John Sobieski at the Relief of Vienna (colour litho)

John Sobieski at the Relief of Vienna. In 1683 Vienna was invested by 300,000 Turks and Tartars under Kara Mustapha. All Europe looked to John Sobieski as the bulwark of Christendom, and the King left Cracow on 15 August accompanied by only a small body of Polish troops without waiting for his allies. Subsequently he was invested with the command of the Christian army, consisting of Poles, Saxons, Bavarians and Austrians, amounting to 70,000 men. The Turkish artillery had made a practicable breach in the walls of Vienna, and the defenders of the city were in momentary expectation of an assault. The infidel forces, however, were beaten after a terrific battle, and the Austrian capital was saved. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920).