For 300 years the Ottoman Empire and the extended Holy Roman Empire had fought. The Ottoman Empire was representing Islam and the Holy Roman Empire Christianity. The Ottomans began a siege of Vienna in July 1683 with up to 300,000 troops at his disposal. The Ottomans wanted to attack a year before but did not want to take the chance of striking in the winter. Thus the Viennese had a year to prepare for the assault. An alliance had been signed with the Treaty of Warsaw in 1663 in which the Holy Roman Empire promised to come to the aid of Poland if Krakow was attacked and Poland promised to go to the defense of Vienna.

The Ottomans began their campaign in the spring of 1863. They arrived at Vienna on July 14, 1663. There were only 15,000 men in Vienna to defend it. Leading the Ottomans was Kara Mustafa. Mustafa demanded the city surrender. The defenders of the city had learned that a few days earlier the town of Perchtoldsdorf had surrendered, but their residents were slaughtered anyway. The defenders had 350 cannons compared to only 150 to the Ottomans. The Ottomans tried to build tunnels under the war to explode the walls, but the going was very slow. Food had become scarce in the city, and the people were going hungry. Relief troops from Poland’s well as soldiers from the German states arrived in the first week of September. They were all commanded by the King of Poland.

The Battle began early in the morning of September 12th. The Ottomans decided to attack the relief army before it could be fully be deployed. At 4 AM they attacked, but their attack was repulsed, and the Holy Roman troops counter-attacked. The Ottomans were intent on capturing the city and had planned 14 explosions under the walls, but those were disarmed. While the Ottomans were focused on the town the troops of the Holy Roman Empire on one flank were advancing and then soon the Polish forces on the other side also began advancing. The Ottomans soon found themselves between two armies. The Poles then led the largest Calvary charge in history- 18,000 horsemen charged. After a heavy day of fighting the Ottomans was exhausted and demoralized. The cavalry charge broke the Ottoman line completely. The Ottoman began to run for the battlefield. In three hours it was over. The siege had been broken, and the last advance of the Ottoman Empire was turned back. From this moment on the Ottoman Empire slowly began to dissolve.