Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/moxpjho5lm
The Battle of Sinj in 1715
Lovorka Čoralić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9333-7221
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Nikola Markulin
orcid.org/0000-0002-6480-5700
; -
Abstract
The article analyses the battle of Sinj in 1715, which was the culmination of the first campaign of the Small War of the Second Morean War in Dalmatia. A strong Ottoman offensive terminated in the unsuccessful siege of Sinj Fortress. Research is based on a detailed analysis of the previous results of historiography regarding that battle and of archival sources, the greatest part of which comprises reports sent by Venetian Provisor General Angelo Emo, as well as several letters from the provisor of Sinj Fortress, Zorzi Balbi, written during the siege. Based on the results of modern historiography on the logistical systems of Early Modern armies, the authors delineate the basic parameters determining the strategies of confronted armies and the course of war operations. With the help of such methodology, the authors offer some new explanations regarding the battle, which in the first place are related to the estimations of the size of the Ottoman army. The collapse of the Ottoman logistical system was the principal cause of the breaking of the siege and the retreat of the Ottoman army from Dalmatia. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that, contrary to the convictions that have been hitherto ingrained in Croatian historiography, the main burden in the conflict with Ottoman forces was endured by Venetian professional army units.
Keywords
Dalmatia; Sinj; Small War; Second Morean War; Venetian army; Ottoman army; logistics; military history; the eighteenth century
Hrčak ID:
179598
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2016.
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