The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699)

After the defeat before Vienna in 1683, Austria, Poland, Venice and later Russia joined in the Holy League and began a long war against the Ottomans. After a heavy defeat at the Battle of Zenta in 1697, the Ottomans agreed to make peace.

A two-month congress was held near Sremski Karlovci (Karlowitz) with English and Dutch envoys as mediators. The Ottomans were represented by the chief scribe Rami Mehmed Efendi and the interpreter Alexander Mavrocordatos. The treaty signed on 26 January 1699 was based on the principle that each side kept what it held. Most of Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia and Slavonia went to the Habsburgs, Podolia to Poland and the Morea (Peloponnese) to Venice. The Banat of Temeşvar stayed Ottoman, and with Russia only a two-year truce was agreed.

Karlowitz is seen as the start of the Ottoman retreat from Europe. It was also a turning point in Ottoman diplomacy: for the first time the state negotiated at a multilateral congress through European mediators.