Military Conquests

The Siege of Vienna

During my reign, I further expanded the Ottoman Empire. My father, Selim had many conquests and I did the same. In 1521, I captured Belgrade; after, I went on to conquer central and southern of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the Battle of the Mohács in 1526, I was able to institute Ottoman rule in Hungary and other Central European territories. After this, I laid siege to Vienna in 1529. However, I failed to obtain the city when the winter forced us to retreat. In 1532, I attacked Vienna again with a strong army of well over 250,000 soldiers, but we were forced back 60 miles south of Vienna at the fortress of Güns. Ferdinand officially recognized Ottoman dominance in Hungary in 1547 after many further advances by the Ottomans in 1543. Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia became tributary territories of the Ottoman Empire. I also took Baghdad from the Persians in 1535, which helped me obtain control of Mesopotamia and also naval access to the Persian Gulf. The Ottoman Empire also became a dominant naval force under my rule. We controlled most of the Mediterranean Sea. The Ottoman admiral Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha commanded the Ottoman Navy and led it to many military victories over Christian navies. During this period, the Ottoman Empire and France became powerful allies. The alliance was for military and economic reasons and was united by common opposition to the Habsburgs. The conquests of the Ottoman Empire gained territories that doubled the size of the empire, and it was truly a powerful nation.