PRIORIZACION INTEGRADA Y PRIORIDADES SANITARIAS

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Austria vs. Switzerland PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Switzerland

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The Hapsburgs invaded

Swiss Confederation lands, seeking additional territory.

OUTCOME: The Austrians suffered a series of defeats,

resulting in a two-decades-long peace and strengthening the Swiss Confederation, thereby establishing the foundation of modern Switzerland.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS: At

Battle of Sempach (July 9, 1386), the Swiss fielded 1,600 pikemen against 6,000 Austrians.

CASUALTIES: Unknown, but heavy among the Austrians TREATIES: Zurich Treaty of 1388

Throughout most of the Middle Ages the cantons of Switzerland had existed in competition with one another, and there was virtually no sense of a Swiss nationality. However, in response to oppression from the Hapsburgs, the cantons and other Swiss communities, loosely consti- tuted as they were, banded together for the purpose of defense. The most important of the cantons, Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, created the Everlasting League in 1291, which led to the creation of a Swiss Confederation early in the 14th century.

In 1385 the confederation was put to the test when Duke Leopold III of Austria (1351–86) encroached on con-

federation territory. This brought a preemptory response from the confederation, which took the initiative by invad- ing Hapsburg-controlled Rothenburg and Sempach. Pro- voked, Leopold launched a full-scale invasion of Swiss territory. On July 9, 1386, 6,000 Austrians attacked a mere 1,600 Swiss pikemen. Austria’s heavy cavalry was not much use in the broken mountain fields and so fought dis- mounted. They were at first successful against the outnum- bered Swiss but eventually fell victim to their own heavy armor. Exhausted in the difficult terrain, the Austrians allowed gaps to develop in their line of attack. The highly skilled Swiss were quick to exploit these openings. In a counterattack they readily penetrated the faulty Austrian lines and devastated the numerically superior army. Leopold III was killed in the final assault on the dis- mounted cavalrymen.

Sempach was the decisive battle of the war. However, one more great battle was fought at Näfels in 1388. Again showing themselves masters of tactics suited to mountain- ous terrain, the Swiss set up an ambush in which they let loose an avalanche of boulders on the advancing Austrians. Thus, thrown into panic and disorder, the Austrians were handily defeated in detail and concluded a hasty truce, which was soon formalized as the Zurich Treaty of 1388. The victory greatly enhanced the prestige and power of the Swiss Federation, which, by the beginning of the 15th cen- tury, would include a total of eight member cantons.

Further reading: Douglas Miller, The Swiss at War

1300–1500 (London: Osprey, 1998); William E. Rappard, Collective Security in Swiss Experience, 1291–1948 (West-

port, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1984).

Austro-Swiss War

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Austria vs. Swiss Confederation PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Rhine region of Switzerland DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The Swiss Confederation

wanted to push the Hapsburgs north of the Rhine.

OUTCOME: For the most part, the confederation was

successful; the Hapsburgs retained a few small holdings south of the Rhine.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:

Unknown

CASUALTIES: Unknown

TREATIES: Peace of Constance, 1461

As a result of the OLDZURICHWAR, the Hapsburg Austrians

were driven out of the Aargau in 1450. Nevertheless, the Hapsburgs’ presence continued to loom over the Swiss can- tons. Hapsburg duke Sigismund (d. 1496) ruled the Tyrol, while Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (1415–93), mem- ber of a rival branch of the Hapsburg family, walked a thin

line between asserting his imperial rights in Switzerland and maintaining his claims to Hapsburg power. Ultimately, his decision was to side with rival Hapsburgs against the Swiss Confederation.

Thanks to its success in the AUSTRO-SWISS WAR

(1385–1388), the Swiss Confederation was both powerful and prestigious. Appreciating this, Frederick III made the mistake no effective leader can afford to make: He threat- ened war but repeatedly deferred action. Sensing weak- ness, the Swiss Confederation assumed the offensive. When Frederick’s man in the Tyrol, Sigismund, was excommunicated in 1460 because of a dispute over papal succession, the confederation found its pretext for launch- ing a war. Dispatching an army to the Rhineland, the con- federation occupied Frauenfeld, then laid siege against Winterthur. The siege was soon broken, but the confeder- ation did wrest the canton of Thurgau from the grasp of Sigismund. This gave the confederation a strong hand in negotiating a favorable peace at Constance in 1461. By the treaty hammered out there, the Hapsburgs relinquished many of their holdings in the Swiss territories.

Further reading: Douglas Miller, The Swiss at War

1300–1500 (London: Osprey, 1998); William E. Rappard, Collective Security in Swiss Experience, 1291–1948 (West-

port, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1984).

Austro-Swiss War

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Austria (and Holy Roman

Empire allies) vs. Switzerland (and French allies)

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Switzerland DECLARATION: None recorded

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The Swiss sought

independence from the Holy Roman Empire.

OUTCOME: Maximilian’s Swabian troops were decisively

defeated, and the Swiss achieved independence.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:

Unknown

CASUALTIES: Unknown

TREATIES: Treaty of Basel, September 22, 1499

After the Hapsburgs were driven out of the Swiss Aargau in 1450 (see OLDZURICHWAR), Holy Roman Emperor Maxi-

milian I (1459–1519), a Hapsburg, sought revenge by asserting imperial control over and levying burdensome taxes on the eastern cantons of Switzerland, where the bor- der with Austria was in hot contention. The Swiss Confed- eration secured an alliance with the French, stubbornly resisted the Holy Roman Empire, and thereby provoked open warfare.

Maximilian enjoyed the support of the cities of south- ern Germany and opened up fronts along the northern and eastern borders of the Swiss territory. In a period of a few

months, five battles were fought in succession: at Hard, Bruderholz, Schwaderloh, Frastenz, and Claven. None of these was decisive, although the Swiss generally prevailed. The major battle of the war was fought on July 22 at Dornach and resulted in the defeat of an army led person- ally by Maximilian. Unable to recover from this reverse, Maximilian sued for peace and, by the Treaty of Basel (September 22, 1499), granted the Swiss cantons virtual independence from the Holy Roman Empire.

See also AUSTRO-SWISS WAR (1385–1388); AUSTRO-

SWISSWAR(1460).

Further reading: Douglas Miller, The Swiss at War

1300–1500 (London: Osprey, 1998); William E. Rappard, Collective Security in Swiss Experience, 1291–1948 (West-

port, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1984).

Austro-Turkish War

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Austria vs. Ottoman Turks PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Hungary

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The Austrians wanted to

recover the portion of Hungary lost to the Ottomans; the Ottomans wanted to take Vienna.

OUTCOME: Two-thirds of Hungary remained in Ottoman

hands, but the assault on Vienna was twice repulsed.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:

Austrians, 78,000; Ottoman Turks, 200,000

CASUALTIES: Austria, unknown; Ottoman Turks, several

thousand (mostly victims of snowstorms and starvation)

TREATIES: A truce ended the war in 1533.

Ottoman victory in the HUNGARIAN-TURKISHWAR(1521–

1526) gave the Ottoman Turks control of some two-thirds of Hungary. The Austrians, however, quickly acted against Ottoman Hungary, forcing John Zápolya (1487–1540), king of Ottoman Hungary, into Polish exile in 1527.

John called upon the Turks at Constantinople for help, and Sultan Süleyman I the Magnificent (1496–1566) swore to march on Vienna and take the city. The sultan rapidly mobilized some 80,000 to 120,000 men and invaded Hungary in May 1529. Joining him was the rebel- lious Zápolya with 6,000 cavalrymen.

Buda was the first objective, which fell on September 8. The German garrison there was slaughtered. On September 27 Süleyman’s forces were outside Vienna and commenced bombardment of the city while Turkish engi- neers began undermining the walls. Süleyman did not count on the tenacity of the defenders, however, who fought from within the walls and also periodically sortied into the attackers with great effect. On October 6 some 8,000 Austrians surged out of the city and wreaked havoc among the Turks, killing 600 before withdrawing within

the city again. The Austrians knew that time was on their side. The sultan’s army would be hard put to maintain the siege through winter, and on the night of October 14–15 Süleyman did finally withdraw.

The retreat of the Ottoman Turks was a logistical night- mare. Poorly supplied, continually harried by Austrian peasants, freezing, and starving, they plodded homeward. Thousands perished, and much valuable equipment was abandoned.

In 1531 Archduke Ferdinand (1503–64) launched a counteroffensive but was unable to retake Buda. In 1532 Süleyman also regrouped, assembling at Belgrade a vast invasion force at least 200,000 strong. The Turks were on the march by June, and they faced an army under Charles V (1500–58) of only 78,000, but these troops were so skill- fully deployed that Süleyman was effectively held at bay. Chastened by the experience of his first invasion, the sultan repeatedly avoided a frontal attack. Instead, from August 9 to 28 the Turks attacked the fortress of Guns, a relatively minor outpost. Even this siege proved unsuccessful, and, at last, Süleyman gave up. After withdrawing down the Drava River, he concluded a truce in 1533. By that time, however, he had lost control of large numbers of his troops, who con- tinued indiscriminate and highly destructive raids, trigger- ing the AUSTRO-TURKISHWAR(1537–1547).

Further reading: Rhoads Murphey, Ottoman Warfare:

1500–1700 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University

Press, 1999); V. J. Parry and M. J. Kitch, Hapsburg and

Ottoman Empires (London: Sussex Publications, 1982).