Battle of Preveza: Ottoman Empire vs “Holy“ League [ENG]

The battle of Preveza was one of the greatest naval battles of 16th century Ottoman history, which saw them smash a Christian European fleet which consisted of over 60,000 sailors, and up to 600 ships. By contrast the Ottomans had approximately 170 ships, and between 3,000—20,000 men (3,000 of whom were janissaries, heavily armed with arquebuses). The Turkish Muslim fleet was lead by Khayreddin (known as Barbarossa in the West) and his crew of pirates, along with the Ottoman state navy. At the time of Suleiman’s ascension to power, the Muslim world was finding its population well on the decline, and losing important markets to the Europeans, and feeling an economic squeeze. In order to correct this imbalance of power and in order to survive, the sultan chose war and expansion to safeguard and secure their interests. Therefore the battle of Preveza represented an opportunity to hold the Mediterranean, which had already been won by the Muslim empire in 1499, at the battle of Zonchio. By the war’s end, the Europeans had lost a grand total of one third of their fleet before they surrendered and turned back home. Casualties amongst the Ottomans hardly hit the 1,000s, whilst for the Europeans, amounted to over 3,000 dead. The victory enabled Barbarossa to once again prove his worth to the sultan. For Venice, the victory was a disaster. They ended up losing a significant amount of territory as recompense for their pro-war attitude. They felt as if the Europeans had betrayed them, already exacerbated by a deep mistrust of the Holy Roman Empire. As a result of the prowess of the Ottoman military, the battle ensured the Muslims would control the sea for at least another two decades until 1560, when the battle of Djerba would erupt. This time again, the Ottomans would defeat their enemies, crushing them until 1571, where finally, after over 70 years, control of the sea would be lost to the Europeans. Whilst not a huge blow, the symbolism of the latter battle would go down in European history as one of their best. Materia Islamica