Capture of Belgrade refers to recapture of Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 (capital of modern Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

) by the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in 1739.

Background

According to the Treaty of Pruth signed in 1711 between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

, the Russians had stipulated to stop interfering in the affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

. But in the War of the Polish Succession

War of the Polish Succession

The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...

, Habsburg Austria and Russian Empire were allies. Ottomans saw this alliance as the violation of the treaty and engaged in a war against Russia. Being an ally of Russia, Austrians also declared war on Ottoman Empire in 1737. But in the two major battles (Battle of Banja Luka

Battle of Banja Luka

The battle of Banja Luka was a battle in which the Ottomans, led by Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha, defeated the Holy Roman Empire. It took place on 4 August 1737 near the Bosnian town of Banja Luka...

 and the Battle of Grocka

Battle of Grocka

The Battle of Grocka, also known as Battle of Krotzka, was fought between Austria and the Ottoman Empire on July 21–22, 1739, in Grocka, Belgrade. The Turks were victorious and took the city of Belgrade. The battle was part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars.-Battle:The Austrians had direct orders from...

) Austrian army was defeated.

The siege

Ottoman Empire had captured Belgrade in 1521 (the first campaign of Suleyman I, the Magnificent) but lost it to Austria in 1717 (Eugene of Savoy). Ottomans were searching for an opportunity to regain the city. After the battle of Grocka the grand vizier

Grand Vizier

Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...

 İvaz Mehmet Pasha

İvaz Mehmet Pasha

İvaz Mehmed Pasha or Hacı İvaz Mehmed Pasha was an 18th-century Ottoman grand vizier .- Early life :His family was among the group of families known as Evlad'ı Fatihan, i.e., descendants of the early Turkish fighters in Rumeli, the European portion of the empire. Upon the recommendation of his...

 laid a siege on Belgrade (July 1739). In August, Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha

Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha

Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier . His father Nuh was a Venetian convert who worked in İstanbul as a doctor and his mother Safiye was a Turk...

 (former grand vizier) from the western front joined him. After the siege of 51 days Count Wallis

George Olivier, count of Wallis

George Olivier, Count of Wallis was a field marshal of Irish descent in the service of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and last regent of the Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia . Born into an Irish family, he distinguished himself in Sicily by his capture of Messina. He then...

, the commander of Austrians, ordered the burning of German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

an fleet under his command and sued for peace.

Peace talks

During the peace talks in Belgrade, Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg

Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg

Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg was an Austrian general.Born in Schwaigern, he descended from an ancient comital family from Swabia, his father Count Eberhard Friedrich von Neipperg having been an Imperial field marshal. He spent his boyhood in Vienna and in 1702 joined the Imperial service...

 represented Austria and Mektupçu Ragıp

Koca Ragıp Pasha

Koca Ragıp Pasha, or more formally Koca Mehmet Ragıp Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier. He is also known as a good poet.-Early years:...

 (future grand vizier Koca Ragıp) ) was among the Ottoman representatives. Change in boundaries caused no big problem. Austria agreed to cede territories to Ottoman side. But the major issue was the future of Belgrade. The earliest offer of Austrians was to keep Belgrade in return to territories ceded to Ottoman side, which the Ottoman representatives refused. The second offer of the Austrian side was to cede Belgrade on the condition that the fortifications were to be demolished. İvaz Mehmet Pasha refused this offer. Negotiations brokedown. But, Louis Sauveur Villeneuve

Louis Sauveur Villeneuve

Louis Sauveur, Marquis de Villeneuve was French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1728 to 1741. He was instrumental in pushing the Ottoman Empire to war with the Russian Empire, in the Russo-Turkish War . He was also put in charge of negotiating the peace to this war, managing to impose...

, the French ambassador to Ottoman Empire proposed a compromise in which only the former Ottoman fortification would be kept. Both sides agreed on the proposal and the treaty was signed on 18 September 1739.

Aftermath

Except for a brief occupation during the Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791) Austrians were never able to capture Belgrade. The Ottomans kept the city up to Serbian Uprising

Second Serbian Uprising

The Second Serbian Uprising was a second phase of the Serbian revolution against the Ottoman Empire, which erupted shortly after the re-annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire, in 1813. The occupation was enforced following the defeat of the First Serbian Uprising , during which Serbia...

. In 1815 Belgrade was a city of semiindependent Serbia under Ottoman suzerainty

Suzerainty

Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...

. By the Treaty of Berlin (1878) Serbia gained full independence.