A Breathing Space for Vienna? The 1677 Ottoman Invasion of Ukraine and its Impact on Hungary and the Habsburg Empire
Journal: Austrian History Yearbook
Year: 2025

Abstract The 1677 invasion of Ukraine got the Ottoman Empire embroiled in war with Russia. Scholarship on the 1683 siege of Vienna rarely mentions the Ukrainian campaign although it significantly weakened Ottoman military capacities and may have saved Vienna. This article examines how the Porte’s decision to invade Ukraine came about. The sultan’s grandiose imperial visions and false intelligence of Russian military strength were key factors. Easy victory was expected and the original plan to se