Hello and welcome to When Diplomacy Fails Episode 4. My name is Zach Twomley. You're listening to the fourth part of the long war, which is a very special war, and one that provides us with a lot of incredible stories, incredible events and incredible characters. So thanks for stopping by. If this is your first time listening to When Diplomacy Fails, then you're very, very welcome. If it's your numerous second or third or fourth

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guys and I hope you enjoy this latest installment. Hello and welcome history friends,

patrons all to the fourth installment of our examination of the Long War,

the series of interconnected conflicts which waged from the early 1680s to 1699.

Last time we concluded our examination of Louis XIV's machinations and left him where he was for the moment.

To pick up on what arguably could be considered the

main event of this period in history, the last siege of Vienna, on the 12th of September 1683.

As an event, its significance is undeniable, as it established the pattern of general retreat and

decline in the Ottoman Empire, and effectively pushed the Turks off the fearful pedestal

they had once occupied. By the time the 18th century dawned, the Ottoman Turks became, in the

description of one historian, a curiosity rather than a terrible menace. As hard as it would have been

for a contemporary of Europe to imagine the Turks no longer posing a grave threat to Western Europe in the early 1680s,

in this episode we're going to engage in an equally challenging exercise in imagination.

To provide the necessary background for the Habsburg-Ottoman rivalry, which would come to dominate the siege of Vienna and military efforts

...