On 12 September 1683, on the fields near Vienna, the combined Polish-Austrian-German forces commanded by Polish King Jan III Sobieski defeated the Turkish army led by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa.

The period of the 17th century for Poland was a time of constant wars. Among the many countries threatening the Polish Republic was Turkey. In 1672, its troops captured Kamieniec Podolski (today’s Kamianets-Podilskyi), and Poland’s representatives had to sign the humiliating Buczacz peace treaty, agreeing not only to lose part of their lands, but also to pay an annual tribute to the Ottoman Empire.

Fortunately, the Polish Sejm rejected the terms of the treaty and passed taxes to conscript the army, led by Hetman Jan Sobieski. He defeated the Turkish army at Chocim in 1673 and this victory secured Sobieski’s choice in a free election as king of Poland. Hostilities continued until 1676, when the truce of Żurawno was concluded. As a result of the agreements, Poland agreed to lose Podolia, but there was no longer any provision for paying the shameful tribute.

In April 1683, a Polish-Austrian alliance was concluded against Turkey. In the same year in mid-July, the Turkish army under the command of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa entered Austria and besieged its capital, Vienna. To implement his alliance commitments, King Jan III Sobieski, set out to relieve Vienna, after gathering a part of his army. The Polish troops traveled an average of nearly 30 km a day on their way, which was a considerable achievement considering the condition of the roads at the time. At the beginning of September, they were joined by Austrian and German force deployed 50 km from Vienna. The supreme command of the combined army was taken over by Sobieski, who prepared a plan for a battle. According to it, the Austrian and German troops were supposed to tie up the Turkish forces, giving the Polish army time to cross the Vienna Forest.

Sobieski’s plan envisaged that the decisive confrontation would take place over two days, on 12 and 13 September 1683. However, as the allied forces had already taken up convenient positions ahead of schedule, and as he did not want to give the Turks an opportunity to fully regroup and entrench their forces, Sobieski gave the order for the decisive attack on the afternoon of 12 September. It was preceded by reconnaissance attacks to check out Kara Mustafa’s forces, but above all to scout the terrain.

The outcome of the battle was determined by a massive cavalry charge by allied forces numbering more than 20,000 men including the heavy Polish cavalry – the Hussars. The attack was led practically to the Turkish positions by Jan III Sobieski himself. Kara Mustafa’s troops could not withstand the attack of the winged Hussars and rushed in fear into an inert flee. The battle ended in Turkish defeat, for which the Grand Vizier later paid with his life.