Historical Calendar: November 11, 1673 – conflict of Chocim

Historical calendar – the anniversary of the conflict of Chocim, during which Hetman the large Crown Jan Sobieski defeated Turkish troops.

Today, in our calendar, we will look at the fights that elevated Jan Sobieski to the dignity of the king of Poland.

In August 1672, more than 80,000 Turkish-Tatar army began the siege of the Podolski Stone. The fortress under the command of Mikołaj Potocki (the boy of the hetman of Mikołaj Potocki from the time of the hops) was poorly cast and equipped, but despite the considerable disparity of forces (only about 1,500 soldiers and townspeople) lasted for more than 2 weeks. On 26 August, erstwhile the mines were planted under the advanced castle, the defenders capitulated.

The decision to surrender voluntarily was besides influenced by the fact that, according to Turkish law, the city obtained by storm remains at the disposal of Sultanian soldiers for 3 days, who at the time have the full right to plunder, rape and robbery. Following the announcement of the surrender, the commander of the Hejking artillery blew up the powder depot, killing 800 Polish soldiers leaving the fortress, including an experienced and well-deserved Crown Army colonel, Jerzy Wolodyowski.

The origin of this act was reportedly the unwillingness to hand over crucial amounts of powder to the enemy. However, according to any sources, Heyking feared that while giving the Turks the Stone, his embezzlement related to the equipment of the fortress would emerge. Despite the honorable surrender, there have been considerable robberies in the acquired fortress and city.

Most Catholic temples were converted into mosques, cemeteries, chapels and another objects of worship were destroyed. Additionally, the Turks drove Armenian merchants, where they came, utilizing the Sultanic protection of Jews.

Leaving in Kamieniec a crucial garrison, Ottoman troops moved westward and besieged the Lions. Meanwhile, inside the Republic it was alternatively a civilian war than a concerted action to defend against the Muslim invasion. The king's crown nobles bound the pigeon confederations, and the Lithuanian nobles - the Kobrin confederation. The land estates of Sobieski and another malcontents were plundered, resulting in the attachment of the latter, the confederation of Szczebrzeszyńska.

Hetman Sobieski, at the head of a fewer troops, defeated respective Tatar pursuits, but the disastrous situation in which the country faced a hostile invasion and a probable civilian war weighed on the decision of King Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki to send Members to the Sultan, asking for peace talks.

Signed in October 1672 in Buchacz room, made of the Republic of de facto Turkish protectorate, akin in form to Moldavian Hospodry, Crimean Khanate or Vołoszczyzna. Poland donated the state of Bracławskie, Podolskie and the confederate part of Kiev to Turkey. Additionally, she was to pay 22,000 thalders a year.

Indignant by the provisions of the peace of the nobility and the magnate, again as during the “ Flood” and the siege of Jasna Góra, she regained her sanity for a moment. Thanks to the mediation of the papal legate Buonvisi and the bishop of Krakow Trzebicki, malcontensants and regalis entered a truce with each other. In March 1673 the Sejm established the common remission of guilt, the rejection of the treaty from Buchacz, the adoption of taxes on the military and the declaration of war by Turkey.

The fast recruitment of soldiers was started, and a crucial amount of cannons were purchased for the sums donated by the pope. In October the king headed about 40,000 troops, but became sick and passed command of the captain Sobieski.

The Polish offensive led to the siege of the Turks under Hussein Pasha. The enemy defended himself in the Chocim fortress and old Polish trenches of 1621. November 11th, in a time of terrible for the unorthodox Turks snowstorm, Sobieski led the assault on the besieged and completely massacred them. From the 35,000th enemy army, only 5,000 survivors reached the Podolski Stone. Hetman Sobieski was named after the conflict by the Turks “Lechistan's Lion”. However, a large triumph did not lead to the recovery of previously lost lands. In the face of the harsh frost, the fighting froze, and the troops spread out into the winter bed.

On November 10, 1673, the day before the battle, King Michael died. The nobles gathered the following year chose a fresh monarch, the celebrated winner from Chocimia, John III Sobieski. The king waited for the coronation, which was not held until 1676, as war matters were put over little crucial from his point of view, formal issues. He sought to reflect the land lost by the Buccace Treaty and almost succeeded.

Unfortunately, the betrayal of Lithuanian hetman Michał Pac, who withdrew Lithuanian troops at the crucial minute of the campaign, led to an extension of the adverse status quo At the ends. Russia entered the war with Turkey in 1674. This made the offensive in Ukraine easier for Poles, but yet it failed, mainly due to the notorious actions of Pac, who doubled and tropped so that no triumph would happen. Nevertheless, in 1676, Sobieski defeated the Sultan's troops in the conflict of Crane and entered a truce by which he recovered about 1/3 of the lost territory.

Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.