Battle of Iași

Battle of Iași
Part of the Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)
Date January 1717 Location Iași, Moldavia (Ottoman vassal) 47°9′44″N 27°35′20″E Result Ottoman-led victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire Nogai Tatars Moldavia	Habsburg monarchy
Commanders and leaders
Mihai Racoviță	François de Lorraine † Rittmaster Ernau
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Low	Nearly everyone
class=notpageimage| Location within Europe Battle of Iași (Romania)

Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18

200km
125miles

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The Battle of Iași was fought in January 1717 at Iași with a joint force composed of Ottomans, Nogai Tatars from Yedisan, and the Moldavians against Habsburg soldiers. The latter were led by François de Lorraine and Rittmaster Ernau, both of whom were killed. The battle was part of the Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) and occurred as a result of Ottoman vassal Mihai Racoviță requesting aid from Turkish and Nogai Tatar soldiers to eradicate the Habsburg presence in the region. The battle resulted in an Ottoman-led victory and forced the Habsburgs out of Moldavia.

Background

From June to September 1715, the Ottoman Empire, led by Grand Vizier Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha, easily reclaimed the Peloponnese, which they had ceded to the Republic of Venice with the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Thus, the Venetian Kingdom of the Morea was no more and had been absorbed into Ottoman territory. Having formed an alliance with Venice in April 1716 and as the guarantor of the Karlowitz treaty, Austria demanded the full withdrawal of Ottoman troops from the region, as well as financial compensation to Venice for the continued violation of the stipulations of the Karlowitz treaty. Confident that they could defeat the Habsburgs and possibly reconquer Hungary due to successive victories in the Pruth River Campaign and the war with Venice, the Ottomans responded to Austria's ultimatum by waging war on 15 May 1716.

Prelude

Although the war with the Habsburgs began favourably for the Ottomans at Karlowitz, they had suffered two important defeats before the battle of Iași; first at Petrovaradin and then at Temeşvar. Seeking to capitalise on the situation, the Habsburgs, led by Stephan Graf Stainville, launched a campaign into Wallachia and Moldavia, both under Ottoman suzerainty. They gained ground mostly thanks to boyars who collaborated with them. They progressed until Iași and captured the city very briefly in January 1717 following fierce resistance from the Ottoman garrison. However, a joint Ottoman–Tatar attack was launched on the city shortly after the Prince of Moldavia Mihai Racoviță, an Ottoman vassal, asked for assistance from the Ottomans and especially the Nogai Tatars of Yedisan (a territory of the Ottoman Empire) to reclaim Iași.

Battle

The battle took place near Cetățuia Monastery. Nearly the entire Habsburg force was wiped out. François de Lorraine was killed in action whereas Rittmaster Ernau was captured and instantly beheaded.

Aftermath

After this disastrous battle, the Habsburgs withdrew completely from Moldavia, resulting in an Ottoman victory on the Moldavian front of the war. The punishment that Mihai Racoviță exacted on those who cooperated with or were thought to have collaborated with the Habsburgs was near to extreme as he was known for his anti-Habsburg sentiments. Many boyars and especially members of the clergy were killed (most of them tortured to death) for treason.

The focus of the Habsburgs soon shifted to Bosnia, where they deployed over 50,000 troops to open a new front. However, this proved to be an even greater disaster than the Moldavian campaign a few months prior. Due to Maximilian Petrasch's failure to capture İzvornik during its siege and Sigbert Heister's calamitous failed attempt to take Novi Grad, Habsburg presence was eradicated from Bosnia as it was from Moldavia.