Amazing as always! Hope the best for spain. may the resolve this catalonian nightmare soon
The Spanish Heir (What if Carlos II had a son?)
- Thread starter Archduke
- Start date
Spain it seems will be having quite the distraction that will prevent them from joining the war in at least a few months, likely more if the local French commanders decide to send in some few weapons. So France is lucky they can get this reprieve that further squashes any chance of Spain joining the war, at least for now.
Oh boy, the Catalans are getting uppity again… Hopefully they can be dealt with before Louis gets what he wants
The Spanish botched relations with Catalans again and again historically, but it is always funny to see them seek French support and annexation when the French boot would not only be worse but successful at crushing their identity.
But then pretty much everyone making decisions everywhere, right now is too busy worrying about the present and their inevitable glory to mind the facts, that is just how Europe works during this time period. No one really cares about the things they should care about.
But then pretty much everyone making decisions everywhere, right now is too busy worrying about the present and their inevitable glory to mind the facts, that is just how Europe works during this time period. No one really cares about the things they should care about.
That's just the thing, the nobles would've both have their local privileges respected and would've profited from being in such a important line of defense for the kingdom, sure the peasants would suffer a bit more but who cares about them? It's basically what would happen in Provence and Gascony where the local nobility is coopted into the French system while Catalonia is slowly assimilated
There are a few things to consider when it comes to Dundee's Rebellion.
Dundee himself has proved a be a good tactician and perhaps more importantly a flexible one. At the beginning he wanted the Highlanders to fight in a typical line of infantry fashion. However, quickly he realized that it would be best not to attempt such experiments and utilize the Highlander's strength as shock troops. Moreover, due to being a career officer (with a reputation for personal bravery) is a great choice to lead a Highlander host, since he is not involved in the feuds and hatreds between different clans.
The Williamite infantry is not the Hannoverian infantry of later Jacobite Revolts. They have fewer advantages. Firstly, not all of them carry flintlocks. While it was indended that every regiment raised after 1689 to be equipped with flintlocks, in reality that was not the case. Even in 1693 for every 2 flintlocks there was 1 matclock musket (source: "The Williamite Wars in Ireland"). And the english war effort during the 1693 campaign (22 battalions) was smaller than the 1690 campaigns in Ireland and Scotland. In Killiecrankie Mackay's men had matchlocks. An educated guess would have been that flintlocks and matchlocks were in similar numbers in 1690 with the best units serving in Ireland. In contrast, a lot of Highland clans had already flintlocks with the exception of the northermost clans.
Moreover, in contrast to Culloden, the 1689 armies used plugged bayonets. It takes more time to quickly plug in a bayonet and to do so after receiving a volley and have clansmen with broadswords rushing at you, well then you need lots of training to quickly react. And there is the problem with the vast majority of the english units in 1689 and 1690: they are not Regulars, but newly raised units from the militia. They severely lack training. It is worth mentioning that even in 1693, the English were still regarded by the Allied command as second-line troops in Flanders. The most well-trained formation in Britain was the Anglo-Scotch Brigade and in Killiecrankie, 1/3 of it fought and suffered grievous losses.
In OTL 1715, the Jacobites received a lot of support from the north-eastern Lowlands. It makes sense since that region was an episcopalian stronghold. Back in 1690 the Episcopalians would be stronger than in 1715. In OTL there was not much enthousiasm for joining the Jacobites, but in TTL the latter have a greater success and also an intact leadership. There is also the matter of taxes: the Scots hated the taxes imposed by Charles and James. To make matters worse, in 1690 William increased the tax burden of Scotland. With Dundee surviving and the Jacobites destroying the Cameronians, Mackay might rely on the western Presbyterians. A large armed Presbyterian army will alarm the Episcopalians. Buchan in OTL came close to a major success in raising the north-east. According to "Glencoe and the End of the Highland War":
The other political problem for Hamilton, is the "old trick". Traditionally, it was often that Scottish nobles would hedge their bets during civil wars. The lord and head of the family would join one side, while the heir would be friendly with the opponents. I could see several nobles trying to act in that manner in TTL with Dundee surviving and victorious. For example, before Killiecrankie Breadalbane was in contact with Dundee and was about to get arrested. With Dundee alive, Breadalbane either gets arrested or continues his plotting to neutralize Argyllshire.
Dundee himself has proved a be a good tactician and perhaps more importantly a flexible one. At the beginning he wanted the Highlanders to fight in a typical line of infantry fashion. However, quickly he realized that it would be best not to attempt such experiments and utilize the Highlander's strength as shock troops. Moreover, due to being a career officer (with a reputation for personal bravery) is a great choice to lead a Highlander host, since he is not involved in the feuds and hatreds between different clans.
The Williamite infantry is not the Hannoverian infantry of later Jacobite Revolts. They have fewer advantages. Firstly, not all of them carry flintlocks. While it was indended that every regiment raised after 1689 to be equipped with flintlocks, in reality that was not the case. Even in 1693 for every 2 flintlocks there was 1 matclock musket (source: "The Williamite Wars in Ireland"). And the english war effort during the 1693 campaign (22 battalions) was smaller than the 1690 campaigns in Ireland and Scotland. In Killiecrankie Mackay's men had matchlocks. An educated guess would have been that flintlocks and matchlocks were in similar numbers in 1690 with the best units serving in Ireland. In contrast, a lot of Highland clans had already flintlocks with the exception of the northermost clans.
Moreover, in contrast to Culloden, the 1689 armies used plugged bayonets. It takes more time to quickly plug in a bayonet and to do so after receiving a volley and have clansmen with broadswords rushing at you, well then you need lots of training to quickly react. And there is the problem with the vast majority of the english units in 1689 and 1690: they are not Regulars, but newly raised units from the militia. They severely lack training. It is worth mentioning that even in 1693, the English were still regarded by the Allied command as second-line troops in Flanders. The most well-trained formation in Britain was the Anglo-Scotch Brigade and in Killiecrankie, 1/3 of it fought and suffered grievous losses.
In OTL 1715, the Jacobites received a lot of support from the north-eastern Lowlands. It makes sense since that region was an episcopalian stronghold. Back in 1690 the Episcopalians would be stronger than in 1715. In OTL there was not much enthousiasm for joining the Jacobites, but in TTL the latter have a greater success and also an intact leadership. There is also the matter of taxes: the Scots hated the taxes imposed by Charles and James. To make matters worse, in 1690 William increased the tax burden of Scotland. With Dundee surviving and the Jacobites destroying the Cameronians, Mackay might rely on the western Presbyterians. A large armed Presbyterian army will alarm the Episcopalians. Buchan in OTL came close to a major success in raising the north-east. According to "Glencoe and the End of the Highland War":
The other political problem for Hamilton, is the "old trick". Traditionally, it was often that Scottish nobles would hedge their bets during civil wars. The lord and head of the family would join one side, while the heir would be friendly with the opponents. I could see several nobles trying to act in that manner in TTL with Dundee surviving and victorious. For example, before Killiecrankie Breadalbane was in contact with Dundee and was about to get arrested. With Dundee alive, Breadalbane either gets arrested or continues his plotting to neutralize Argyllshire.
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The problem with that is that it essentially keeps them in war footing with France and that's a fight that at the moment they can't afford(both literally and metaphorically). France has more money, more population and is better politically unified and her enemies won't be able to always come against her.
Not as of yet. Chalk it up to Melgar being a bit more severe than Villahermosa.
To be clear, the nobles have not joined the rebellion outside of a few select individuals.
Everything you say about the relative Jacobite-Williamite military situation is accurate. It's much closer than OTL, even arguably Jacobite favored. Which brings up the question of how William responds. He can commit heavily to Ireland and hope that Mackay and hold in Scotland or he can try to split his resources between Ireland and Scotland and gamble on winning in both or losing in both theaters. One way for him to try to make up for the worse situations in both regions would be for him to authorize a massive recruitment effort among the Presbyterians. Basically, founding a Cameronian army on steroids, which as you say will scare the Episcopalians. Regarding Breadalbane, he's avoided arrest so far exactly because of his doubledealing. But individuals like him will be the target of Balcarres' efforts while Dundee is trying to win on the field. Balcarres will want to turn the nobles to the Jacobite side to gain access to their many soldiers. To be clear, most nobles are not necessarily pro-Williamite. Most nobles are probably aligned with the Williamites nominally, but in actuality on the fence and willing to go where the win blows. And currently it looks like the Protestant Wind of 1688 might be replaced by a Catholic wind.
Force allocation will certainly be a major problem. William cannot count to the 3,300 Enniskilleners nor the additional 6,000 men Schomberg lost in addition to OTL. The last number evens out the actual number of men sent to Flanders in 1689. Neither he can count to the 7,720 scottish infantry. At the same time, the French control Bonn and Mainz. The Germans would be very reluctant to send mercenaries to the British Isles. But even so, it will be a drop in quality since the Dutch were better trained than the majority of the Germans (except Brandenburgers and Bavarians ).Even if William keeps his dutch units, he would have 11,000 fewer men than OTL Boyne. Basically 30% fewer men, while James has an additional core of 7,000 Regulars and arms for 7,000 more men (loot from Enniskillen and Charlemont).
I think the greatest threat is James consolidating his control over Ireland. William cannot afford to have his rival king controlling one of the three kingdoms. Otherwise, he will start having conspiracies and problems even in England when people start hedging their bets. Therefore, I would guess the newly raised english recruits will be shipped to Ireland. However, they will still be raw recruits, with limited training and William cannot expand the officer pool quickly enough. His veteran officers are in limited numbers and with Charlemont lost, he has fewer than in OTL. If he breaks up his Regular units to parcel them out in new regiments, then the only reliable units will be the Danes and the Dutch (12,000 infantry and 2,400 cavalry). James will then have an advantage in well-trained infantry with more than 13,000 men (7,000 Irish Brigade and Regulars, 6,000 French plus the few Regulars he had in OTL).
Without the Spanish (at least at the very beginning of 1690), the British and I assume the men of Liege (8,000 infantry), the Allies will be facing superior french numbers. They run the risk of losing Koblenz and Cologne. The Dutch will be screaming for the return of their men (5,600 infantry and 1,417 cavalry) to stop the french onslaught. If William strains his relationship with the Estates General, then his role as a leader and coordinator of the League would be severely compromised.
The Presbyterians have also reason to be scared: Dundee was their bane before the war as he had crushed them. And now he has a large victorious army in his disposal. They can provide the needed men - 14,000 could be raised in OTL, but they will be untrained and with few officers. However, as you said, such move pushes the Lowlander Episcopalians firmly in the Jacobite camp.
Breadalbane in November had fled to his stronghold at Kilchurn. He can keep his Campbells there and with a good reason: to protect their land and Argyll. After all, even in OTL he had refused a garrison in Kilchurn.
This timeline has been incredible, it is obvious that you have researched everything to the letter, and it shows. Your characterization is sound and you've given us a timeline where the Habsburgs still have to claw victory from their enemies even with Carlos ll.
My only problem so far is just how little the original butterfly is mentioned. This timeline has felt more like an English TL than a Hapsburg one since Monmouth’s rebellion. Chapter after chapter focused on a rebellion that could be summarized in a paragraph while Carlos ll has been entirely put in the background. What are the politics of the court, the views of a miracle that is his birth across the empire, the relationship between the King, Queen, and their son, and just day to day of the life of a Spanish Infante. Please more focus on Spain or Austria's liberation of the balkan, thank you.
My only problem so far is just how little the original butterfly is mentioned. This timeline has felt more like an English TL than a Hapsburg one since Monmouth’s rebellion. Chapter after chapter focused on a rebellion that could be summarized in a paragraph while Carlos ll has been entirely put in the background. What are the politics of the court, the views of a miracle that is his birth across the empire, the relationship between the King, Queen, and their son, and just day to day of the life of a Spanish Infante. Please more focus on Spain or Austria's liberation of the balkan, thank you.
Regarding Luis Carlos, the problem with him is that originally he was not designed to be the main character of the TL. I only pivoted after I realized how much support Luis Carlos had from the audience. I realized that although the TL might still be well-researched and such, that the original plan was a tad depressing in its outcome. Since then I've pivoted toward ultimately giving Luis Carlos a bigger role. But because of the original set up, the POD is way too early for Luis Carlos to be a major character early on. Right now he's only 6. He's not much of a character at all. And then Carlos II is himself a very difficult character because on one hand, he did have challenges and never necessarily ruled alone. However, its clear that he was still considered the King of Spain and that he still carried authority despite everything going on with him. Luis Carlos will slowly emerge as a character. The plan is definitely to lean into the Spanish politics as Spain figures out its approach to the war and to expand on Marie Louise's role in the government. In TTL is she alive without the constant medical abuse that she suffered to try to conceive an heir for Spain, and as the mother of the new King of Spain she carries a significant weight. She's healthy and her son is the heir, so people have to take her more seriously. Meanwhile, Mariana is getting older. She's 55 at this point and people know that many European noblewomen die in their late 50s and 60s. With their approaching death, the Spaniards know that Marie Louise can only get more powerful. So although I can't promise to deliver Luis Carlos just yet, I do promise to bring Marie Louise to the forefront.
The interesting thing about the British Isles is that I actually find them the most boring to write about as ironic as that is. What typically happens is that I don't have a natural drive to write about England so it takes me a while to write them and multiple sittings, and in each sitting I end up writing more because I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. I also have to do extra research to find something exciting enough to write about. Eventually, the English just get longer. The Monmouth Rebellion was actually originally a single paragraph. Maybe not even a full paragraph. The issue was that as I was rewriting that paragraph and realizing some of the later story points that connect back to Monmouth that I needed to put more detail into it. Then what was supposed to be one update became a series. And because of how close together they were chronologically and because I hadn't planned for there to be multiple updates I ended up having several English updates back to back. I mean after that we had 10 chapters without England until we entered the lead up to the War of the Grand Alliance which bounced from Cologne to England. The start of the war updates have certainly been England heavy, but that's somewhat by design. In 1688-89, the war is still ramping up on the Continent. But now that the Continent has woken up to the realities of war, we're going to see that war play out in full colour.
In the chapters to come, we're first going east to cover Max Emanuel's transition to Eastern Commander. There was a hypothetical American/Colonial chapter that was supposed to follow, but I've decided to push it because it feels like there's not enough to write about yet. So I'll probably hold off on the American update until I can cover more ground with it. After covering Max, we'll set the stage for 1690's campaigns by discussing the diplomatic maneuvers of France and the Grand Alliance with a healthy focus on the pivotal role of Spain. Upon that stage we'll see the first major pitched battle of the Continental war (Mainz although a major siege wasn't a pitched battle). We'll also dive into how the Empire deals with Charles of Lorraine's death and Max Emanuel's practical exile to the East. Finally, we'll have to go back north to discuss Ireland where major things are going on. There too many men on Ireland for action not to take place. And as spectacular as Ireland might be, it might come second to the fanfare that Marie Louise kicks up. A chapter has gotten so long that I've split it in half and the first half will be named the "Jacobite Queen" and it's not going to be about Mary of Modena. Not to reveal too much but let's just say Lizard's bite and Spanish conspiracies are well alive. The 1690 updates will close with a focus on Catalonia and Italy. That may very well be one update possibly two. Oh and of course, the next Max chapter is him in 1688 and 1689 so he'll have a 1690 chapter. The battle featured in 1690 chapter will be the first in a string of updates featuring big and bad activities.
But this timeline is alternate history at its very best! You start with a POD and then so many butterflies emerge if you give it enough thought! And the author has done exactly that : very careful consideration of the butterflies alongside with thorough research. This timeline is one excellent mental exercise and I am very very glad to read it.
2.10: Turkish Max
X: Turkish Max
Battle of Vinik
Battle of Vinik
After weeks of long negotiations with Emperor Leopold, Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria secured supreme command over the army in the east for 1688 and forward. Officially, Max Emanuel was replacing his previous superior Duke Charles V of Lorraine. In reality, Charles of Lorraine had been away from the front and in Vienna since the beginning of 1688, well before Max Emanuel was appointed his successor. The reason behind Charles’s detainment from the front had everything to do with the fashion in which Charles ended his 1687 campaign and gained military access to the Principality of Transylvania. The intent of this campaign had been to apply significant pressure on Transylvania to coerce Prince Mihaly Apafi into altering the Haller diploma. Signed between Charles of Lorraine’s defeat at Esztergom and before the Second Siege of Buda, the Haller diploma was extremely favorable to Prince Mihaly and Transylvania. Under its terms, Emperor Leopold guaranteed Prince Mihaly’s place as Prince of Transylvania and guaranteed the Prince’s son’s succession. Worse yet, upon the deaths of Prince Mihaly and his son Mihaly, Emperor Leopold agreed to allow Transylvania to freely pick its succeeding princes. In other words, the Austrians agreed to Transylvania’s independence. They even agreed to augment Transylvania with the territories that the principality had lost to the Ottomans. In exchange, the Transylvanians only had to pay a tribute of 50,000 thalers a year and give the Austrians control over Cluj and Deva until the war finished. Otherwise, the Transylvanians were not expected to offer any help to the Austrians until, at the very least, the Ottoman stronghold of Timisoara was taken. In all honesty, this diploma was an embarrassment for the Austrians and a symbol of the military ineptitude they endured between the salvation of Vienna and the conquest of Buda. To wash away the humiliation, Emperor Leopold had wanted the Duke of Lorraine to invade and bully Transylvania into a far less generous treaty. When Charles of Lorraine marched on Transylvania, however, he did so as a soldier and his focus was on military necessities and strategic benefits rather than political concerns. Rather than abuse and brutalize Transylvania, Charles used a simple show of force to gain Prince Mihaly’s compliance. With that compliance, Charles only demanded Transylvania’s immediate assistance in the form of supplying the Christian armies with food and drink and uninhibited access to Transylvania’s roads. Nothing greater, especially not a dramatic revision of the Haller diploma was arranged.
Charles of Lorraine’s operation gave the Austrian military a series of bountiful supply depots to the east of the Hungarian plain that would be critical in campaigns against Timisoara and Varad. Additionally, the access to Transylvania meant that the Austrians could establish defenses that would prevent an Ottoman attack through the Carpathians. Although the Carpathians are a famous mountain range, they were in no way non-traversable by a large army. Many armies had done so in the past and the Austrians had to be ready for another one to do it in the near future. From a general’s perspective, from Charles’s perspective, this Pact of Balazsfalvi was a strategic masterpiece. In Vienna, for Emperor Leopold and his government, the pact was anything but a masterpiece. With Buda and Belgrade conquered, two Ottoman field armies bashed, and a Grand Vizier in the gaols of Vienna, Emperor Leopold could not understand how Charles of Lorraine had earned so little. Perhaps there was some truth to the constant recriminations about Charles of Lorraine’s inconstant and incompetent leadership. For Vienna, it was unfathomable that Charles had fumbled an opportunity so completely with his lackluster diplomacy. The outrage that this incident filled Emperor Leopold with led to Charles being held at Vienna at the beginning of 1688 to personally provide an account of his actions. The immediate answers that Charles provided were far from satisfactory and only increased Leopold’s frustration with him. While Charles tried to hide behind military necessities, Leopold put his head in his hands and questioned his brother-in-law’s intelligence. Charles spent the following weeks in a purgatory-like state. Leopold was reluctant to officially dismiss Charles from command of the east because Leopold still considered the Duke responsible for saving Vienna and reconquering of most of Hungary. Also, at the time, Leopold was unwilling to raise up Max Emanuel as Charles’s successor. Ultimately, the Emperor only reassigned Charles away from the east when the political circumstances of Cologne’s election forced him. The Emperor hoped that Duke Charles’s predispositions would be better fitted for war in the west. This hope was roughly dismissed outside of Mainz.
During Charles of Lorraine’s absence from the east and before Max Emanuel’s eventual deployment, the role of interim commander-in-chief fell to the veteran Count Antonio Caraffa. Unlike Charles of Lorraine, Count Caraffa had demonstrated that he could and would play the role of villain to the conquered Hungarians. In the previous year, while Charles and Max were conquering Belgrade, Caraffa took time away from campaigning against the Ottoman Turks to investigate the “crimes of Eperjes”. The leading citizens of the Protestant town had sent letters to other nearby towns to ask for donations for the local schools. One of the messengers was a former soldier in Imre Thokoly’s army, Gabriel Palasdy. Count Caraffa claimed that rather than seeking to help the schools the leaders of Eperjes were gathering funds for another Hungarian revolt. This accusation came despite Eperjes being without any serious dissident incident since its conquest in 1684. Based on this uncorroborated accusation, Caraffa had dozens of Eperjes’ leading nobles seized. A third of them were released after Bishop Augustinus Benkovics of Oradea paid a bribe directly to Caraffa. The remaining two dozen, which included two of the richest men in Hungary, Gyorgy Radvanszky and Sigismund von Zimmermann, fared far worse. Under the personal supervision of Caraffa, the “suspects” were tortured in all sorts of gruesome manners that hearkened back to the most twisted years of the Spanish Inquisition. Decency prevents one from detailing that torture, but let it be said that beatings and burnings were the kindest methods that Caraffa used. Caraffa took a grotesque joy in the tortures by gambling with his officers over how long someone would last or by taunting the prisoners with the thought of freedom. Not all prisoners survived the black treatment they received. Zimmermann died in the midst of his torture and his son had to pay a heavy bribe just to have his father’s body turned over for burial. Other prisoners took their own lives and put their Christian salvation at stake just to put an end to the torment. Those that survived the torture only did so by confessing to a variety of crimes but not one of these confessions provided Caraffa with definitive proof of a conspiracy. Perhaps for that reason, surviving torture did not mean surviving Caraffa. The prisoners who confessed were sentenced to death in light of their confessed crimes.
Eventually after several months and countless complaints from the highest authorities of Hungary and foreign rulers about the “Blood Court of Eperjes”, Emperor Leopold put an end to the court. As Caraffa left Upper Hungary to report to the Emperor and the Hofkriegsrat of his actions he left behind more than two dozen bodies, all of them from Eperjes’s leading class. In the official report, he expressed no remorse. The report read: "Now is the opportunity to eradicate partisanship from Hungary forever. The fortune of war is currently in your Majesty's favor, and the punishment will not only seem just, but will also be loudly approved. Fines and confiscations will increase the coffers. But there is no use in misrule; it is necessary for the inquizicio to start as hard as possible in several parts of the country at the same time.” Not only did he not apologize for his crimes in Eperjes, he suggested that they be repeated in other parts of conquered Hungary. This impenetrable cruelty toward the Hungarians was exactly what Leopold wanted out of his officers. Rather than imprison Caraffa for his use of torture against sworn subjects of Emperor Leopold, rather than demoting Caraffa, or even moving him to some irrelevant administrative job in Vienna where he could no more harm, Emperor Leopold promoted Count Caraffa to Imperial Feldmarschall, one of the highest honors available to the Emperor. This honor was the same one that Max Emanuel of Bavaria was denied after playing pivotal roles in the saving of Vienna, the Second Siege of Buda, the defense at Sabac, and the assault on Belgrade. The fact of the matter was none of the crimes that Caraffa had committed had been performed without the pre-knowledge and approval of Emperor Leopold. Well before Caraffa had begun chopping hands off at Eperjes, he had divulged his deluded notions of a conspiracy spanning the entirety of Hungary to Leopold. Even though Caraffa had as much evidence as Galileo’s deniers, Leopold’s fearful memories of the 1681 Kuruc rebellions got the better of him. In truth, Leopold regarded all Hungarians with immense suspicion. Many of them were ungodly Protestants and some were Muslims, but as a whole, they were unruly sort that needed to be broken. In 1687, that sentiment ensured that Caraffa was uplifted for his abasement of the Hungarians. In 1688, that sentiment resulted in Caraffa being given command of the east, until Charles of Lorraine’s fate was decided.
As part of Caraffa’s stint as the East’s commander, he was tasked with correcting Charles of Lorraine’s generosity and named High Commissioner of Transylvania. As was Leopold’s way, he did not deign to give Caraffa explicit and specific directions about how to carry out his office, as Louis XIV did with his generals. Instead, the Emperor gave Caraffa the liberty to wrangle Transylvania however he saw fit, but if Eperjes was anything to go off then Leopold could trust the Count to abstain from Charles of Lorraine’s moderation. Caraffa did not disappoint his liege and by February 1688, Caraffa had posted himself and an army at Sibiu. From this stronghold, he requested that Prince Mihaly Apafi and members of Transylvanian parliament present themselves to renegotiate Pact of Balazsfalvi. The Transylvanians understood that such a renegotiation could only be to their detriment and they hesitated to comply. On one hand, they understood that Caraffa’s army was superior to the forces that Transylvania had readily available, but on the other, the Transylvanians worried that Caraffa would demand their political and religious subjugation to Vienna. While the Transylvanians hesitated, Caraffa did not. In light of the Transylvanians dragging their feet, Caraffa stripped Aeneas Sylvius von Caprara’s ongoing Siege of Munkacs of most of its 3,000-soldier contingent. Leaving a skeleton crew to besiege Munkacs all but ensured that the siege would protract, but the decision also gave Caraffa an unassailable advantage over the Transylvanians [1]. The message was clear to the Transylvanians, comply or be obliterated. Soon after they agreed with Caraffa’s request for a renegotiation. When Caraffa demanded in specific that certain lords and officials present themselves, the Transylvanians again obeyed. Accordingly, the named individuals, Mihaly Teleki; Elek Bethlen; Gergely Bethlen; Laszlo Szekely of Borosjeno; Valentin Frank, the royal judge of Sibiu, Szabo Keresztely, mayor of Sibiu; Bethlen Miklos; Istvan Apor; Peter Alvinczi; Janos Sarosi of Kissaros; and Michael Filstich, Brasov city judge, traveled to Sibiu to meet with Caraffa. Under the Austrian army’s watch, Caraffa dictated Leopold’s terms and conditions and when some of the delegates tried to talk back, Caraffa promised to march on Fogaras and level it with his cannons. Between the threats against their country and their own personal safety, the Transylvanians struggled to negotiate anything reasonable with Caraffa. One of their own, Mihaly Teleki even conspired against his countrymen for his own benefit, and with his help a declaration very favorable to Austria was drawn up.
The coercion continued beyond Sibiu. When the draft declaration was sent to Fogaras for the prince and parliament's ratification, Caraffa made it clear that if Prince Mihaly Apafi resisted then he and his family would end up in a Viennese prison. By this point, the Transylvanians had lost their will to resist. They had invited the fox into the hen house and now he was threatening to eat them all. There was nothing to be done and so the Transylvanians meekly accepted Caraffa's ultimatum. Under its terms, Transylvania entered into Austrian subservience rather than continuing under the Sublime Porte. Unlike in earlier declarations, Transylvania could no delay in joining the ranks of the Austrian army. Instead, their army now served at the pleasure of Emperor Leopold. On a similar note, the Austrians were "invited" to remain in Transylvania and take up posts at the cities of Kovar, Huszt, Gorgeny, and Braso. Each year from then on, Transylvania would be expected to pay 700,000 forints in tribute, payable in cash. Finally, the independence of Transylvania was guaranteed but only until Emperor Leopold guaranteed the traditional rights of Transylvania. In other words, once the Emperor promises the Transylvanians their typical liberties he was under no more obligation to let them enjoy their sovereignty. This term in essence excused an Austrian absorption of Transylvania if only Transylvania's civil liberties remained. However, even that was put into question when the Transylvanians formally asks for these rights. In a thirteen-point document, they asked for their four religions to be protected, including Lutheranism, for the Apafis to remain in power, and crucially for them to keep the ability to elect their own princes. Not in the strongest words, Leopold promised to leave their religions alone but in all subjects he refused to commit to anything until after the war had been won. By then, he would be too powerful to stop if he just chose to ignore the promises of Fogaras.
Some of the Transylvanians realized the falsehood of Austria's promises and tried to resist. The city of Brasov in particular revolted when Count Caraffa attempted to have his soldiers enter the city pursuant to the Declaration of Fogaras. The old Saxon city was drenched in a rich history as the guardians of the frontier of Christendom and for that reason, its citizens carried an arrogant pride. They could not surrender to the haphazard army of Austria. Furthermore, Brasov like most of Transylvania was Lutheran and they were anxious at the prospect of being ruled by the fervently Catholic Emperor Leopold. Beyond just shutting their gates and refusing the wave the flag of the the Habsburgs, the citizens of Brasov dared to assault soldiers of Emperor Leopold's army. As brave as this stand against the Austrian conquest was, it was entirely in vain. A singular incidence of revolt could by no means stop the army of Count Caraffa. With a simple but effective siege, Caraffa broke the defenses of the city and then with characteristic brutism, he executed dozens of the citizens for their treason. Afterward, the city was placed under martial law and became the first site of Caraffa's attempt at governing Transylvania. Afterward, Caraffa allowed his subordinate Johann Friedrich Ambrosius von Veterani to do the dirty work of occupying the rest of the principality. As much as Caraffa might have enjoyed trampling some poor Transylvanian peasants, he had other things on his mind. Having effectively conquered Transylvania, Caraffa set his sights on the neighboring Wallachia. There, the ruling prince, Serban Cantacuzino, had added to pay Emperor Leopold a tribute of 75,000 thalers and give 6,000 soldiers to the Austrian army. However, he refused to join forces with Austria until the latter could defeat the nearby Ottoman armies. Cantacuzino was unwilling to risk the safety of Wallachia until the Austrians were in a position to defend him. Even though Cantacuzino took private oaths of allegiance to Emperor Leopold, these were not deemed sufficient and the Emperor authorized Caraffa to take action against Wallachia as he had done so against Transylvania.
Caraffa's planned invasion of Wallachia never materialized. Before Caraffa began his march, Max Emanuel had been officially appointed as supreme commander of eastern operations. In that role, Max Emanuel ordered Caraffa to hold off on any further military operations until he arrived. When Max Emanuel reached Belgrade and was duly informed of Caraffa's martial intent against Wallachia, he countermanded Leopold's previous authorization [2]. Much like Charles V of Lorraine, Max Emanuel took a more pragmatic and practical approach to Balkan politics than Emperor Leopold and Count Caraffa. The Elector of Bavaria did not believe that the Emperor's suspicion of Prince Serban was warranted. Serban and his family had sworn their allegiance and Austria's spies were not reporting that the Cantacuzinos were acting contrary to their promises. Meanwhile, with Belgrade and the Danubian highway in hand, Max Emanuel disagreed with Caraffa's notion that immediate and unrestricted access through Wallachia were necessary for military success. As Max Emanuel understood the situation, the Imperial army could easily march down the Danube to its next targets and clear the area of Ottoman dangers. Once the Ottomans were pushed back then Wallachians would feel safe enough to join the Holy League. In the meantime, the Bavarian could not understand the value of attacking a potential ally. The Imperials could not force Wallachia to join the Holy League. Using force would only make the Wallachians come to hate the Imperials. Why make an enemy out of a friend, Max thought. Even if Max thought there might be some value to conquering Wallachia, he did not believe that the army could afford the excess. At that time, thousands of soldiers from the eastern army were being redeployed to Germany in preparation for a war with France. Max Emanuel's own Bavarians were still on their way to the east. As a consequence, the supreme commander was at the head of a relatively weak army in 1688 and the lateness in the season did not encourage an invasion of Wallachia. Rather than embark on the abuse of another Danubian principality, Max Emanuel chose to focus on firming up the gains that he and Charles of Lorraine had won in the previous year. This meant capturing a few more Bosnian towns and taking control of the region to Belgrade’s south by besieging the towns of Semendria, Passarowitz, Valjevo, Kragujewatz, and Jagodina. Through the capture of these cities, Max Emanuel gave the Imperials a strong hold over Serbia and kept the hopes of a Wallachian alliance alive.
Over the winter of 1688-89, Max Emanuel at first began to draw up grand plans due to the promise of reinforcement. Max Emanuel drew up a campaign for the conquest of Bosnia and Serbia while also detaching Count Aeneas Sylvius de Caprara to take Varad and Count Antonio Caraffa to capture Temesvar. However, as the news from the west became more dire, Emperor Leopold both switched the destination of those reinforcements from east and west and requested more soldiers from Max Emanuel’s army to be redeployed. Thus, by spring, Max Emanuel found himself at the head of an even more limited army than he commanded at the tail-end of 1688. In line with his limited soldier count, Max Emanuel curtailed his goals for 1689. Since Max Emanuel felt that Varad and Temesvar’s falls were inevitable now that Transylvania had been brought to heel, Max Emanuel chose to cancel those sieges. While Lieutenant General Donat Heissler was left to command the Transylvanian army, Caprara, Caraffa, Veterani, and their soldiers were all brought to the Balkans. The plan Max Emanuel laid before them was simple. The army would split into two main pieces, one would levy contributions in Bosnia and occupy the town of Sarajevo. The other, larger army, would drive through southern Serbia and besiege the fortress of Nis on the Nishava river. Max Emanuel thought that Nis could act as another anchor for the Imperial military in the east while Sarajevo could act as a supply depot for operations down the Adriatic Coast. Veterani and Friar Marco d'Aviano argued for a much more aggressive campaign that would focus on taking Nis and then Sofia to open the road to Constantinople, but Max Emanuel rejected this idea. He was content to orchestrate a more limited and controlled campaign as his main goal was to avoid overextending himself and exposing his army to unnecessary risk.
Veterani’s overt aggression concerned Max Emanuel so too did Count Caraffa's menacing personality. For this reason, the Bavarian Elector gave the older and more tempered Marshal Caprara command of the Bosnian expedition. As desired Caprara oversaw a very calculated and calm campaign. With a relatively small army, Caprara marched beyond the Sava into Bosnia. Despite his army’s small size, the Ottoman Empire was still a state of general disorder which had left Bosnia without a major field army to defend it. As Caprara marched down the Bosna toward Sarajevo he only encountered a series of small garrisons at Doboj Fortress, Maglaj, Zepce, Zenica, Vranduk Fortress, and finally Visoko. Each of these garrisons showed a sense of resolve despite the years of setbacks faced by the Ottomans. Still, each one of them eventually fell. In the case of Doboj and Vranduk a traditional siege was necessary while Maglaj was stormed, Zepce’s garrison was bribed, Zenica was starved out, and Visoko was bombarded into submission. Once the last of these forts, Visoko, fell, Caprara finally advanced on Sarajevo, which in terms of population was massive. More than 80,000 inhabitants lived within the city, which was nearly 10 times the size of Caprara’s army. Fortunately, the continued aftershocks of the Ottoman Empire's revolution meant that even a city as large as Sarajevo had been left without strong leadership. No pasha was present to organize an appropriate defense that made use of that massive population and no serasker was on his way to relief the city. Without any organized resistance, Caprara could just cut off the city and then after two months of bombardment and starvation, a revolt within Sarajevo brought the city to its knees. The surrender of Sarajevo in September 1689, brought practically all of northern Bosnia under the control of the Austrians. Even though Caprara had not faced much resistance in his campaign, its results were still remarkable.
Max Emanuel’s own campaign started later than Caprara's as a consequence of its greater size and need for more sophisticated logistics. But unlike Caprara’s Bosnian campaign, Max Emanuel did not have to worry about pushing his way through a series of fortresses. Max Emanuel had already taken several of the central Serbian fortresses in the previous year including Kraguewatz and Jagodina. Additionally, control of Jagodina meant that Max Emanuel already had a protected area to cross the Great Morava to attack Nisa. Max Emanuel would not risk having to fight against Sabac. Overall, in terms of geography, Max Emanuel’s campaign was a relatively simple jaunt of 65 miles from Jagodina to Nis. What complicated Max Emanuel’s campaign was that Nis, unlike Sarajevo, actually had an organized defense. This defense came in the form of Arat Redzep Pasha, the serasker for the Balkans, and the field army of 40,000 men he had assembled outside Nis. By this point, everyone in the Ottoman Empire knew the Blue King well and knew better then to attack the defender of Sabac. Arat Redzep permitted the Imperials an unhindered approach to Nis and instead drew his army into a strong defensive posture just north of the Nishava River. 20,000 of the soldiers formed a line between the river and Vinik under Arat Redzep and the Beylerbey of Rumelia, Zurnapa Mustafa Pasha. A further 15,000 men under Mahmud Pasha controlled Pantelei. Finally, the rest of the army was stationed along the Nishava and even more soldiers were garrisoning Nis.
When Max Emanuel came upon this formidable army, he knew that he faced a difficult challenge if he was to succeed in taking Nis. The army before him was more than twice his own and was well entrenched. Although Max Emanuel had reasonable doubts about the quality of the Ottoman army after a long war with several major defeats, the Elector was still wary of attacking it. At the same time, Max Emanuel recognized that a retreat would take him back through lands that he had already foraged, which could cost his army many men to attrition and Ottoman counterattacks. Although Max Emanuel might have tried feinting a retreat to draw the Ottomans out of their lines, he doubted that the maneuver would work in light of Sabac. Ultimately, after conferring with his officers, Max Emanuel decided to scout the Ottoman position for potential weaknesses. A day later, Max Emanuel’s Serbian ally Pavle Nestorovic discovered that vital weakness. Although the Ottomans had built numerous fortifications around, they had left one gap between Vinik and the hill to its north. This gap was both without fortifications and without any men defending it. Even though the Serbian scouts were not able to completely penetrate the Ottoman lines, their familiarity with the landscape led them to believe that the valley went all the way to the rear of the Ottoman camp. If it did then the Imperials might be able to march through the valley and swing around Arat Redzep’s army. If successful this maneuver would place the Imperials directly between Redzep's men at Vinik and Mahmud Pasha’s army at Pantelei. From this position, the Imperials could press Redzep's army against the Nishava River, which was running high as a result of summer rains. In other words, they could crush the Arat Redzep against a wall of water. However, if the Imperials were caught before they could establish control over the valley then they would put themselves in between two Ottoman armies. Perhaps the Ottomans had left this gap open on purpose to draw the Imperials into a vise and then pulverize them from both sides. Even if the trap was not intended, the Ottomans could still shut it and easily take an army off the Imperial army, if not more. In this tense moment, the Elector of Bavaria did not shy from the challenge or the risk. He fell back on his youthful audacity and announced to his officers that the attack would commence the following morning.
Before dawn on September 17, 1689, Max Emanuel initiated his attack by sending Nestorovic and General Veterani to pass through the valley toward the Ottoman rear. Despite the cover of darkness, Nestorovic and Veterani did not escape the notice of the Albanian garrison on the northern hill who began firing on the Imperial column as it passed through the valley. Nestorovic and Veterani kept their composure and ignored the Albanian fire as they continued through the valley. The two men understood that their objective lay at the end of that long valley and no time could be afforded for the Albanian distraction. However, at this point, Arat Redzep had been alerted to the Imperial attack and immediately dispatched several thousand sipahis to circle around the advancing column and envelop it. Nestorovic’s Serbs saw this attack coming and gave their Imperial comrades fair warning of it. With this knowledge, the naturally aggressive Veterani turned with glee and ordered his column to pounce on the sipahis as they tried to bypass the Imperials. The sipahis were shocked to find themselves under attack by this ostensibly inferior foe and failed to resist it effectively. After a fierce struggle, the sipahis were routed and the Imperial column was able to resume its march. At the same time, Princes Friedrich August and Maximilian Wilhelm of Hanover cleared the Albanians from the hill to relieve pressure on the forward column. Finally, Nestorovic and Veterani reached the end of the valley and came upon a clear plain devoid of enemies just as Nestorovic had promised.
Once a message got back to Max Emanuel confirming the safety of the plain, he gave the order for a general attack. While Count Guido von Starhemberg was sent to reinforce Veterani through the valley, Max Emanuel and Caraffa assaulted the Ottoman center and left respectively. Although Arat Redzep met the Bavarian center and Austrian left flank, the main concern was Starhemberg’s approach through the valley. By this point, Arat Redzep had come to realize the danger that an Imperial-occupied valley exposed him to. Already, Nestorovic and Veterani were harassing Arat Redzep’s rear, but their column alone could not encircle the Ottomans. If Starhemberg joined them, however, the possibility of encirclement became much more real. Desperately, Arat Redzep sent thousands of sipahis against Starhemberg’s column in hopes of running it over as it was stretched out in the valley. Without the Serbian scouts, Starhemberg did not have the advance warning that Veterani got, but as soon as Starhemberg spotted the sipahis he ordered his men to turn and fight. As thousands of sipahis crashed down on Starhemberg’s column in a relatively organized manner, Starhemberg remained unshaken. Urging his soldiers on and drawing his sword to join them in the fight, Starhemberg and his men were able to dig in and contain the Ottoman attack. Once Max Emanuel spared Starhemberg some Bavarian soldiers, the sipahis were repulsed and Starhemberg was able to resume his march through the valley.
With Starhemberg’s success, Max Emanuel decided to send more of his army through the valley with the goal of turning the battlefield entirely. This meant that Max Emanuel and Caraffa’s attacks became focused on merely holding down the Ottomans rather than breaking through them. While Max Emanuel repositioned his infantry and cavalry, he also sent his artillery up the hill to the Hanoverians. From there, the Hanoverians began to rain cannon fire down on the Ottoman army. Once Max Emanuel had a significant amount of soldiers in the valley to Vinik’s north, he ordered a renewed attack on Vinik from the west. As this Bavarian attack distracted the Ottomans at their front, Charles Eugene, Duc de Croy, led the Austrians out of the valley and hit Vinik from the side. This two-pronged attack overwhelmed the defenders of Vinik and sent them reeling backward. Still, the fighting was tough and Mahmud Pasha had moved out of Pantelei in the east to come to Arat Redzep’s help.
With the battle going against him, Arat Redzep decided to focus on linking up with Mahumd Pasha's army and either turning the battle around or securing his escape to the east. This maneuver required turning back on the Imperial forces of Veterani, Starhemberg, and Nestorovic that were gathering in the plain. Once again Arat Redzep relied on his Sipahis to break through the Imperials. But once again, the Imperial infantry stood strong and resisted the initial attack. Then as Hanoverian infantrymen and Austrian hussars arrived in the valley, the Imperials were able to turn on the Sipahis and rip them to pieces. The only reason that Sipahis did not shatter and flee was that Arat Redzep ordered the janissaries to execute the first set of Sipahis who tried to run. With the janissaries blocking their retreat, the Sipahis turned back around and charged once more into the maw of the Imperial army. Yet again, the Imperials did not budge even a foot against this final charge. Fearlessly the Imperials fired straight into the charge and then met it with axes and pikes. The sipahis were mercilessly butchered at Veterani and Nestorovic's orders.
Finally, the sipahis broke and even with janissaries firing into them, they galloped backward. The sipahis proceeded to run amok through the army. At the same time, the retreating elements of Vinik were being pushed into the rest of Arat Redzep’s army. The Ottomans were being balled up into a dense mass of disordered soldiers, and Max Emanuel recognized it. While Starhemberg was given the order to ward off Mahmud Pasha, the rest of the Imperial army turned on Arat Redzep’s men and attacked them from all sides. As the Imperials pressed in, the Ottoman soldiers became so tightly packed that they struggled to breathe. At the same time, the Imperial cannon fire from the hill and musket fire always found their marks and slaughtered the Ottomans as they stood. Desperately, the Ottomans tried to retreat toward the Nishava, but Veterani beat them to the riverbank Although Veterani lacked the men to completely close the circle on the Ottomans, his position along the riverbank allowed him to murder hundreds of helpless Ottoman soldiers as they were pushed into the river. Countless more drowned in the Nishava. By nightfall, Max Emanuel had overseen a massacre of the Ottoman army. More than 15,000 soldiers had been killed or drowned. In contrast, Max Emanuel had lost under a thousand men.
Following the horrific at Vinik, Mahmud Pasha learned the lesson that Arat Redzep had not: avoid the Blue King, no matter what. Once again, Max Emanuel had overseen a great triumph over superior Ottomans. In particular, his men had demonstrated the rapidly decreasing effectiveness of Ottoman sipahis. After so many defeats, far too many Ottoman sipahi veterans had been lost and their replacements were simply not good enough. Rather than become yet another victim of the Blue King, Mahmud Pasha abandoned Serbia entirely and fell back to Sofia. This allowed Max Emanuel to besiege Nis without the risk of the city being relieved. Arat Redzep who had survived the bloodbath at Vinik, led the defense of Nis admirably, but after a month, Max Emanuel had ripped through the city’s walls with his cannons and then personally led an assault that saw the rest of the Ottomans slaughtered or captured. Arat Redzep went down fighting just as his comrade Abdi Pasha at Buda had done. With the conquest of Nis, Max Emanuel decided to end his campaign. Although Veterani urged Max Emanuel to push on to Macedonia or Bulgaria where the Orthodox locales were on the verge of rebelling, Max Emanuel refused [3]. As tempting as the idea of rallying thousands of rebels might have been, rebels did not bring with them the weapons necessary to take down the fortresses of the Balkans. What Veterani was seeing was a dream of glory, not the reality of war. The Bavarian believed it was better to consolidate what had been taken and refortify Nis ahead of an Ottoman counterattack. Max Emanuel had been able to make use of Veterani’s aggression at Vinik, he did not have any further need for it in 1689. The year closed with Max Emanuel returning to Belgrade to make winter quarters and to oversee the continued strengthening of its fortifications. Starhemberg as one of the heroes of Vinik was given the honor of captaining Nis’s garrison and accordingly was left behind to rebuild the city. All in all, with Sarajevo and Nis in hand, Max Emanuel felt as if he had delivered a good campaign in 1689. Emperor Leopold had thoughts of his own.
[1] The fact that Belgrade was taken in 1687 meant that the Imperials did not have the resources to take Munakcs in that year. Then in 1688, Munkacs was put under siege again but Caraffa needs those men to take out Transylvania. In OTL, he had those men because Munkacs had already fallen. Then in 1689, we will see that the Imperial priorities again circumvent Munkacs. This means that going into 1690, Munkacs will remain defiant and that Imre Thokoly's family will remain at liberty.
[2] Unlike Ludwig of Baden, Max Emanuel does not permit Caraffa's invasion of Wallachia. As a politician, Max Emanuel is more cautious than Ludwig of Baden and less suspicious than Emperor Leopold. Also, as someone who has just tried to play off two sides (Austria and France) for his own benefit, Max Emanuel understands Serban Canatacuzino's behavior more than Emperor Leopold. In Max Emanuel's mind, Serban is like him. He's willing to play both sides, but he knows which side he actually wants to fight for and he is unlikely to go so far as to join the other side. In this case, Max Emanuel believes that Serban's heart is with the Holy League just as Max Emanuel's heart with the Empire.
[3] Max Emanuel a strategist showed less willingness to embark on grand and elaborate schemes than Ludwig Wilhelm did. He does not see the capture of Sofia as possible and he does not see the capture of Skopje as necessary. Max Emanuel is willing to play out his campaign slowly and more diligently than Ludwig Wilhelm. Max Emanuel is also less prone to accepting the arguments of Veterani and other subordinates. Although these officers have a well of experience, Max Emanuel is an elector and he feels the weight of his authority. He knows he does not have to listen to these men if he does not wish to.
Goddamn, Max Emmanuel is just smacking the Ottomans around now. We stan the Blue King and his successes. Leopold better reward him!
X: Turkish Max
Battle of Vinik
After weeks of long negotiations with Emperor Leopold, Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria secured supreme command over the army in the east for 1688 and forward. Officially, Max Emanuel was replacing his previous superior Duke Charles V of Lorraine. In reality, Charles of Lorraine had been away from the front and in Vienna since the beginning of 1688, well before Max Emanuel was appointed his successor. The reason behind Charles’s detainment from the front had everything to do with the fashion in which Charles ended his 1687 campaign and gained military access to the Principality of Transylvania. The intent of this campaign had been to apply significant pressure on Transylvania to coerce Prince Mihaly Apafi into altering the Haller diploma. Signed between Charles of Lorraine’s defeat at Esztergom and before the Second Siege of Buda, the Haller diploma was extremely favorable to Prince Mihaly and Transylvania. Under its terms, Emperor Leopold guaranteed Prince Mihaly’s place as Prince of Transylvania and guaranteed the Prince’s son’s succession. Worse yet, upon the deaths of Prince Mihaly and his son Mihaly, Emperor Leopold agreed to allow Transylvania to freely pick its succeeding princes. In other words, the Austrians agreed to Transylvania’s independence. They even agreed to augment Transylvania with the territories that the principality had lost to the Ottomans. In exchange, the Transylvanians only had to pay a tribute of 50,000 thalers a year and give the Austrians control over Cluj and Deva until the war finished. Otherwise, the Transylvanians were not expected to offer any help to the Austrians until, at the very least, the Ottoman stronghold of Timisoara was taken. In all honesty, this diploma was an embarrassment for the Austrians and a symbol of the military ineptitude they endured between the salvation of Vienna and the conquest of Buda. To wash away the humiliation, Emperor Leopold had wanted the Duke of Lorraine to invade and bully Transylvania into a far less generous treaty. When Charles of Lorraine marched on Transylvania, however, he did so as a soldier and his focus was on military necessities and strategic benefits rather than political concerns. Rather than abuse and brutalize Transylvania, Charles used a simple show of force to gain Prince Mihaly’s compliance. With that compliance, Charles only demanded Transylvania’s immediate assistance in the form of supplying the Christian armies with food and drink and uninhibited access to Transylvania’s roads. Nothing greater, especially not a dramatic revision of the Haller diploma was arranged.
Charles of Lorraine’s operation gave the Austrian military a series of bountiful supply depots to the east of the Hungarian plain that would be critical in campaigns against Timisoara and Varad. Additionally, the access to Transylvania meant that the Austrians could establish defenses that would prevent an Ottoman attack through the Carpathians. Although the Carpathians are a famous mountain range, they were in no way non-traversable by a large army. Many armies had done so in the past and the Austrians had to be ready for another one to do it in the near future. From a general’s perspective, from Charles’s perspective, this Pact of Balazsfalvi was a strategic masterpiece. In Vienna, for Emperor Leopold and his government, the pact was anything but a masterpiece. With Buda and Belgrade conquered, two Ottoman field armies bashed, and a Grand Vizier in the gaols of Vienna, Emperor Leopold could not understand how Charles of Lorraine had earned so little. Perhaps there was some truth to the constant recriminations about Charles of Lorraine’s inconstant and incompetent leadership. For Vienna, it was unfathomable that Charles had fumbled an opportunity so completely with his lackluster diplomacy. The outrage that this incident filled Emperor Leopold with led to Charles being held at Vienna at the beginning of 1688 to personally provide an account of his actions. The immediate answers that Charles provided were far from satisfactory and only increased Leopold’s frustration with him. While Charles tried to hide behind military necessities, Leopold put his head in his hands and questioned his brother-in-law’s intelligence. Charles spent the following weeks in a purgatory-like state. Leopold was reluctant to officially dismiss Charles from command of the east because Leopold still considered the Duke responsible for saving Vienna and reconquering of most of Hungary. Also, at the time, Leopold was unwilling to raise up Max Emanuel as Charles’s successor. Ultimately, the Emperor only reassigned Charles away from the east when the political circumstances of Cologne’s election forced him. The Emperor hoped that Duke Charles’s predispositions would be better fitted for war in the west. This hope was roughly dismissed outside of Mainz.
During Charles of Lorraine’s absence from the east and before Max Emanuel’s eventual deployment, the role of interim commander-in-chief fell to the veteran Count Antonio Caraffa. Unlike Charles of Lorraine, Count Caraffa had demonstrated that he could and would play the role of villain to the conquered Hungarians. In the previous year, while Charles and Max were conquering Belgrade, Caraffa took time away from campaigning against the Ottoman Turks to investigate the “crimes of Eperjes”. The leading citizens of the Protestant town had sent letters to other nearby towns to ask for donations for the local schools. One of the messengers was a former soldier in Imre Thokoly’s army, Gabriel Palasdy. Count Caraffa claimed that rather than seeking to help the schools the leaders of Eperjes were gathering funds for another Hungarian revolt. This accusation came despite Eperjes being without any serious dissident incident since its conquest in 1684. Based on this uncorroborated accusation, Caraffa had dozens of Eperjes’ leading nobles seized. A third of them were released after Bishop Augustinus Benkovics of Oradea paid a bribe directly to Caraffa. The remaining two dozen, which included two of the richest men in Hungary, Gyorgy Radvanszky and Sigismund von Zimmermann, fared far worse. Under the personal supervision of Caraffa, the “suspects” were tortured in all sorts of gruesome manners that hearkened back to the most twisted years of the Spanish Inquisition. Decency prevents one from detailing that torture, but let it be said that beatings and burnings were the kindest methods that Caraffa used. Caraffa took a grotesque joy in the tortures by gambling with his officers over how long someone would last or by taunting the prisoners with the thought of freedom. Not all prisoners survived the black treatment they received. Zimmermann died in the midst of his torture and his son had to pay a heavy bribe just to have his father’s body turned over for burial. Other prisoners took their own lives and put their Christian salvation at stake just to put an end to the torment. Those that survived the torture only did so by confessing to a variety of crimes but not one of these confessions provided Caraffa with definitive proof of a conspiracy. Perhaps for that reason, surviving torture did not mean surviving Caraffa. The prisoners who confessed were sentenced to death in light of their confessed crimes.
Eventually after several months and countless complaints from the highest authorities of Hungary and foreign rulers about the “Blood Court of Eperjes”, Emperor Leopold put an end to the court. As Caraffa left Upper Hungary to report to the Emperor and the Hofkriegsrat of his actions he left behind more than two dozen bodies, all of them from Eperjes’s leading class. In the official report, he expressed no remorse. The report read: "Now is the opportunity to eradicate partisanship from Hungary forever. The fortune of war is currently in your Majesty's favor, and the punishment will not only seem just, but will also be loudly approved. Fines and confiscations will increase the coffers. But there is no use in misrule; it is necessary for the inquizicio to start as hard as possible in several parts of the country at the same time.” Not only did he not apologize for his crimes in Eperjes, he suggested that they be repeated in other parts of conquered Hungary. This impenetrable cruelty toward the Hungarians was exactly what Leopold wanted out of his officers. Rather than imprison Caraffa for his use of torture against sworn subjects of Emperor Leopold, rather than demoting Caraffa, or even moving him to some irrelevant administrative job in Vienna where he could no more harm, Emperor Leopold promoted Count Caraffa to Imperial Feldmarschall, one of the highest honors available to the Emperor. This honor was the same one that Max Emanuel of Bavaria was denied after playing pivotal roles in the saving of Vienna, the Second Siege of Buda, the defense at Sabac, and the assault on Belgrade. The fact of the matter was none of the crimes that Caraffa had committed had been performed without the pre-knowledge and approval of Emperor Leopold. Well before Caraffa had begun chopping hands off at Eperjes, he had divulged his deluded notions of a conspiracy spanning the entirety of Hungary to Leopold. Even though Caraffa had as much evidence as Galileo’s deniers, Leopold’s fearful memories of the 1681 Kuruc rebellions got the better of him. In truth, Leopold regarded all Hungarians with immense suspicion. Many of them were ungodly Protestants and some were Muslims, but as a whole, they were unruly sort that needed to be broken. In 1687, that sentiment ensured that Caraffa was uplifted for his abasement of the Hungarians. In 1688, that sentiment resulted in Caraffa being given command of the east, until Charles of Lorraine’s fate was decided.
As part of Caraffa’s stint as the East’s commander, he was tasked with correcting Charles of Lorraine’s generosity and named High Commissioner of Transylvania. As was Leopold’s way, he did not deign to give Caraffa explicit and specific directions about how to carry out his office, as Louis XIV did with his generals. Instead, the Emperor gave Caraffa the liberty to wrangle Transylvania however he saw fit, but if Eperjes was anything to go off then Leopold could trust the Count to abstain from Charles of Lorraine’s moderation. Caraffa did not disappoint his liege and by February 1688, Caraffa had posted himself and an army at Sibiu. From this stronghold, he requested that Prince Mihaly Apafi and members of Transylvanian parliament present themselves to renegotiate Pact of Balazsfalvi. The Transylvanians understood that such a renegotiation could only be to their detriment and they hesitated to comply. On one hand, they understood that Caraffa’s army was superior to the forces that Transylvania had readily available, but on the other, the Transylvanians worried that Caraffa would demand their political and religious subjugation to Vienna. While the Transylvanians hesitated, Caraffa did not. In light of the Transylvanians dragging their feet, Caraffa stripped Aeneas Sylvius von Caprara’s ongoing Siege of Munkacs of most of its 3,000-soldier contingent. Leaving a skeleton crew to besiege Munkacs all but ensured that the siege would protract, but the decision also gave Caraffa an unassailable advantage over the Transylvanians [1]. The message was clear to the Transylvanians, comply or be obliterated. Soon after they agreed with Caraffa’s request for a renegotiation. When Caraffa demanded in specific that certain lords and officials present themselves, the Transylvanians again obeyed. Accordingly, the named individuals, Mihaly Teleki; Elek Bethlen; Gergely Bethlen; Laszlo Szekely of Borosjeno; Valentin Frank, the royal judge of Sibiu, Szabo Keresztely, mayor of Sibiu; Bethlen Miklos; Istvan Apor; Peter Alvinczi; Janos Sarosi of Kissaros; and Michael Filstich, Brasov city judge, traveled to Sibiu to meet with Caraffa. Under the Austrian army’s watch, Caraffa dictated Leopold’s terms and conditions and when some of the delegates tried to talk back, Caraffa promised to march on Fogaras and level it with his cannons. Between the threats against their country and their own personal safety, the Transylvanians struggled to negotiate anything reasonable with Caraffa. One of their own, Mihaly Teleki even conspired against his countrymen for his own benefit, and with his help a declaration very favorable to Austria was drawn up.
The coercion continued beyond Sibiu. When the draft declaration was sent to Fogaras for the prince and parliament's ratification, Caraffa made it clear that if Prince Mihaly Apafi resisted then he and his family would end up in a Viennese prison. By this point, the Transylvanians had lost their will to resist. They had invited the fox into the hen house and now he was threatening to eat them all. There was nothing to be done and so the Transylvanians meekly accepted Caraffa's ultimatum. Under its terms, Transylvania entered into Austrian subservience rather than continuing under the Sublime Porte. Unlike in earlier declarations, Transylvania could no delay in joining the ranks of the Austrian army. Instead, their army now served at the pleasure of Emperor Leopold. On a similar note, the Austrians were "invited" to remain in Transylvania and take up posts at the cities of Kovar, Huszt, Gorgeny, and Braso. Each year from then on, Transylvania would be expected to pay 700,000 forints in tribute, payable in cash. Finally, the independence of Transylvania was guaranteed but only until Emperor Leopold guaranteed the traditional rights of Transylvania. In other words, once the Emperor promises the Transylvanians their typical liberties he was under no more obligation to let them enjoy their sovereignty. This term in essence excused an Austrian absorption of Transylvania if only Transylvania's civil liberties remained. However, even that was put into question when the Transylvanians formally asks for these rights. In a thirteen-point document, they asked for their four religions to be protected, including Lutheranism, for the Apafis to remain in power, and crucially for them to keep the ability to elect their own princes. Not in the strongest words, Leopold promised to leave their religions alone but in all subjects he refused to commit to anything until after the war had been won. By then, he would be too powerful to stop if he just chose to ignore the promises of Fogaras.
Some of the Transylvanians realized the falsehood of Austria's promises and tried to resist. The city of Brasov in particular revolted when Count Caraffa attempted to have his soldiers enter the city pursuant to the Declaration of Fogaras. The old Saxon city was drenched in a rich history as the guardians of the frontier of Christendom and for that reason, its citizens carried an arrogant pride. They could not surrender to the haphazard army of Austria. Furthermore, Brasov like most of Transylvania was Lutheran and they were anxious at the prospect of being ruled by the fervently Catholic Emperor Leopold. Beyond just shutting their gates and refusing the wave the flag of the the Habsburgs, the citizens of Brasov dared to assault soldiers of Emperor Leopold's army. As brave as this stand against the Austrian conquest was, it was entirely in vain. A singular incidence of revolt could by no means stop the army of Count Caraffa. With a simple but effective siege, Caraffa broke the defenses of the city and then with characteristic brutism, he executed dozens of the citizens for their treason. Afterward, the city was placed under martial law and became the first site of Caraffa's attempt at governing Transylvania. Afterward, Caraffa allowed his subordinate Johann Friedrich Ambrosius von Veterani to do the dirty work of occupying the rest of the principality. As much as Caraffa might have enjoyed trampling some poor Transylvanian peasants, he had other things on his mind. Having effectively conquered Transylvania, Caraffa set his sights on the neighboring Wallachia. There, the ruling prince, Serban Cantacuzino, had added to pay Emperor Leopold a tribute of 75,000 thalers and give 6,000 soldiers to the Austrian army. However, he refused to join forces with Austria until the latter could defeat the nearby Ottoman armies. Cantacuzino was unwilling to risk the safety of Wallachia until the Austrians were in a position to defend him. Even though Cantacuzino took private oaths of allegiance to Emperor Leopold, these were not deemed sufficient and the Emperor authorized Caraffa to take action against Wallachia as he had done so against Transylvania.
Caraffa's planned invasion of Wallachia never materialized. Before Caraffa began his march, Max Emanuel had been officially appointed as supreme commander of eastern operations. In that role, Max Emanuel ordered Caraffa to hold off on any further military operations until he arrived. When Max Emanuel reached Belgrade and was duly informed of Caraffa's martial intent against Wallachia, he countermanded Leopold's previous authorization [2]. Much like Charles V of Lorraine, Max Emanuel took a more pragmatic and practical approach to Balkan politics than Emperor Leopold and Count Caraffa. The Elector of Bavaria did not believe that the Emperor's suspicion of Prince Serban was warranted. Serban and his family had sworn their allegiance and Austria's spies were not reporting that the Cantacuzinos were acting contrary to their promises. Meanwhile, with Belgrade and the Danubian highway in hand, Max Emanuel disagreed with Caraffa's notion that immediate and unrestricted access through Wallachia were necessary for military success. As Max Emanuel understood the situation, the Imperial army could easily march down the Danube to its next targets and clear the area of Ottoman dangers. Once the Ottomans were pushed back then Wallachians would feel safe enough to join the Holy League. In the meantime, the Bavarian could not understand the value of attacking a potential ally. The Imperials could not force Wallachia to join the Holy League. Using force would only make the Wallachians come to hate the Imperials. Why make an enemy out of a friend, Max thought. Even if Max thought there might be some value to conquering Wallachia, he did not believe that the army could afford the excess. At that time, thousands of soldiers from the eastern army were being redeployed to Germany in preparation for a war with France. Max Emanuel's own Bavarians were still on their way to the east. As a consequence, the supreme commander was at the head of a relatively weak army in 1688 and the lateness in the season did not encourage an invasion of Wallachia. Rather than embark on the abuse of another Danubian principality, Max Emanuel chose to focus on firming up the gains that he and Charles of Lorraine had won in the previous year. This meant capturing a few more Bosnian towns and taking control of the region to Belgrade’s south by besieging the towns of Semendria, Passarowitz, Valjevo, Kragujewatz, and Jagodina. Through the capture of these cities, Max Emanuel gave the Imperials a strong hold over Serbia and kept the hopes of a Wallachian alliance alive.
Over the winter of 1688-89, Max Emanuel at first began to draw up grand plans due to the promise of reinforcement. Max Emanuel drew up a campaign for the conquest of Bosnia and Serbia while also detaching Count Aeneas Sylvius de Caprara to take Varad and Count Antonio Caraffa to capture Temesvar. However, as the news from the west became more dire, Emperor Leopold both switched the destination of those reinforcements from east and west and requested more soldiers from Max Emanuel’s army to be redeployed. Thus, by spring, Max Emanuel found himself at the head of an even more limited army than he commanded at the tail-end of 1688. In line with his limited soldier count, Max Emanuel curtailed his goals for 1689. Since Max Emanuel felt that Varad and Temesvar’s falls were inevitable now that Transylvania had been brought to heel, Max Emanuel chose to cancel those sieges. While Lieutenant General Donat Heissler was left to command the Transylvanian army, Caprara, Caraffa, Veterani, and their soldiers were all brought to the Balkans. The plan Max Emanuel laid before them was simple. The army would split into two main pieces, one would levy contributions in Bosnia and occupy the town of Sarajevo. The other, larger army, would drive through southern Serbia and besiege the fortress of Nis on the Nishava river. Max Emanuel thought that Nis could act as another anchor for the Imperial military in the east while Sarajevo could act as a supply depot for operations down the Adriatic Coast. Veterani and Friar Marco d'Aviano argued for a much more aggressive campaign that would focus on taking Nis and then Sofia to open the road to Constantinople, but Max Emanuel rejected this idea. He was content to orchestrate a more limited and controlled campaign as his main goal was to avoid overextending himself and exposing his army to unnecessary risk.
Veterani’s overt aggression concerned Max Emanuel so too did Count Caraffa's menacing personality. For this reason, the Bavarian Elector gave the older and more tempered Marshal Caprara command of the Bosnian expedition. As desired Caprara oversaw a very calculated and calm campaign. With a relatively small army, Caprara marched beyond the Sava into Bosnia. Despite his army’s small size, the Ottoman Empire was still a state of general disorder which had left Bosnia without a major field army to defend it. As Caprara marched down the Bosna toward Sarajevo he only encountered a series of small garrisons at Doboj Fortress, Maglaj, Zepce, Zenica, Vranduk Fortress, and finally Visoko. Each of these garrisons showed a sense of resolve despite the years of setbacks faced by the Ottomans. Still, each one of them eventually fell. In the case of Doboj and Vranduk a traditional siege was necessary while Maglaj was stormed, Zepce’s garrison was bribed, Zenica was starved out, and Visoko was bombarded into submission. Once the last of these forts, Visoko, fell, Caprara finally advanced on Sarajevo, which in terms of population was massive. More than 80,000 inhabitants lived within the city, which was nearly 10 times the size of Caprara’s army. Fortunately, the continued aftershocks of the Ottoman Empire's revolution meant that even a city as large as Sarajevo had been left without strong leadership. No pasha was present to organize an appropriate defense that made use of that massive population and no serasker was on his way to relief the city. Without any organized resistance, Caprara could just cut off the city and then after two months of bombardment and starvation, a revolt within Sarajevo brought the city to its knees. The surrender of Sarajevo in September 1689, brought practically all of northern Bosnia under the control of the Austrians. Even though Caprara had not faced much resistance in his campaign, its results were still remarkable.
Max Emanuel’s own campaign started later than Caprara's as a consequence of its greater size and need for more sophisticated logistics. But unlike Caprara’s Bosnian campaign, Max Emanuel did not have to worry about pushing his way through a series of fortresses. Max Emanuel had already taken several of the central Serbian fortresses in the previous year including Kraguewatz and Jagodina. Additionally, control of Jagodina meant that Max Emanuel already had a protected area to cross the Great Morava to attack Nisa. Max Emanuel would not risk having to fight against Sabac. Overall, in terms of geography, Max Emanuel’s campaign was a relatively simple jaunt of 65 miles from Jagodina to Nis. What complicated Max Emanuel’s campaign was that Nis, unlike Sarajevo, actually had an organized defense. This defense came in the form of Arat Redzep Pasha, the serasker for the Balkans, and the field army of 40,000 men he had assembled outside Nis. By this point, everyone in the Ottoman Empire knew the Blue King well and knew better then to attack the defender of Sabac. Arat Redzep permitted the Imperials an unhindered approach to Nis and instead drew his army into a strong defensive posture just north of the Nishava River. 20,000 of the soldiers formed a line between the river and Vinik under Arat Redzep and the Beylerbey of Rumelia, Zurnapa Mustafa Pasha. A further 15,000 men under Mahmud Pasha controlled Pantelei. Finally, the rest of the army was stationed along the Nishava and even more soldiers were garrisoning Nis.
When Max Emanuel came upon this formidable army, he knew that he faced a difficult challenge if he was to succeed in taking Nis. The army before him was more than twice his own and was well entrenched. Although Max Emanuel had reasonable doubts about the quality of the Ottoman army after a long war with several major defeats, the Elector was still wary of attacking it. At the same time, Max Emanuel recognized that a retreat would take him back through lands that he had already foraged, which could cost his army many men to attrition and Ottoman counterattacks. Although Max Emanuel might have tried feinting a retreat to draw the Ottomans out of their lines, he doubted that the maneuver would work in light of Sabac. Ultimately, after conferring with his officers, Max Emanuel decided to scout the Ottoman position for potential weaknesses. A day later, Max Emanuel’s Serbian ally Pavle Nestorovic discovered that vital weakness. Although the Ottomans had built numerous fortifications around, they had left one gap between Vinik and the hill to its north. This gap was both without fortifications and without any men defending it. Even though the Serbian scouts were not able to completely penetrate the Ottoman lines, their familiarity with the landscape led them to believe that the valley went all the way to the rear of the Ottoman camp. If it did then the Imperials might be able to march through the valley and swing around Arat Redzep’s army. If successful this maneuver would place the Imperials directly between Redzep's men at Vinik and Mahmud Pasha’s army at Pantelei. From this position, the Imperials could press Redzep's army against the Nishava River, which was running high as a result of summer rains. In other words, they could crush the Arat Redzep against a wall of water. However, if the Imperials were caught before they could establish control over the valley then they would put themselves in between two Ottoman armies. Perhaps the Ottomans had left this gap open on purpose to draw the Imperials into a vise and then pulverize them from both sides. Even if the trap was not intended, the Ottomans could still shut it and easily take an army off the Imperial army, if not more. In this tense moment, the Elector of Bavaria did not shy from the challenge or the risk. He fell back on his youthful audacity and announced to his officers that the attack would commence the following morning.
Before dawn on September 17, 1689, Max Emanuel initiated his attack by sending Nestorovic and General Veterani to pass through the valley toward the Ottoman rear. Despite the cover of darkness, Nestorovic and Veterani did not escape the notice of the Albanian garrison on the northern hill who began firing on the Imperial column as it passed through the valley. Nestorovic and Veterani kept their composure and ignored the Albanian fire as they continued through the valley. The two men understood that their objective lay at the end of that long valley and no time could be afforded for the Albanian distraction. However, at this point, Arat Redzep had been alerted to the Imperial attack and immediately dispatched several thousand sipahis to circle around the advancing column and envelop it. Nestorovic’s Serbs saw this attack coming and gave their Imperial comrades fair warning of it. With this knowledge, the naturally aggressive Veterani turned with glee and ordered his column to pounce on the sipahis as they tried to bypass the Imperials. The sipahis were shocked to find themselves under attack by this ostensibly inferior foe and failed to resist it effectively. After a fierce struggle, the sipahis were routed and the Imperial column was able to resume its march. At the same time, Princes Friedrich August and Maximilian Wilhelm of Hanover cleared the Albanians from the hill to relieve pressure on the forward column. Finally, Nestorovic and Veterani reached the end of the valley and came upon a clear plain devoid of enemies just as Nestorovic had promised.
Once a message got back to Max Emanuel confirming the safety of the plain, he gave the order for a general attack. While Count Guido von Starhemberg was sent to reinforce Veterani through the valley, Max Emanuel and Caraffa assaulted the Ottoman center and left respectively. Although Arat Redzep met the Bavarian center and Austrian left flank, the main concern was Starhemberg’s approach through the valley. By this point, Arat Redzep had come to realize the danger that an Imperial-occupied valley exposed him to. Already, Nestorovic and Veterani were harassing Arat Redzep’s rear, but their column alone could not encircle the Ottomans. If Starhemberg joined them, however, the possibility of encirclement became much more real. Desperately, Arat Redzep sent thousands of sipahis against Starhemberg’s column in hopes of running it over as it was stretched out in the valley. Without the Serbian scouts, Starhemberg did not have the advance warning that Veterani got, but as soon as Starhemberg spotted the sipahis he ordered his men to turn and fight. As thousands of sipahis crashed down on Starhemberg’s column in a relatively organized manner, Starhemberg remained unshaken. Urging his soldiers on and drawing his sword to join them in the fight, Starhemberg and his men were able to dig in and contain the Ottoman attack. Once Max Emanuel spared Starhemberg some Bavarian soldiers, the sipahis were repulsed and Starhemberg was able to resume his march through the valley.
With Starhemberg’s success, Max Emanuel decided to send more of his army through the valley with the goal of turning the battlefield entirely. This meant that Max Emanuel and Caraffa’s attacks became focused on merely holding down the Ottomans rather than breaking through them. While Max Emanuel repositioned his infantry and cavalry, he also sent his artillery up the hill to the Hanoverians. From there, the Hanoverians began to rain cannon fire down on the Ottoman army. Once Max Emanuel had a significant amount of soldiers in the valley to Vinik’s north, he ordered a renewed attack on Vinik from the west. As this Bavarian attack distracted the Ottomans at their front, Charles Eugene, Duc de Croy, led the Austrians out of the valley and hit Vinik from the side. This two-pronged attack overwhelmed the defenders of Vinik and sent them reeling backward. Still, the fighting was tough and Mahmud Pasha had moved out of Pantelei in the east to come to Arat Redzep’s help.
With the battle going against him, Arat Redzep decided to focus on linking up with Mahumd Pasha's army and either turning the battle around or securing his escape to the east. This maneuver required turning back on the Imperial forces of Veterani, Starhemberg, and Nestorovic that were gathering in the plain. Once again Arat Redzep relied on his Sipahis to break through the Imperials. But once again, the Imperial infantry stood strong and resisted the initial attack. Then as Hanoverian infantrymen and Austrian hussars arrived in the valley, the Imperials were able to turn on the Sipahis and rip them to pieces. The only reason that Sipahis did not shatter and flee was that Arat Redzep ordered the janissaries to execute the first set of Sipahis who tried to run. With the janissaries blocking their retreat, the Sipahis turned back around and charged once more into the maw of the Imperial army. Yet again, the Imperials did not budge even a foot against this final charge. Fearlessly the Imperials fired straight into the charge and then met it with axes and pikes. The sipahis were mercilessly butchered at Veterani and Nestorovic's orders.
Finally, the sipahis broke and even with janissaries firing into them, they galloped backward. The sipahis proceeded to run amok through the army. At the same time, the retreating elements of Vinik were being pushed into the rest of Arat Redzep’s army. The Ottomans were being balled up into a dense mass of disordered soldiers, and Max Emanuel recognized it. While Starhemberg was given the order to ward off Mahmud Pasha, the rest of the Imperial army turned on Arat Redzep’s men and attacked them from all sides. As the Imperials pressed in, the Ottoman soldiers became so tightly packed that they struggled to breathe. At the same time, the Imperial cannon fire from the hill and musket fire always found their marks and slaughtered the Ottomans as they stood. Desperately, the Ottomans tried to retreat toward the Nishava, but Veterani beat them to the riverbank Although Veterani lacked the men to completely close the circle on the Ottomans, his position along the riverbank allowed him to murder hundreds of helpless Ottoman soldiers as they were pushed into the river. Countless more drowned in the Nishava. By nightfall, Max Emanuel had overseen a massacre of the Ottoman army. More than 15,000 soldiers had been killed or drowned. In contrast, Max Emanuel had lost under a thousand men.
Following the horrific at Vinik, Mahmud Pasha learned the lesson that Arat Redzep had not: avoid the Blue King, no matter what. Once again, Max Emanuel had overseen a great triumph over superior Ottomans. In particular, his men had demonstrated the rapidly decreasing effectiveness of Ottoman sipahis. After so many defeats, far too many Ottoman sipahi veterans had been lost and their replacements were simply not good enough. Rather than become yet another victim of the Blue King, Mahmud Pasha abandoned Serbia entirely and fell back to Sofia. This allowed Max Emanuel to besiege Nis without the risk of the city being relieved. Arat Redzep who had survived the bloodbath at Vinik, led the defense of Nis admirably, but after a month, Max Emanuel had ripped through the city’s walls with his cannons and then personally led an assault that saw the rest of the Ottomans slaughtered or captured. Arat Redzep went down fighting just as his comrade Abdi Pasha at Buda had done. With the conquest of Nis, Max Emanuel decided to end his campaign. Although Veterani urged Max Emanuel to push on to Macedonia or Bulgaria where the Orthodox locales were on the verge of rebelling, Max Emanuel refused [3]. As tempting as the idea of rallying thousands of rebels might have been, rebels did not bring with them the weapons necessary to take down the fortresses of the Balkans. What Veterani was seeing was a dream of glory, not the reality of war. The Bavarian believed it was better to consolidate what had been taken and refortify Nis ahead of an Ottoman counterattack. Max Emanuel had been able to make use of Veterani’s aggression at Vinik, he did not have any further need for it in 1689. The year closed with Max Emanuel returning to Belgrade to make winter quarters and to oversee the continued strengthening of its fortifications. Starhemberg as one of the heroes of Vinik was given the honor of captaining Nis’s garrison and accordingly was left behind to rebuild the city. All in all, with Sarajevo and Nis in hand, Max Emanuel felt as if he had delivered a good campaign in 1689. Emperor Leopold had thoughts of his own.
[1] The fact that Belgrade was taken in 1687 meant that the Imperials did not have the resources to take Munakcs in that year. Then in 1688, Munkacs was put under siege again but Caraffa needs those men to take out Transylvania. In OTL, he had those men because Munkacs had already fallen. Then in 1689, we will see that the Imperial priorities again circumvent Munkacs. This means that going into 1690, Munkacs will remain defiant and that Imre Thokoly's family will remain at liberty.
[2] Unlike Ludwig of Baden, Max Emanuel does not permit Caraffa's invasion of Wallachia. As a politician, Max Emanuel is more cautious than Ludwig of Baden and less suspicious than Emperor Leopold. Also, as someone who has just tried to play off two sides (Austria and France) for his own benefit, Max Emanuel understands Serban Canatacuzino's behavior more than Emperor Leopold. In Max Emanuel's mind, Serban is like him. He's willing to play both sides, but he knows which side he actually wants to fight for and he is unlikely to go so far as to join the other side. In this case, Max Emanuel believes that Serban's heart is with the Holy League just as Max Emanuel's heart with the Empire.
[3] Max Emanuel a strategist showed less willingness to embark on grand and elaborate schemes than Ludwig Wilhelm did. He does not see the capture of Sofia as possible and he does not see the capture of Skopje as necessary. Max Emanuel is willing to play out his campaign slowly and more diligently than Ludwig Wilhelm. Max Emanuel is also less prone to accepting the arguments of Veterani and other subordinates. Although these officers have a well of experience, Max Emanuel is an elector and he feels the weight of his authority. He knows he does not have to listen to these men if he does not wish to.
truly fantastic chapter, is that it opens up important future scenarios for the continuation of the conflict and the development of the Balkans, the first obviously being that with the war front moved deeper than in Otl, we will see southern Hungary less devastated and in a bit more ethnically homogeneous, it is unlikely to revolt to demand the suppression of the military border given that in this TL it is currently located in Bosnia and central Serbia, so if Leopold plays his cards well, particularly regarding the tax burden and the introduction of the Counter-Reformation ( which should be gradually favored, but more calmly than Otl ) could avoid or mitigated the rebellion of 1703 - 1711, just as we will witness an exodus of Muslims towards the rest of the territories of the Sublime Porte, considered safer ( and if we consider that Hungary alone hosted 80 thousand in Otl, a to which must be added those present in Serbia and above all Bosnia, it means that we will see a significant influx into Macedonia and southern Bulgaria which could change the local demography in favor of the Turks in the long term ), finally there is the entire issue of Bosnia, which allows to have a direct border with Venetian Dalmatia, so as to favor a logistical alternative for the arrival of supplies, as well as making cooperation with the Serenissima easier ( which could thus move its human resources currently used to defend the region, in Morea to open a new front against Constantinople )
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