Conquest of Constantinople Discussion

Unstructured discussion about the final collapse of Byzantium and Ottoman conquest
Related article:
Kelly DeVries, “The Lack of a Western European Military Response to the Ottoman Invasions of Eastern Europe from Nicopolis (1396) to Mohacs (1526),” The Journal of Military History 63, no. 3 (1999): 539-59,

[@paracletus2923]

Have you read The Dark Angel by Mika Waltari? It is a novel about the fall of Constantinople, based on the account of Nicolo Barbaro who witnessed the fall first hand. Waltari also wrote a second novel that focuses heavily on the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent and these books inspired me to read more about the Ottoman Empire and contributed to me discovering your UA-cam channel.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

No I am not familiar with those books

[@elcaporal739]

I do like these niche smaller channels of history, just seem way more authentic

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

@@elcaporal739 thanks

[@fogh]

Very interesting run through of the fall and conquest of Constantinople 👍. Would be interested on your thoughts on other major sieges. I guess Buda, Damascus, Jerusalem and Cairo all fell to the Ottomans, but were any of them besieged in the same way? Vienna survived two sieges - was it too far from the Ottoman centre of power to bring the logistics required to bear?

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

Damascus, Jerusalem, and Cairo were conquered as a result of defeating the Mamluk armies in field. Vienna was always a bit too far for the Ottomans to capture, the problem was not fully military but more demographic and economic. Much of Hungary was integrated into Ottoman administration after 1541 when the empire sidelined the Szapolyai family from acting as a tributary ruler, but Ottoman rule in Hungary was always contentious. If they had captured Vienna, which I think was militarily plausible during Süleyman’s reign, they probably would not have had much better luck trying to administer Austria. It took about three months to send an army from Constantinople to Central Europe, which is why a lot of the battles and sieges took place in the August through October season.

[@fogh]

@@Corvinuswargaming1444 thanks for the insights. Sounds like logistic challenges ‘saved’ Western Europe rather than winning battles.

[@elcaporal739]

@@foghHence why you see change in military strategy not long after to be more mobile