Fourth Ottoman-European War

The Fourth Ottoman-Venetian War, also known as the War of Cyprus, was a war between the Ottoman Empire and the Venetian Republic over control of the Island of Cyprus. The war was started because of the economic and militaristic advantage of controlling Cyprus, and would not have begun if the location of the island was not an advantageous land to both states. The war ended in an Ottoman victory and the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus, giving its new rulers considerable power over Levant Trade and power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the island of Cyprus was a very important territory of the Venetians prior to the war. This island is located in a part of the world that allowed the Venetians to rival the …show more content…
Instead, both powers sent fleets of ships to fight for the island, and most battles took place between the naval forces of both states. The battles that did involve infantry forces took place on the island of Cyprus. The Venetians, along with a large naval fleet, surrounded the the capital city of Nicosia with a protective wall and moat. This should have given the Venetians an advantage in the land battles, but what the Ottomans lacked in naval power, they made up for through infantry. The Ottoman Empire was known as one of the Gunpowder Empires for a reason, they made use of superior military tactics involving cannons and other weapons utilizing gunpowder. Even though the Venetians had a larger naval presence, with a larger fleet of ships, the Ottoman tactics involving gunpowder weapons ultimately gave them the upper-hand in naval conflict. It was such weapons that allowed the empire to rise, making it a major tactic in Ottoman warfare. Without the utilization of such weapons, it is possible to debate whether the Ottomans would have still come out as the Victors of the war. Without such tools, the Ottomans would have been out-manned due to the size of the Venetian