The
Ottoman wars in Europe, also known as the
Ottoman Wars or
Turkish Wars, were a series of military conflicts between the
Ottoman Empire and various European states dating from the
Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the
Byzantine–Ottoman Wars in the 13th century, followed by the
Bulgarian–Ottoman Wars and the
Serbian–Ottoman Wars in the 14th century. Much of this period was defined by Ottoman expansion into the Balkans and modern-day Serbia, which allowed the Empire to gain a foothold in eastern Europe. The Ottoman Empire made further inroads into
Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in the peak of Turkish territorial claims in Europe. There was a backslide in Ottoman military dominance after the unsuccessful
Siege of Vienna in 1529 and the
Ottoman-Habsburg wars. European powers began to consolidate against the Ottomans and formed the
Holy League, reversing a number of Ottoman land gains during the
Great Turkish War of the late 1600s.