Morean War, Better Option for Venice?

Recently I've been reading the Great Turkish War on the Venetian part and a question came to me: Was invading Greece a sound option or were there better options to benefit Venice in the long run? They could have opted to retake Crete, attack North Africa, maybe even a ballsy landing in Judea as long as the Turks were as tied up as they were. Basically, was invading Morea a good option for Venice? Should the Venetians tried to take more of Greece, and secure a position? Or was this bound to fail with the eventually land-war with the Ottomans, and if so was there somewhere better to attack instead?
 
Well Morea was closer and wasn't that of a military focus point for Ottomans as Crete was (Venetians did try to get an hold there, it failed and Venetian strongholds in the island weren't really enough to resist the counter-attack); and eventually represented quite the important political focus for Venetians as part of a "reconquest" compared to North Africa or Judea (that, giving the distance, wouldn't have been maintainable).

Eventually, in order to reforge a Venetian hegemony in the Adriatic, it was a sound choice, even if more reduced conquests would have eventually be more maintainable on the middle run.
 
Venice conquered Morea while the Ottomans were busy losing to the Austrians.
The Ottomans were very keen to regain the territory and bided their time until they were able to retake it. Austrian intervention resulted in a victory and a screw for Venice--Austria took big gains in the north and Venice still lost Morea.

I wonder whether a merger with Austria would have done the trick for Venice improving its fortunes. Venice serves as the naval and commercial port for the Habsburg possessions (no Trieste and Pula) and in turn puts its fleet at the service of Austria.

If the Venetians could have convinced their Austrian partners of the attractiveness of Mediterranean conquests over northern ones then maybe Oltenia and Serbia could be handed back in exchange for Morea, Crete and some trading places in the Levant.
 
Venice conquered Morea while the Ottomans were busy losing to the Austrians.
The Ottomans were very keen to regain the territory and bided their time until they were able to retake it. Austrian intervention resulted in a victory and a screw for Venice--Austria took big gains in the north and Venice still lost Morea.

I wonder whether a merger with Austria would have done the trick for Venice improving its fortunes. Venice serves as the naval and commercial port for the Habsburg possessions (no Trieste and Pula) and in turn puts its fleet at the service of Austria.

If the Venetians could have convinced their Austrian partners of the attractiveness of Mediterranean conquests over northern ones then maybe Oltenia and Serbia could be handed back in exchange for Morea, Crete and some trading places in the Levant.

This was how I thought it would be. If a Great Power (Austria, Spain, ect.) can't guarantee its conquests, it's not worth taking really. Since Venice got systematically kicked out of the Eastern Mediterranean, it was probably Venice's best move to just ask for reparations and such, then eventually sell off their Greek islands to someone and put a focus on somewhere else.
 
Yes, I think it's City-State time again without the guarantees of a great power.
They need to position themselves as the southern port of choice for Central Europe. Try to co-opt Trieste. Do a good treaty with Austria like they used to with Byzantium.
 
Venice would have been subordinate to Austria's interests if it was made a part of Austria, but a simple treaty would have done well.
 
Venice would have been subordinate to Austria's interests if it was made a part of Austria, but a simple treaty would have done well.

Course eventually they did, so tic for tic.

Venice *might* be able to swap Dalamita and their Greek islands for Trieste, Littoral to link up Pola, and possibly Trentino. Austria has a port city (Split), Venice still lets them dock, Austria guarantees Venice's sovereignty.

Austria now has a greater Balkan presence to combat the Ottomans, and Venice no longer carries the burden of having to deal with the Turks.

Venice then has the opportunity to gain colonies in Africa or turn to Italy. If they can either buy or seize Milan they can get the ball rolling.
 
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