Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/22315
Title: Malta and the celebration of victory over the Turks in the Siege of Vienna of 1683
Other Titles: A timeless gentleman : festschrift in honour of Maurice de Giorgio
Authors: Cassar, Carmel
Keywords: Malta -- History -- Knights of Malta, 1530-1798
Vienna, Siege of, Vienna, 1683
Fasts and feasts -- Malta -- 17th century
Issue Date: 2014
Publisher: Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti
Citation: Cassar, C. (2014). Malta and the celebration of victory over the Turks in the Siege of Vienna of 1683. In A timeless gentleman - festschrift in honour of Maurice de Giorgio (pp.341-346). Malta: Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti.
Abstract: In his book The Ottoman Empire 1700-1922 published in 2000, Donald Quataert explains how in the summer of 1983, while in Vienna, he was struck by …lines of schoolchildren [who] wound their way through the sidewalks of the Austrian capital. These children were lining up for an exhibition to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the victory over the Turks in the second siege of Vienna of 1683. The Ottoman Turks were literally the terror of their enemies, and it was precisely this factor that the author claims induced him to write his book. Celebrations of victories over the Turks are still very much felt especially in the Mediterranean and the Balkan states. This is undoubtedly ground in traumatic historical experiences resulting from centuries-old antagonisms based on religious and cultural values and considerations that over the centuries have impeded a proper evaluation and assessment of the role played by the Turks in the Mediterranean, in the Balkans and elsewhere. As often happens in many societies, many rites associated with war are staged by a single side, identifying the enemy, recounting their moral inferiority while glorifying the celebrant’s own community. Such rites keep political antagonisms alive, without necessarily exacerbating them to the point of physical hostilities. It is no wonder than that when news reached Malta that the Turks had been defeated in Vienna in 1683 it was meet with great celebrations.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/22315
ISBN: 9789990931891
Appears in Collections:Scholarly Works - FacEMATou

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