September 11th will always be known for the attacks of 2001, when over 3,000 Americans were murdered by jihadist psychopaths following in the footsteps of their false prophet. That should always be remembered, but September 11th also marks one of the great triumphs of Christendom over Islam; the victory over the Ottoman Turks at Vienna.
On July 14th, 1683, a Turkish army of 140,000 under the command of Ottoman Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha, supported by Muslim Crimean Tatars, laid siege to the city of Vienna, intending to capture one of the most important Christian cities for Islam. If the pattern of Islamic conquests had been followed - and there’s no doubt it would have been - the “Golden Apple”, as it was known the Turks, would have been ransacked, it’s citizens put to the sword, and those who survived enslaved or forced to convert to Islam. The defenders, under Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg, barely numbered 16,000. For months the Turks pounded the city with cannon and underground mines, eventually blowing holes in the outer walls and coming within reach of taking the city.
Their success was the be short lived. On September 11th, 1683, a relief force under Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, arrived with 28,000 troops, and prepared to blindside the Turks with an attack from Kahlenburg hill outside Vienna. On September 12th, the Turks found themselves blasted by artillery from the Kahlenburg and finally run down by one of the largest cavalry charges in history, led by the famous Polish Winged Hussars and commanded personally Jan III Sobieski. The Turks were broken, driven from Vienna, and finally back to the Balkans, where Kara Mustafa was executed on orders from Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV.
Before Vienna, the Ottoman Empire was at the zenith of it’s power and seriously threatened the freedom of Christian Europe. After Vienna, they would never again seriously threaten Christendom. Thanks to the courage granted by God to the defenders of Vienna, Europe was safe from Islamic domination.
It’s no surprise that the terrorists of 9/11/01 chose that date to launch their vicious attacks. The Muslim world has never forgiven the West for the crushing defeat handed to them at Vienna, and the opportunity to exact bloody revenge was too good for Al-Qaeda to pass up. But don’t let them sully it! Remember the courage displayed by the Christian soldiers and honor them in your memory, for it’s because of them that you are still free to live in Christ today!
Pictured above is a painting of the famous Winged Hussars of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as they would have appeared at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The image is used under Fair Use and is credited to the original artist.
