Jan Sobieski and the Relief of Vienna
In the summer of 1683 Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha led an Ottoman army estimated at 150,000 men to the walls of Vienna. Emperor Leopold I fled. Jan III Sobieski led his army westward and on 12 September 1683, unleashed a cavalry charge of some 20,000 horsemen — including 3,000 of the legendary Polish Winged Hussars — down the hillside into the Ottoman camp. It was the largest cavalry charge in history and it was devastating. Kara Mustafa's army dissolved. Sobieski sent the Pope the message 'Venimus, vidimus, Deus vicit' — 'We came, we saw, God conquered'. The victory permanently halted Ottoman expansion into central Europe. For Poland, Vienna was the last great military triumph before the partitions began to diminish the Commonwealth's power.
- Year: 1683 CE
- Category: Military
