War” (1593–1606) brought Austria and its Christian allies into prolonged conflict with the Ottomans. A Christian coalition, bolstered by former Ottoman vassal states like Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania, managed to reclaim numerous forts along the Danube River, with Wallachia’s Prince Michael the Brave capturing strategic Ottoman forts and threatening Ottoman territory as far south as Adrianople. Despite initial Ottoman victories, these battles drained the empire, whose leaders faced continuous challenges both on the front and within the Janissary corps.
At the Battle of Keresztes in 1596, the Ottomans momentarily regained control by overwhelming an Austrian relief force, but inefficiency and discontent among Ottoman soldiers—most notably the elite Janissaries—ultimately undermined the Ottomans’ ability to capitalize on victories. These encounters underscored the vulnerability of Ottoman positions in Hungary and established a precedent of repeated Austrian resistance that would weaken Ottoman control over the ensuing decades.