Chapter 93: Affairs of the House of Vasa
The War of the Cretan Coalition would see Poland-Lithuania and its ambitious king, Wladyslaw IV Vasa, lead a European coalition against the Ottomans in the defense of the Venetian Republic and its Cretan possession. This conflict saw the Cossacks play a key role, raiding the lands of the Crimean Khanate and serving as mobile cavalry in the Commonwealth’s armies. One Cossack commander in particular, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, gained the favor of the Polish king and would play a key part in Wladyslaw’s early successes in the war. Wladyslaw himself led the Polish army early on, coercing reluctant magnates to contribute to the war effort and swelling his ranks with Cossacks like Khmelnytsky eager to fight the Crimean Tatars. His forces began besieging fortresses in Yedisan like Bender and Khadjibey in 1645, the latter falling to the Commonwealth later in the year, and minor Ottoman armies were easily defeated. Wladyslaw’s success even convinced Wallachian prince Matei Basarab to defect from the Sublime Porte, the two Christian leader’s force defeating a large Moldavian-Ottoman army at the Battle of Dubasari in 1646.
It was a different story on the Hungarian front, for the Sublime Porte possessed a talented general in the prince of Transylvania, George I Rakoczi. A leader of the Protestant faction in the realm, he was determined to defeat the Austrian Habsburgs on the battlefield not only as a Hungarian prince but as a Protestant. Rakoczi was soon marching at the helm of an army of 30,000 on a mission to seize all of Upper Hungary. In response, Emperor Ferdinand III assigned Matthias Gallas command of an army of 10,000 but it proved no match for the Transylvanians due to disease, low morale, and the poor health of the general. Gallas was soon relieved and replaced by the ban of Croatia and Palatine of Hungary, Ivan III Draskovic, as the primary commander of Imperial forces in Hungary. Despite Draskovic’s best efforts, however, Rakoczi was able to take over nearly all of Upper Hungary by the end of 1646. Fortunately for the Habsburgs, Wallachian incursions into Transylvanian lands forced Rakoczi to briefly turn back and secure his principality, leaving pro-Ottoman efforts in the hands of his son George and Ottoman forces led by Yusuf Pasha. After securing his lands from Wallachian marauders, he launched his own offensive against the principality, inflicting a devastating defeat upon Basarab at the Battle of Finta in 1647 and diverting pro-coalition attention away from the Black Sea region.
Portrait of George I Rakoczi by Rembrandt and Jan Gillisz van Vliet
This stage of affairs in the various land theaters of the war would continue into 1648. King Wladyslaw, having subjugated Yedisan for the most part, now focused his military efforts on Moldavia, ruled by pro-Ottoman prince Vasile Lupu while the Cossacks continued to apply pressure upon the Crimean Tatars. The Hungarian front calcified as Imperial reinforcements supported the Habsburgs’ efforts against Yusuf Pasha and the junior George Rakoczi but proved unable to retake Upper Hungary. The only significant shift occurred in Wallachia, where Matei Basarab was deposed by the Ottomans and replaced by Constantin Serban as the new prince. 1648, however, would witness a series of deaths that would shift the balance of power. Wladyslaw IV, George I Rakoczi, and Ivan III Draskovic would die of illness in their respective military camps, the former already suffering from prolonged grief after his son and heir Sigismund Casimir passed away. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, the Janissaries and ulema rebelled and deposed the entire government after witnessing the capital suffer through a prolonged Venetian naval blockade, executing padishah Ibrahim and replacing him with his 6 year old son Mehmed.
The regent and grandmother of the new padishah, Kosem Sultan, immediately sought to end the war and establish peace. With the Commonwealth also having inaugurated a new ruler recently and the Sejm uneasy over the prospect of prolonged war, Warsaw eagerly accepted. In the Treaty of Buchach signed on April 29th, 1649, the Sublime Porte would cede Yedisan to the Commonwealth and acknowledge the realm as the new overlord of Moldavia. In a separate treaty, Venice and Constantinople would also sign a truce that maintained the status quo ante bellum, ending Ottoman efforts towards the conquest of Crete. However, the war would continue between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottomans over the balance of power in Hungary. The death of George I Rakoczi and the necessitated election of a new prince stalled Transylvanian forces in the area, giving Imperial field marshal Ottavio Piccolomini the opening he needed to storm into Upper Hungary. His army, made up of 30,000 Germans, Hungarians, Croats, and Silesians, defeated Yusuf Pasha’s Turkish army of 37,000 at the Battle of Leva on March 19th, 1649, beginning a reversal of fortunes for the Habsburgs. Ultimately, Piccolomini was able to ride the momentum of that victory and retake Upper Hungary from the Transylvanians and Ottomans. The lingering conflict between Vienna and the Sublime Porte would last another year before a truce was signed that restored the status quo ante bellum.
An 18th century map of Yedisan published in Vienna
The War of the Cretan Coalition proved to be a humiliating defeat for the Ottoman Empire, losing territory in Europe it had held for over 100 years as well as a key vassal state in Eastern Europe. Over the next few years, the Sublime Porte became preoccupied with palace intrigue and uprisings in Anatolia and it wasn’t until the ascension of Koprulu Mehmed Pasha as the new grand vizier of the Empire that the realm began to properly recover and stabilize. Within the Ottoman sphere, however, the Rakoczi family in Transylvania saw its influence and prestige greatly increased after the end of the war. Although ultimately unsuccessful in seizing Upper Hungary from the Habsburgs, the younger George Rakoczi was easily elected as the new prince and found himself and his supporters in an enviable position. The new prince would be fated to be a major player in Balkan affairs like his father had been. The biggest winner of the war, however, was undoubtedly Poland-Lithuania despite the untimely passing of King Wladyslaw IV. His younger brother, John Casimir, was elected the new king and inherited a realm that was stronger than ever and increasingly viewed as the main Christian rival to the Sublime Porte due to Wladyslaw’s leadership during the war and the continuous struggles of the Habsburg dynasty. Additionally, the Cossacks’ desire to battle the Tatars and Turks had been sated for the time being and one of its leaders, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, had risen to become one of the king’s most reliable and trusted deputies.
The House of Vasa was also prospering in the neighboring Swedish Empire. Gustavus Adolphus had jumped back into the military sphere in the 1640s, having gone to war with Denmark-Norway in 1643 in what would be known as the War of the Sound Dues [1], one of the major contributing factors to the war. Within 2 years, Sweden was easily able to overpower its chief Baltic rival and in a treaty mediated by France, gained parts of the Norwegian interior including Jemtland, the Danish province of Halland, and the islands of Gotland and Osel [2]. Additionally, Sweden would be exempted from the Sound Dues imposed by Denmark-Norway when passing through Danish waters in the Baltic Sea. Beyond Europe, the Swedish Africa Company, chartered in 1647 and led by Walloon merchant Louis De Geer, established the Swedish Gold Coast in 1650 in West Africa, based around Fort Carlsborg. Meanwhile, New Sweden in North America continued to grow and prosper, beginning to rival New Netherlands in population and wealth by 1650. The success of Sweden’s expanding overseas empire would round off the successful reign of Gustavus Adolphus, which ended in 1650 with his death at the age of 56. His 13 year old son would succeed him as John IV Sigismund and Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna would serve as his regent until his death in 1654.
Outcome of the War of the Sound Dues (yellow = lands gained from Denmark-Norway)
The first half of the 17th century witnessed the hegemonic powers of the 16th century humbled and defeated, paving the way for the rise of countries like France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and even Poland-Lithuania. It had also seen the triumph of the Protestant faith in many parts of Europe, from England to Silesia and Transylvania. It wouldn’t be long, however, before many on the losing side had licked their wounds and begun to plot their respective comebacks.
[1]: TTL’s Torstensson War
[2]: IOTL, Halland is given to Sweden for 30 years as a guarantee of the treaty.
