The Ottomans at the Gates of Vienna

1683 CE — Europe, Ottoman Empire

Today: Vienna, Austria

For three centuries the Ottoman Empire had been the terror and the envy of Europe — richer, better organized, and more tolerant of its minorities than most Christian kingdoms. In 1683 its army reached the walls of Vienna, the deepest it would ever penetrate, and was broken there by a relief force. From that day the empire never expanded again, and slowly slid from feared superpower to what European diplomats would cruelly call 'the sick man of Europe.' High-water marks are only visible afterward.

Worth knowing: The Ottomans besieged Vienna twice, 150 years apart, and failed both times — and popular legend, probably invented, credits the retreat with leaving behind sacks of strange beans that gave Vienna its first coffeehouses.

Pattern: Imperial overstretch — A state's commitments outrun the resources and logistics needed to hold them; the margin fails first.

Entry 170 of 240 in Precedent, a walk through the whole human story in order.