The Battle of Khotyn / Chocim 1621 (400 Years Anniversary)

The battle of Khotyn / Chocim which took place during the Polish-Ottoman war is widely considered the first time the Ottoman empire was resisted successfully in a battle in more than two generations, and it ended the Polish-Ottoman War fought over the control of Moldavia.

Chapters:
00:00-01:48 Intro
03:07-28:54 Battle of Khotyn

Bibliography:
Davies, Brian, Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500–1700, 2007.
Frost, Robert, After the Deluge: Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War, 1655-1660, 2004.
Gintautas, Sliesoriūnas, Lietuvos Istorija. 6. Lietuvos Istorijos Institutas, 2015.
Przeździecki, Paweł, The Polish-Turkish War of 1620–1621: the battles of Cecora and Chocim, in: Grzegorz Jasiński, Wojciech Włodarkiewicz, Polish Battles and Campaigns in 13th-19th centuries, pp. 87-102.
Sikora, Radoslaw, Chocim (Khotyn) 1621.
Tezcan, Baki, Khotyn 1621. Or how the Poles Changed the Course of Ottoman History, in: AOASH 62 (June 2009), pp. 185-198.

[SandRhomanHistory]

Please note that this video is available with subtiles in Polish, Ukrainian and Russian!

[patapax]

It's also important to note that Sahaidachny, the hetman of Zaporozhian Cossacks, died due to wounds received in the battle of Khotyn. The Moldavian conflict of 1620-21 essentially caused death of the three great leaders of the Commonwealth that led all the successful campaigns in the previous decade - Żółkiewski of the Polish army, Chodkiewicz of the Lithuanian army and Sahaidachny as the leader of Cossacks.

[Artur_M.]

Fun fact: Jakub Sobieski, mentioned in the video, was the father of the famous future King John III Sobieski. His diary was the main source for one of the most prominent poets of Polish Baroque - Wacław Potocki, who wrote an epic poem _Transakcja wojny chocimskiej_ or simply _Wojna chocimska_ (The War of Chocim/Khotyn).

[Mira-K]

A curious fact: at Żółkiewski's burial place a latin inscription 'Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor' ("From my bones, avenger shall arise") was sculpted. Żółkiewski's great grandson? Jan III Sobieski.

[svintsitsky]

Deep knowledge of the sources, understanding of the historical moment and neutral point of view - great video to watch! Greetings from a Ukrainian!

[aasemahsan]

3:08 Problems between Poland-Lithuanian commonwealth & Ottomans increases after Osman II comes to the throne
8:04 The Commonwealth prepares for war
12:20 Ottomans march to Khotyn & battle ensues
16:10 Change in Ottoman strategy
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz & the Winged Hussars
19:50 Further change in Osman II's strategy (focused attack on supply lines)
23:25 Chodkiewicz's death & resulting Ottoman pushes
25:26 Negotiation between Osman II & Lubomirski leads to the Treaty of Khotyn
27:43 Aftermath

[samsonsoturian]

The thing about Cossacks and Tartars is that governments could only really pretend they ruled them.

[AGS]

Bonus Fact: Sultan Osman was really young!
He was born 3 November 1604, making him 16 at the time of the Battle!

[cetus]

A great video! I realy aprecciate its high quality.
just one correction: Grand Crown Hetman, the old man Żółkiewski has not been captured by enemies during a tragic retreat from Tutora. He died refusing to escape (he killed his own horse) and died with a saber in his hand. This was his last stand.
He chose to die in battle rather than bear the shame of defeat at home.. After all, he was the victor from Kłuszyn, who took Moscow in 1610.

Curious fact: Żólkiewski was a grand grandfather of king John III Sobieski. Sobieski's mother taught him Latin on the examples of inscriptions written on the tomb of his great ancestor. The uncle and brother of king John also were killed by Tatars. John III himself was born in stormy night on a castle around which the Tatar invasion was raging.
The fight against the Tatars and the Turks, one could say, was this man's destiny.

[Frenchylikeshikes]

This is why I love you tube: so many amazing channels, and endless possibility to learn about other places' History.

[samuelclemens]

I would love to see more content about the Polish Lithuanian wars against the Ottomans.

[TheZerech]

Really great to see more popular videos about the history of early modern eastern Europe. Sahajdachny is such an interesting figure, he essentially saved the Ruthenian Orthodox Church in Kyiv along with his clergyman counterpart Petro Mohyla. After him the Cossacks were greatly strengthened, his raids on Constantinople and Anatolia were a significant drain on Ottoman resources too. He was a very respected figure, but also not afraid to levy political pressure on the crown and nobles through the Cossacks. Had he been in charge before 1648, the circumstances which forced Bohdan Khmelnytsky to rebel could have been avoided, and a lot of bloodshed.

[agytamas]

Greetings from Hungary! Loved the video, I am very interested in all aspects of Polish and PLC history. Fun fact: One of the greatest rulers of the PLC was a hungarian nobleman, Stephan Báthory.
As always:
Polak, Węgier — dwa bratanki,
i do szabli, i do szklanki,
oba zuchy, oba żwawi,
niech im Pan Bóg błogosławi.

[wardasz]

"refers to Light Cossack Cavalry (Pancerni)" - there is somethink wrong with this. "Pancerni" mean literally "armoured", and this term is usually used to call standard Polish cavalry of the time, protected with chainmail and armed sabers, bows and firearm. Calling them "light" cavalry sound wrong, especially when you have Lisowczycy, who use no armor at all, next to them.

[sarahsidney]

Poland has such a rich history! Thanks for covering this topic. Super interesting!

[burcinadsonmez]

Nice video yet a bit one-sided at the end. Since the results of Khotin is equally important for the Ottoman internal affairs. Osman II (also called Osman the Young) was one of the youngest and most energetic Sultans of the empire during its stagnation period. He was both talented, well educated and shrewd and also seen as the bright future of a failing state when he ascended to throne. When he enthroned by a coup d'état at his 14 he was supported by the palace bureaucrats, aristocracy and Janissary Corps alike. The sultans of that period, stagnation era, of the empire were generally tools in the hands of palace women and eunuchs since they were isolated in the palace grounds and even in their own apartments while they grew as crown princes. But Osman seems to have broken this cycle and made decisive steps towards being a competent ruler (as evidenced by the signing of the Treaty of Serav in 1618 with Safavid Sultanate of Persia which guaranteed the safety of the eastern Ottoman border).

Khotyn changed everything. The easy victory that was perceived turned into a quagmire and a slug-fest that the technologically and theoretically weakening Ottoman Army was not ready for. But most importantly for Osman the battle put forward the inadequacy of the once fabled Jenissary Corps. The rank insubordination and unrulines of the Jenissaries were recorded in the Ottoman chronicles of the battle. The Jenissary Corps in the early 17th century itself became a political power and an important faction in Ottoman palace politics not very different from the Roman Empire's Preatorian Guard in the empire's decline in 2nd and 3rd centuries.

Worse still, In early 1622 after a few months of Treaty of Khotyn, Osman II decided to start another campaign against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth yet the commanders (Aghas) of the Jenissary Corps flat out refused to commit their forces to another campaign. This seems to have become the final straw for Osman and he first closed the coffee shops (unoffical gathering places of Jenissaries) in Istanbul (Constantinople) and decided to disband the corps for a more state afilliated and modernized army from the eastern, Anatolian provinces. Yet when the news of his long term modernization plans were leaked to the street, Jenissary Coprs initiated a coup. It was not the first, nor the last, but maybe the most tragic. Because to this date no such coup had ended with the death of a Sultan. But Osman II was taken by Jenissaries to the Yedikule Dungeon, (allegedly) raped and murdered (by strangulation since it was considered wrong to shed the imperial blood) by Jenissary soldiers in 5 of May 1622.

Osman II is largely considered the first Ottoman Sultans in the Period of Ottoman Stagnation that noticed the need of any kind of reform (a military one on this instance). Also he was the first Sultan who was deposed and murdered by Jenissaries. This coup can also be considered the first time we can perceive Jenissary Cops not as an effective fighting force but as a corrupt political faction. And all thanks to the stalemate and humiliating treaty of the Battle of Khotin.

[ShahjahanMasood]

PLC history is so underrated.



ps. I didn't expect that wholesome end. very well made video.

[gabrielgrimes]

I absolutely love this time period in this area. Would love to also see cossack, tatar and Russian history from this area as well since I don't see much on it.

[vectorstrike]

"The Ottomans had no powder left"
It's a testament to PLC's toughness. They endured so much that the freaking Ottomans spent their entire powder and didn't break through!

[squamish]

I had never heard of this epic smackdown. It's strange how the Ottoman Empre is well-known, Muscovy is well-known, in fact every other great power at that time is still familiar to the average lay historian, but the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is not, even though it was one of the most powerful entities in Europe for centuries.

I think this is partly due to the fact that every other of the major powers survived as independent entities until the modern day or at least the 20th Century, whereas the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth broke up into two separate countries, Poland was partitioned, Lithuania was subsumed into the Russian Empire and its identity was lost.