Turkish–Venetian War (1714–1718)

Eighth Turkish–Venetian War
Part of the Turkish–Venetian Wars
Date 1714–1718 Location Peloponnese, Ionian Islands Result Ottoman victory Territorial changes Morea ceded back to Ottoman Empire
Combatants
24px Republic of Venice Kingdom of Portugal Order of Malta Papal States	24px Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Geronimo Delphino Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg	Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha

Template:Campaignbox Portuguese-Turkish War The eighth Turkish–Venetian War was fought between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire between 1714 and 1718. It was the last conflict between the two powers, and ended with an Ottoman victory and the loss of Venice's major possession in the Greek peninsula, the Peloponnese (Morea). Venice was saved from worse by the intervention of Austria in 1716 (Austro–Turkish War of 1716–18). The Austrian victories led to the signing of the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, which ended the war.

Background

For more details on this topic, see Morean War.

In the Great Turkish War (1684–1699) the Ottoman Empire was forced to make several territorial concessions to Austria and Venice, including the Morea peninsula. The Ottomans were determined to reverse these losses, and Venice, as the weaker of the two, was chosen as the first target. The time was judged as ripe in 1714: the Ottomans had just emerged from a successful conflict with Russia and Austria was embroiled in the War of the Spanish Succession.

The Ottoman conquest of the Morea

The Ottomans declared war on 9 December 1714, using some transgressions of Venetian merchants as a pretext. During the early months of 1715, they assembled an army of ca. 70,000 men in Macedonia under the Grand Vizier Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha. The Grand Vizier marched south, reaching the main camp in Thebes in early June. In the meantime, the Ottoman Fleet, numbering 80 warships under Canum Hoca, had captured the last Venetian possessions in the Aegean, the islands of Tinos and Aigina.

The Venetians, who did not have any standing army and relied mainly on mercenaries, could only muster 8,000 men and 42 mostly small ships, under the command of the Captain General Geronimo Delphino. This force was not only insufficient to meet the Ottoman army in the field, but also inadequate to man the many fortifications that the Venetians had built or enhanced during the past decades. In addition, the local Greek population disliked Venetian rule, something Damad Ali exploited, by ensuring that his troops respected their safety and property. Thus he was able to count on the Greeks' good will, who provided his troops with ample provisions, while the Venetians, who hoped to recruit a militia amongst the native population, were left isolated in their forts.

On 25 June, the Ottoman army crossed the Isthmus of Corinth and entered the Peloponnese. The citadel of Acrocorinth, which controlled the passage to the peninsula, surrendered after a brief siege, on terms of safe passage for the garrison and the civilians. However, some Janissaries, eager for plunder, disobeyed Damat Ali's orders and entered the citadel. A large part of the garrison, including the provedditore Giacomo Minoto, and most of the civilians were massacred or sold to slavery. Only 180 Venetians were saved and transported to Corfu. These tragic events later inspired Lord Byron's poem The Siege of Corinth.

After Corinth, the Ottomans advanced against Nafplion (Napoli di Romagna), the main base of Venetian power in the Morea. Nafplion was well-protected by several strong forts and had a garrison of 2,000 men. However, on 20 July, after only 9 days of siege, the Ottomans exploded a mine under the bastions of Palamidi and successfully stormed the fort. The Venetian defenders panicked and retreated, leading to a general collapse of the defence.

The Ottomans then advanced to the southwest, where the forts of Navarino and Koroni were abandoned by the Venetians, who gathered their remaining forces at Methoni (Modon). However, being denied effective support from the sea by Delfino's reluctance to endanger his fleet by engaging the Ottoman navy, the fort capitulated. The remaining Venetian strongholds, including the last remaining outposts on Crete (Spinalonga and Souda), likewise capitulated in exchange for safe departure. Within a hundred days, the entire Peloponnese had been re-taken by the Ottomans.

The Siege of Corfu

City plan of Corfu in 1688, depicting its fortifications

After their success in the Morea, the Ottomans moved against the Venetian-held Ionian Islands. They occupied the island of Lefkada (Santa Maura), which the Venetians had taken in 1684, and the fort of Butrinto opposite the city of Corfu. On 8 July 1716, an Ottoman army of 33,000 men landed on Corfu, the most important of the Ionian islands. Despite an indecisive naval battle on the same day, the Ottoman land army continued its disembarkation and advanced towards the city of Corfu. On 19 July, after capturing the outlying forts of Mantouki, Garitsa, Avrami and of the Saviour, the siege began. The defence was led by Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, who had roughly 8,000 men at his command. The extensive fortifications and the determination of the defenders withstood several assaults. After a great storm on 9 August—which the defenders attributed to the intervention of Corfu's patron saint, Saint Spyridon—caused great casualties among the besiegers, the siege was broken off on 11 August and the last Ottoman forces withdrew on 20 August.

Austrian intervention and conclusion of the war

In the meantime, with Pope Clement XI providing financial support and France guaranteeing Austrian possessions in Italy, Austria felt ready to intervene. On 13 April 1716, Emperor Charles VI renewed his alliance with Venice, whereupon the Ottomans declared war on Austria. The Austrian threat forced the Ottomans to direct their forces away from the remaining Venetian possessions, but the Serenissima was too weak to mount any counter-offensive. Only naval actions between the Venetian and Ottoman fleets took place in the Aegean Sea, such as the Action of 12 June 1717 and the Battle of Matapan a month later, but these were generally indecisive and did not affect the outcome of the war. With the Austrian victories at the Battle of Petrovaradin and the Siege of Belgrade, however, the Ottomans were forced to sign the Treaty of Passarowitz, where they lost significant territories to Austria, but maintained their conquests against Venice in the Peloponnese and Crete.

Sources

• History of the Hellenic Nation, Vol. XI, Ekdotiki Athinon 1975
• Finlay, George (1856). The History of Greece under Othoman and Venetian Domination. London: William Blackwood and Sons. 
• Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1991). Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 0871691922. 

de:Venezianisch-Österreichischer Türkenkrieg vec:Otava guera turco-venexiana

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