The Turkish army assaulted Austria twice during the 16th century, advancing as far as Vienna in 1529 and 1532 but failing to take the city. The most famous siege of Vienna took place in 1529, when the 20,000 soldiers in the city were outnumbered by Turkish forces 10 to one. Ironically the sultan was foiled by the huge number of troops because his source of supply was too far away to support such a large encampment. The siege was lifted by a combination of brilliant defensive fighting within the city and the threat that Imperial forces would be sent to aid the Austrians.
In 1555 Philip II, king of Spain (1527-98), became the duke of Burgundy, which controlled the Netherlands at the time. Desiring to live in Spain, he appointed his half sister, Margaret of Parma (1522-86), as regent. Philip also assigned Jesuits to the Netherlands to fight Protestantism and establish the Inquisition. Beginning in 1567, the provinces rebelled and Philip’s response was relentless. Led by William of Orange (1533-84), the Protestant forces took Holland and Zeeland. In 1576, however, marauding Spanish troops attacked the city of Antwerp in what has been called the “Spanish fury,”
Warfare
Murdering thousands and destroying entire neighborhoods. The fighting became very fierce during the 1580s, as England and France entered the war to assist the United Provinces. For France, this action was a continuation of the Habsburg-Valois hostilities discussed earlier. Although a truce declared in 1609 gave the Dutch colonial rights in the West Indies, a treaty was never completed. These hostilities led to the Thirty Years War, the most violent in Europe’s history until the 20th century.
World History
