Balkan Wars

Habsburg Croatia, Ottoman Bosnia, and Venetian Dalmatia, 1499-1617

By: James D. Tracy

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Hardcover | 29 July 2016

At a Glance

Hardcover
458 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
16.2 x 23.7 x 3.5

Hardcover

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Distinguished scholar James D. Tracy shows how the Ottoman advance across Europe stalled in the western Balkans, where three great powers confronted one another in three adjoining provinces: Habsburg Croatia, Ottoman Bosnia, and Venetian Dalmatia. Until about 1580, Bosnia was a platform for Ottoman expansion, and Croatia steadily lost territory, while Venice focused on protecting the Dalmatian harbors vital for its trade with the Ottoman east. But as Habsburg-Austrian elites coalesced behind military reforms, they stabilized Croatiaâs frontier, while Bosnia shifted its attention to trade, and Habsburg raiders crossing Dalmatia heightened tensions with Venice. The period ended with a long inconclusive war between Habsburgs and Ottomans, and a brief inconclusive war between Austria and Venice. Based on rich primary research and a masterful synthesis of key studies, this book is the first English-language history of the early modern Western Balkans. More broadly, it brings out how the Ottomans and their European rivals conducted their wars in fundamentally different ways. A sultanâs commands were not negotiable, and Ottoman generals were held to a time-tested strategy for conquest. Habsburg sovereigns had to bargain with their elites, and it took elaborate processes of consultation to rally provincial estates behind common goals. In the end, government-by-consensus was able to withstand government-by-command.

Industry Reviews

The Habsburg-Ottoman battle to dominate the Mediterranean world in the 16th century has received considerable scholarly attention, with many accounts portraying this as a 'clash of civilizations.' What has been overlooked was the fight for the Balkans. Tracy remedies that with his portrayal of this three-way struggle for Balkan ascendancy among the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, and the Venetian Republic. Like a chess master, Tracy details the strategic and military roles of the three powers and their proxies. He relies extensively on Hungarian and Turkish sources and provides considerable insight into these strategic attempts to dominate the region. More significant was the role of the Venetian Republic, which challenges a 'clash of civilizations' argument. Venetian merchants, predominantly Christian, maintained good relations with the Ottomans to preserve access to the spice markets, and La Serenissima's rulers often undercut Habsburg efforts to launch a crusade against Islam. Summing Up:Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

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