Suleiman takes Vienna; where do the Ottomans go in the future?

Elfwine

Thespitron 6000 said:
Mostly the second. I'm saying that it is, in many respects, a tired subject that verges on cliche, and every time someone mentions it, the equivalent of angels in the AH.com cosmology are rewarded for their tireless efforts in instilling hope that the HRE might be centralized in the hearts of all those with less than optimal understanding of the internal workings of the Empire (i.e., everybody). :D

And I include myself in that last bit. "The Holy Roman Empire: God's Own Clusterfuck".
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It might have made sense in the 13th and 14th century (and earlier).

But by Vienna . . . God's Own Clusterfuck indeed.

IMO, centralization - at least in any recognizable form to what we see in other countries that made it - died with the Staufen, or at best Albert I.

Later efforts are going to be a political mess as the "byzantine" workings require less a strong Emperor and more one able to manipulate a disorderly system.
 

Emperor Julian

Right at the beginning of the Reformation, could a defeat like this to the Catholic Hapsburgs lead to Protestant states withdrawing from the Holy Roman Empire (perhaps in their own union), destroying the organization?
 

The Sandman

Banned
If Vienna is taken and Hapsburg power crushed, my guess is that Ottoman expansion still stops there for a while at the least. Any other target of real value is even further away, and Hungary is newly conquered and still needs pacification. So probably a ransom for Vienna, as well as a disavowal of any Hapsburg claims to the throne of Hungary, and then Suleiman turns his attentions to the most logical foe for the Ottomans at that point: Venice. Crete and the Peleponnese were still in Venetian hands at this point, IIRC, and Venice didn't exactly have many friends to call upon in the 1530s. So Suleiman leaves underlings to do the boring but necessary work of organizing the new Hungarian provinces and heads south.

The Hapsburgs, of course, are in serious trouble. The Austrian branch, at any rate; the Spanish one is probably unaffected by the fall of Vienna and the likely pillaging of the surrounding area.

Bohemia becomes much more important to the Austrian Hapsburgs, since neither Prague nor its hinterland has just been conquered and looted.

The French and the Protestant German princes are publicly denouncing the Turk in the strongest possible terms, and privately praying that the Ottomans get in a few more good blows against their least favorite people on the planet. Expect the private opinions to be far more relevant in terms of what if anything either of those parties will actually do after Vienna goes down.
 
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