Szigetvar - "A history of all nations from the earliest times", by Andrews, 1905

A history of all nations from the earliest times :

being a universal historical library by distinguished scholars in twenty-four volumes

by Andrews, Charles McLean, 1905

Age had not chilled Suleiman the Great's love of war; ambitious plans were constantly filling his busy brain. We saw how, to secure a naval base in the western Mediterranean, he had made an attack on Malta, and had been baffled by the heroic resistance of the Knights of St. John and the timely support afforded them by Philip II. To offset this failure, Suleiman contemplated new campaigns in Hungary, to reduce to his rule the part of that country which was 'still unconquered; and then he might again and more successfully attempt what he had tried in vain a generation before — the siege of Vienna. A pretext to resume hostilities with the emperor was readily found in the quarrels that were continually taking place between Maximilian and the protégé of Suleiman, John Sigismund, son of Zapolya, and voyvod of Transylvania.

There is something grand in this aged sultan, who, though weakened by disease as well as years, and surrounded by all the pomp and splendor of Asiatic sovereignty, places himself at the head of an immense army, to wipe away the disgrace of his generals' defeats and to seek, in the capture of the imperial city, the crowning of his long victorious career and the consummation of the complete triumph of his faith and people. Maximilian cannot be said to have shunned the struggle. It was his wont to overestimate his gifts and abilities, and he thought himself better prepared than his father had been to cope with the Turks. The Hungarian hero, Nicholas Zrinski, urged him on to the war. Instead of complying with the summons of John Sigismund and his protector, Maximilian demanded concessions from them.

The German empire proved loyal to its head. Soldiers flocked to the emperor’s standard, not from his hereditary lands alone, but from all parts of Germany. Indeed, like the emperors of old, he found him-self at the head of all Europe. There were to be seen, in his army, Italian troops with the Dukes of Mantua and Ferrara among them; young French noblemen, led by youthful Henry of Guise; Englishmen, Poles, brave men of all nations, eager, under the German emperor, to help the Cross triumph over the Crescent. The forces under Maximilian, who assumed the command himself, numbered 100,000 men — in number nearly equal to Suleiman's host, in discipline certainly superior.

But Maximilian proved inadequate to his military task, as he had proved incompetent to deal with political and religious difficulties, and for much the same reasons : a lack of decision. In vain brave Lazarus von Schwendi set him an example of vigorous action by boldly taking the initiative and capturing Tokay, Zethmar, and a number of other places, while another general, Eck von Salm, took Vesprim and Tata, and Nicholas Zrinski, one of the most powerful magnates of Hungary, won a brilliant victory at Siklos. Neither these successes nor the support of united Germany and the sympathy and aid of all Christian Europe could stimulate the emperor to energetic measures. He remained entrenched in his camp at Gyor, awaiting the enemy; he allowed Suleiman to besiege the valiant Zrinski in his ancestral town of Sziget, and did nothing to relieve him. Abandoned by the 80,000 imperialists, who looked on without raising a hand to aid them, Zrinski and his handful of men defended themselves with heroic valor and beat back all the assaults of the Moslems. At the end of one month, being too few to continue the defence of the town, they withdrew into the fortress.

Once again fate offered Maximilian a chance to secure an overwhelming triumph. On the morning of September 6, 1566, Suleiman succumbed to age, the hardships of the campaign, and disappointment at the long defence of Sziget. The emperor was apprised of it, but refused to believe it, and found in unbelief an excuse for prolonging his disgraceful inactivity. Not so the Turkish vizier, Sokolli. Concealing from his army the death of the great sultan, he led them in his name to a final assault on the doomed town, which, after Zrinski and nearly all his men had met an heroic death, fell into the enemy's hands (September 8, 1566).

It was fortunate for the Germans that Suleiman's successor, Selim II., was an effeminate and peace-loving monarch, and also that the Janizaries, wearied and incensed by the long and costly siege, demanded not new battles but higher pay. When the Turkish force had withdrawn, Maximilian dismissed his mighty army, which had not once met the enemy face to face.