"IFS" THAT CHANGED HISTORY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 101, 14 September 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

"IFS" THAT CHANGED HISTORY

HOW VIENNA SAVED EUROPE. ] Do you know why Vienna rolls are shaped like crescents? , The story forms one of the great "ifs" of history. ; Solyman, the magnificent Sultan of ■Turkey) 1 planned ,to' overrun. Europe I even as lie and his Moslem predecessors had seized the countries of the Orient. With a mighty army he captured the fortified island of Rhodes, invaded Hungary, annihilating the Magyar forceß at Mohacs (in 1526) and slaying the Hungarian King. So successful was this first expedition that he planned a second and more farreaching raid in 1529. Moving onward almost, unchecked, and carrying {til, before him, he captured, Buda and' advanced against the city Vienna^ All Europe stood aghast." Nothing had been able to stem the wave of Moslem conquest. Men remembered how one Eastern land after another had been Seized by. the Mohammedan-hordes and forced to adopt Mohammedanism as their religion. People trembled for the fate of Christendom. It seemed for a. moment almost .possible that the whole Eastern section of the European Continent might fall victim to the Turk and become part' of the Moslem possessions. To hope for clemency from Solyman was to rely upon the mercy of the merciless. Conquering one- Christian army and stronghold after another, the Sultan's all-powerful army threatened to carry destruction and Mohammedanism throughout the Continent. It was one. of Fate's big moments. On moved the Turks.. Vienna (then capital of the German Empire) stood in their path, a seejmingly frail obstacle between such a host and the rest of Europe. Should Vienna fall before thle Moslem onset the progress of the Sultan's army would be made far easier, and other lesser cities would lose heart. The inhabitants of Vienna were at that time more renowned for culture and thrift than for warfare. Yet under Nicholas voxt'Salm they gallantly proposed to defend their city against the foe, and to fight to the last gasp of their imperilled homes.,. The Turks drew near, destroying Vienna's suburbs, and eiicamped close to ithe,' town itself. It was on September 27, 1529, that the enormous Turkish host laid seige' to Vienna, Solyman conducting the affair in person. Before risking- useless lossof life in a general assault, the Sultan tried to make an entrance into the city by means of tunnels. His soldiers were set to work with picks and spades to dig a secret way-into Vienna by which a body of men might later pour into the place and .thus catch the defandfers "between tjvo' fires." ' v. The cleverness, of the "Turkish' engineers and the countless workers $t their' command made the task a swift, one; Here it was that an "if" intervened' to save, the threatened capital and perhaps Europe as well. .Some.Vienna-baljers l were" at work one night (so runs the story) in a cellar making bread fop the garrison. Dating a. pause, in theiriconvfirsation one of the bakers chanced to hear the muffled sound of digging. It seemed to come from a spot not far beyond one of the cellar walls. Guessing at once that the, enemy'were tunnelling their wajr into> the -city, the bakers rushed out and gave the alarm. The garrison aroused was able to baffle Solyman's plan. The Sultan failing 1 at strategy, next tried force. He hurled his army against the city in one fierce assault after another. The Viennese fought like heroes. Each attack was repulsed with terrific losg to the Turks. For four entire days the Moslems assailed the city, fresh detachments ever, taking the places of those who reeled back defeated. During four days alinost without a moment for food or sleep, the defenders fought off the charging horde. It seemed well nigh impossible that so furious an onset by iso vast an army could be repelled by a comparatively small garrison. But the defenders were fighting for home and religion. On the fifth day of, the assault (October 14), Solyman gave up the attempt to crush Vienna. He withdrew sullenly from the scene of his defeat, leaving 80,000 dead Turks on the field. The price of conquest for once was too high for him. Vienna was saved. And not only Vienna, but Europe. Vienna had'been Europe's barrier against the Turks' further advance. And the barrier held firm. The northern limit of Europe's Turkish raids was reached. Once more in later years Vienna was besieged by the Moslems and she again beat them off. The high tide of such invasion had come and receded. Europe at large was now for ever secure from this long-dreaded foe. In the moment of victory, according to the account, the bakers who had given the alarm were not forgotten. To commemorate the event they and their descendants henceforth moulded their rolls into the shape of a crescent (the sacred emblem of Turkey). The custom prevails to this day.