The Königsberg fortifications were erected due to the vulnerability during which war of 1563-1721?
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Königsberg fortifications The fortifications of the former East Prussian capital Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) consist of numerous defensive walls, forts, bastions and other structures. They make up the First and the Second Defensive Belt, built in 1626—1634 and 1843—1859, respectively. The 15 metre-thick First Belt was erected due to Königsberg's vulnerability during the Polish–Swedish wars. The Second Belt was largely constructed on the place of the first one, which was in a bad condition. The new belt included twelve bastions, three ravelins, seven spoil banks and two fortresses, surrounded by water moat. Ten brick gates served as entrances and passages through defensive lines and were equipped with moveable bridges.
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Polish–Swedish wars The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and 1629. These are the wars included under the broader use of the term:
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Siege of Gaeta (1707) The siege of Gaeta was a three-month siege of the Italian city of Gaeta in 1707 by the forces of the Austrian monarchy under Wirich Philipp von Daun, during the War of the Spanish Succession. It ended on 30 September with the total destruction of the city's historic fortifications.
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Battle of Oposhnya The Battle of Oposhnya was a battle which took place on February 8, 1709 during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. After the costly siege of Veprik the Swedes under Charles XII of Sweden started an offensive against the Russian army in the area. The intention of this offensive was not clear to the Russians, as they subsequently had to spread their main forces out to cover possible attack directions. One of these were the troops under Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov positioned at Oposhnya on the river Vorskla to block any attempt by the Swedes to cross the river. Charles intended to attack Menshikov and his 6,000 cavalry in a surprising manner, forcing them off the location. He led 2,000 cavalry for this task and managed to catch the Russians completely by surprise while having dinner. Charles immediately charged with his men and swept the Russian forces out of the town followed by a hot pursuit on step. In this action the Russians lost more than 450 men, the Swedes only 19. Perhaps more importantly however, the Swedes could now cross the river Vorskla. The offensive continued for a while and Charles reached Krasnokutsk where he forced another Russian army on the run.
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Siege of Vienna (1485) The Siege of Vienna was a decisive siege of the Austrian–Hungarian War in 1485. It was a consequence of the ongoing conflict between Frederick III and Matthias Corvinus. The fall of Vienna meant its merging to Hungary from 1485 to 1490. Matthias Corvinus also moved his royal court to the newly occupied city.
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Second Margrave War The Second Margrave War (German: "Zweiter Markgrafenkrieg" ) was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, it involved numerous raids, plunderings and the destruction of many towns and castles in the empire, especially in Franconia. Other towns in other areas where also affected, such as Mainz, Worms, Oppenheim, Metz, Verdun, Frankfurt, and Speyer.
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First Silesian War The First Silesian War was a theatre of the War of the Austrian Succession. The name is used to describe Prussia's war against Austria between 1740 and 1742, fought mainly in Silesia, Moravia and Bohemia (the lands of the Bohemian Crown). It became the first in a series of three Silesian Wars fought between Frederick the Great's Prussia and Maria Theresa's Austria.
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Treaty of Adrianople (1568) The Treaty of Adrianople of 1568 or Treaty of Edirne of 1568, named after the Ottoman city of Adrianople (present-day Edirne), and signed on 17 February 1568 between Maximilian II and Selim II. It concluded the Austrian-Turkish War (1566-1568) after Battle of Szigetvár, and brought a period of 25 years of relative peace between both empires.
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Siege of Veprik The Siege of Veprik took place on January 3 to January 17, 1709 during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. After the unusual cold winter, many troops had died from both armies and Charles XII of Sweden decided to siege the Russian city of Veprik to put pressure on Tsar Peter I of Russia. In the town there was a garrison of about 1,500 men. After the Russian commander Colonel Ferber refused to surrender, Charles XII started a bombardment of the town and later, on 17 January also an assault. After about two hours of intense fighting the Swedes pulled back, unable to capture the town. However, the Russians surrendered on the night to the 18th January and the Swedes could march in by diplomatic. The result of the capture was little, another town had fallen for the Russians but in a strategic view, not much had changed. About 400 Swedes was killed and another 600 wounded. The whole Russian garrison was either killed, captured or wounded. After several days Charles XII burnt down the town.
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Siege of Calais (1596) The Siege of Calais of 1596, also known as the Spanish conquest of Calais, took place at the strategic port-city of Calais (present-day Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France), between April 8–24, 1596, as part of the Franco-Spanish War (1595-1598), in the context of the French Wars of Religion, the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), and the Eighty Years' War.<ref name="Walters/Wagner p. 57">Walters/Wagner p.194</ref> The siege ended when the city fell into Spanish hands after a short and intense siege by the Spanish Army of Flanders commanded by Archduke Albert of Austria, Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands ("Spanish: Alberto de Austria"). The French troops in the citadel of Calais resisted for a few days more, but finally on April 24, the Spanish troops led by Don Luis de Velasco y Velasco, Count of Salazar, assaulted and captured the fortress, achieving a complete victory. The Spanish success was the first action of the campaign of Archduke Albert of 1596.
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Battle of Vistula Lagoon The Battle of Vistula Lagoon (Polish: "Bitwa na Zalewie Wiślanym" or Polish: "Bitwa w Zatoce Świeżej" ) was fought on September 15, 1463 between the navy of the Teutonic Order, and the navy of the Prussian Confederation which was allied with the King of Poland, as part of the Thirteen Years' War. The battle was the largest naval battle of the war, and one of the two battles (along with Battle of Świecino) which decided the final outcome of the war.
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Palatine Peasants' War The Palatine Peasants' War (German: "pfälzische Bauernkrieg" ) was part of the general German Peasants' War on the Middle and Upper Rhine. The uprising in the Palatine Electorate and its surrounding area took place in April to June 1525.
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Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army (Dutch: "Staatse leger" ) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary army was brought to such a size and state of readiness that it was able to hold its own against the armies of the major European powers of the extended 17th century, Habsburg Spain and the France of Louis XIV, despite the fact that these powers possessed far larger military resources than the Republic. It played a major role in the Eighty Years' War (opposite the Spanish Army of Flanders) and in the wars of the Grand Alliance with France after 1672.
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Second Battle of Polotsk The Second Battle of Polotsk (18–20 October 1812) took place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In this encounter the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein attacked and defeated a Franco-Bavarian force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. In the aftermath of this success, the Russians took Polotsk and dismantled Napoleon's operations in Belarus. Wittgenstein's victory set the stage for the Battle of Berezina in November, in which three Russian armies converged on Napoleon from separate directions.
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Polish–Swedish War (1617–18) The Polish–Swedish War (1617–18) was a phase of the longer Polish–Swedish War of 1600 to 1629. It continued the war of 1600–11 and was an attempt by Sweden to take Polish pressure off Russia. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was then also fighting Tartars and (on the southern front) the Ottoman Empire. Russia and Sweden were at that stage allied, prior to the Ingrian War, part of the Polish–Muscovite Wars. The 1617–18 war's cause was a dispute over Livonia and Estonia, and a dispute between Sigismund III Vasa and Gustavus Adolphus over the Swedish throne.
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Siege of Malbork (1454) Siege of Malbork (Siege of Marienburg) occurred during the Thirteen Years' War between the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Poland. Malbork was the capital of the state of the Teutonic Order, in particular, the residence of the Grand Master of the order. An alliance of Prussians and Poles besieged the city beginning 27 February 1454 with mercenaries from Danzig, and the necessary artillery.
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Trångsund Fortress Trångsund Fortress (Russian: Крепость Тронгзунд , Finnish: "Uuraan linnoitus" ) is a naval fort by the Vyborg Bay in the town of Vysotsk, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was established by Peter the Great in 1710 to secure the town of Vyborg which was captured from Sweden during the Great Northern War.
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Treaty of Vilnius (1559) The Treaty of Vilnius or Vilna was concluded on 31 August 1559, during the Livonian War, between the Livonian Order and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at Vilnius (Vilna, Wilna, Wilno). Gotthard von Kettler put the lands of the order under protection of Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus. The alliance was intended to neutralize the imminent threat of annexation of the order's lands by Russia, yet despite earning military support from Polish-Lithuanian chancellor Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł, Kettler was unable to prevent the occupation of most of Livonia by Russian forces. Thus, Kettler concluded a second treaty with Poland-Lithuania on 28 November 1561, transferring the remnants of the Teutonic Order State to the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, himself becoming a vassal of Sigismund II Augustus.
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Siege of Königsberg The Siege of Königsberg was a siege laid upon Königsberg Castle, one of the main strongholds of the Teutonic Knights, by Prussians during the Great Prussian Uprising from 1262 possibly though 1265.
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Battle of Mühlberg The Battle of Mühlberg was a large battle at Mühlberg in the Electorate of Saxony in 1547, during the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decisively defeated the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes under the command of Elector John Frederick I of Saxony and Landgrave Philip I of Hesse.
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Siege of Fellin The Siege of Fellin took place between March 25 and 17 May 1602 during the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611). Polish and Lithuanian forces led by Grand Crown Hetman Jan Zamoyski besieged the Swedish-held town of Fellin (present day Viljandi in Estonia). The large Polish–Lithuanian army of around 5,000 troops first took the town, while the Swedish defenders, numbering around 800, retreated to the city's castle. After a second frontal attack on the castle, during which the Voivode of Wenden Jerzy Farensbach was killed, the Swedish garrison capitulated, although a group of Finnish soldiers refused to surrender and blew themselves up in the castle's tower. Fellin was later recaptured by the Swedes in the siege of 1608.
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Ottoman–Habsburg wars in Hungary (1526–1568) The Habsburgs and their allies and the Ottoman Empire engaged in a series of military campaigns against one another in Hungary between 1526 and 1568. While overall the Ottomans had the upper hand, the war failed to produce any decisive result. The Ottoman army remained very powerful in the open field but it often lost a significant amount of time besieging the many fortresses of the Hungarian frontier and its communication lines were now dangerously overstretched. At the end of the conflict, Hungary had been split into several different zones of control, between the Ottomans, Habsburgs, and Transylvania, an Ottoman vassal state.