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Türk Tarihi | History of Turks claims that the Ottomans took Poland-Lithuania as a vassal in the late 1570s. Where did they get this from? I searched everywhere but I couldn't find anything.

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    See en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lithuania - no record of it. Don’t believe everything (anything?) on YouTube…
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 3:41
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    As prince of Transylvania, Bathory was vassal of the Ottomans. The extension made in the video that Poland and Lithuania were too is a mistake
    – totalMongot
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 11:11
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    As a rule of thumb, I'd be suspicious of any source that did not provide citations/sources to allow you to verify/explore the claims.
    – MCW ♦
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 17:53
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    @Kamal Saleh "complicated European politics". Yeah. The Hundred Years' War between France and England was due, in part, to the King of England also holding lands in France as a vassal of the French king. (But mostly due to them all being aggressive bastards...)
    – Mark Olson
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 18:06

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Now I have done my research and now I understand. Stephen Bathory was elected as king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania and remained so for 10 years. In the same year he also became the prince of Transylvania, which formed a personal union between the two nations. So he was a vassal and a king at the same time, but the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth didn't give allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan. It is like Stephen Bathory was playing as two different rulers.

Credit goes to TotalMongot for his comment

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    Sounds almost like Augustus II 150 years later.
    – Jan
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 11:31
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    Good you made your research, this is the answer I gave you in commment
    – totalMongot
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 16:31
  • @Jan Yes but it is a bit different. He was both a prince of the Holy roman empire but also a king of the Polish Lithuanian commonwealth.
    – Kamal Saleh
    Commented Dec 27, 2022 at 21:58
  • @totalMongot Yes, I added credit to your comment :)
    – Kamal Saleh
    Commented Dec 27, 2022 at 21:59
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The Ottomans never conquered Northeastern Europe. The furthest North the Ottomans conquered was Hungary. The Ottomans did attempt to conquer Vienna, Austria, but were defeated in 1689-(with the aid and assistance of Polish mercenary Fighters who were likely fighting on behalf of the Austrian imperial establishment). The failed siege of Vienna, is largely viewed by Historians as the historical turning point for The Ottoman Empire.

Ultimately, it was a combination of (and presence of) the Austrian Hapsburg and Tsarist Russian Empires which served as a geopolitical bulwark against further Ottoman imperial ambitions northward.

(Wikipedia articles on The Ottoman Empire and Austrian Empire).

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    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Dec 27, 2022 at 22:04
  • Polish "mercenary Fighters"? Polish forces were led by Jan III Sobieski - king of Poland!
    – Mithoron
    Commented Sep 23, 2023 at 22:24
  • Good point regarding King Jan III Sobieski, however, it was ultimately the Vienna based Austrian Hapsburg Empire which geopolitically blocked Ottoman expansion into Northern Europe.
    – Alex
    Commented Sep 24, 2023 at 1:28

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