The art of war during the Ottoman -Habsburg Long War (1593--1606) according to narrative sources

The intention of this thesis is to discuss various aspects of both Ottoman and Habsburg warfare during the last decade of the sixteenth century. Various arguments have been explored regarding the so-called Military revolution and the role military technology played in early modern warfare. The seemingly ineffective way the Ottomans waged war at the end of the sixteenth century was due to negligence and disorganization in their army rather than to mere technological issues. Both Ottoman and Christian narrative sources, many of them written by actual eyewitnesses, do not give clear historical evidence regarding the alleged Ottoman technological backwardness. A series of serious economic, financial, and socio-political crises undermined the former effectiveness of the Ottoman military machine. On the other side, the progress of warfare in western Europe cannot be accounted for only by certain technological developments; there were economic and even cultural changes that played vital roles.;Weaponry did not play a crucial part in early modern Ottoman-Habsburg conflict. The main emphasis should not be put on guns but rather on different types of social organization that shaped the use of various weapons. Even Ottoman sources make it clear that Ottoman military difficulties were woven deeply into the social fabric.