ABSTRACT
From 1600 to 1800, the Ottoman Empire was perceived as anything but the “sick man of Europe,” as it came to be known in the nineteenth century.1 Ottoman forces were checked at the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683, and in 1699, they were further weakened after the Treaty of Karlowitz, which established the dominance of the Habsburg Monarchy. They were then never again to mount any major military offensive against Western Europe, although military action by Ottoman forces continued to be perceived as a potential threat.2
