List of Wars
Venice 		List of Wars
Ottoman Rumelia






Ottoman-Venetian War, 1714-1718




A.) The Diplomatic Pre-History of the War

In a war lasting from 1684-1699, the Republic of Venice had defeated the Ottoman Empire, which, in the Treaty of Karlowitz 1699 ceded the Morea to the Serene Republic. This victory had been achieved not meely on the merits of the Venetian forces, but because Venice was part of the Holy Alliance; the Ottoman Empire simultaneously had to face the Austrian (1683-1699), Polish (1683-1699) and, temporarily, the Russian armies (1695-1696).
The Republic of Venice did not maintain a standing army of her own, and depended on hiring mercenary forces in case of need. The Ottoman Empire declared war (1714).


B.) The Military Course of Events

In 1715 Ottoman forces reconquered the Morea; the Venetian forces were allowed to depart, on boats supplied by the Ottoman admiral. Ottoman forces 33,000 men strong also landed on the island of Corfu (1716); the besieged fortresses of Avrami and the Saviour, defended by 8,000 men commanded by von der Schulenburg, held out (July 8th to August 8th). A violent storm ravaged the Ottoman fleet; most Ottoman troops departed; von der Schulenburg retook the temporarily Ottoman-held fortress of Butrinto and the island of Santa Maura (Lefkadi).
Austria exerted diplomatic pressure on the Sublime Porte to return the Morea to Venice; Istanbul refused and Austria declared war. The Austro-Ottoman War of 1716-1718 was brief and decisive. The year 1718 ended both wars - the Austro-Ottoman War and the Ottoman-Venetian War. Militarily, Austria had prevailed; the Ottomans had lost to the Austrians, but had held on to the Morea. The Venetians had held on to the Ionian Islands, but had been incapable to recuperate the Morea.
Hopes to regain the Morea at the negotiating table, due to Austrian pressure, did not materialize; Austria pocketed her own territorial gains; the Morea remained an Ottoman possession.


C.) The Legacy

Venice had lost the war and the Morea. Her capability of fighting a war of its own was questionable. In 1720, the Ottoman Empire annexed the island of Tinos, Venice's last possession in the Aegaean Sea - Venice did not undertake any step to retaliate.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Corfu, from Corfu Web
History of Corfu : Venetian Domintion, from Xenos
Biography Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, from Freenet Lexikon, in German
Turkokratia, rom Mani Guide
DOCUMENTS Medal : General Johann Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg an the Siege of Corfu 1715, posted by Christopher Eimer
Monument to Marshall von der Schulenburg (Venice), from Arzana; Italian language website
Monument to Marshall von der Schulenburg (Corfu), from Corfu.de, in German
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on July 15th 2004

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