Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791) in the context of "Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)"

Đorđe Petrović OSA OSV (pronounced [dʑôːrdʑe pětrovitɕ]; Serbian: Ђорђе Петровић; 14 November [O.S. 3 November] 1768 – 25 July [O.S. 13 July] 1817), known by the sobriquet Karađorđe (pronounced [kâradʑoːrdʑe]; Serbian: Карађорђе, lit. 'Black George'), was a Serbian revolutionary leader who led a struggle against the Ottoman Empire during the First Serbian Uprising. Karađorđe Petrović held the title of Grand Vožd of Serbia from 14 February 1804 to 3 October 1813.

Born into an impoverished family in the Šumadija region of Ottoman Serbia, Karađorđe distinguished himself during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791 as a member of the Serbian Free Corps, a militia of Habsburg and Ottoman Serbs, armed and trained by the Austrians. Fearing retribution following the Austrians' and Serb rebels' defeat in 1791, he and his family fled to the Austrian Empire, where they lived until 1794, when a general amnesty was declared. Karađorđe subsequently returned to Šumadija and became a livestock merchant. In 1796, the rogue governor of the Sanjak of Vidin, Osman Pazvantoğlu, invaded the Pashalik of Belgrade, and Karađorđe fought alongside the Ottomans to quash the incursion.

The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was fought between Sweden and Russia from June 1788 to August 1790. The war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790 and took place concomitantly with both the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) and Theatre War. The war was, overall, mostly insignificant for the parties involved.

King Gustav III of Sweden initiated the war for domestic political reasons, hoping to gain support from the opposition. Despite forming an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, Sweden failed to secure support from Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Prussia. Sweden's initial plan to attack Saint Petersburg and instigate a coup to depose Empress Catherine II did not materialize. The war led to Denmark–Norway declaring war on Sweden, but peace was eventually signed on 9 July 1789 after diplomatic intervention by Great Britain and Prussia.

Joseph Franz Canto d'Irles or Canto d'Yrlès (29 March 1726 – 11 April 1797) was an Austrian general officer who led his troops against Napoleon Bonaparte's French army during the Siege of Mantua in 1796–1797. He joined the Austrian army as a teenager and fought in the Seven Years' War. He was promoted to Colonel (Oberst) during the War of the Bavarian Succession and to Generalmajor during the Austro-Turkish War. He was promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant in 1795 and assigned to command the fortress of Mantua in Italy. For successfully defending the fortress for two months, he received the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa in August 1796. He was superseded in command during the later part of the siege and died two months after the fortress surrendered in February 1797.

Baron Paul von Davidovich or Pavle Davidović (Serbian Cyrillic: Павле Давидовић) (1737, Buda – 18 February 1814, Komárom) became a general of the Austrian Empire and a Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He served in the Seven Years' War and the War of the Bavarian Succession, winning the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa in the latter conflict. He fought in the Austro-Turkish War and the Brabant Revolution, attaining the rank of general officer. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he fought in the Flanders Campaign and the Rhine campaign of 1795 before being transferred to the Italian theater. He played a major role in the 1796 campaign, leading corps-sized commands in the fighting against the French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte. He led troops during the War of the Third Coalition and War of the Fifth Coalition. He was Proprietor (Inhaber) of an Austrian infantry regiment.

Aleksa Nenadović (Serbian: Алекса Ненадовић, 1749–4 February 1804) was a Serb militia commander and obor-knez (Christian mayor) of the Tamnava–Posavina knežina of the Valjevo nahiya of the Pashalik of Belgrade. A veteran of the Serbian Free Corps that fought in the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), he became one of the leading Serbs in the province, and was killed by the renegade Janissaries in the event known as the "Slaughter of the Knezes", which led to the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13) and Serbian Revolution.

His younger brother was Jakov Nenadović, a vojvoda (general) and the first Serbian Interior Minister. His sons were archpriest and one of the main leaders in the uprising, Matija Nenadović, and vojvoda Sima Nenadović, active in the Second Serbian Uprising (1815–17).

In the siege of Belgrade (15 September – 8 October 1789) a Habsburg Austrian army led by Feldmarschall Ernst Gideon von Laudon besieged an Ottoman Turkish force under Osman Pasha in the fortress of Belgrade. After a three-week leaguer, the Austrians forced the surrender of the fortress. During the campaign which was part of the Austro-Turkish War, the Austrian army was greatly hampered by illness. Austria held the city until 1791 when it handed Belgrade back to the Ottomans according to the terms of the peace treaty. Several Austrian soldiers who distinguished themselves during the siege later held important commands in the subsequent French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Belgrade is the capital of modern Serbia.

At the urging of Russian Empress Catherine the Great, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor committed the Habsburg monarchy to a war against Ottoman Turkey. In 1788, the Austrians captured one fortress and seized some territory but most of their efforts were thwarted. In August 1788, Joseph appointed Laudon commander in Croatia where that general enjoyed some successes. After the commander of the main army became ill, Joseph replaced him with Laudon at the end of July 1789 and ordered his new commander to capture Belgrade. In mid-September, Laudon's army crossed the Sava River and laid siege to Belgrade with 120,000 soldiers and over 200 cannons. At the end of the month the Austrians cleared the Ottomans from the suburbs. In the face of a destructive bombardment, Osman Pasha negotiated the surrender of the city on 7 October in exchange for allowing the garrison free passage to a Turkish fortress.

Koča's Frontier (Serbian: Кочина крајина, Kočina krajina) refers to the territory liberated by Serbian rebels in the Sanjak of Smederevo (Ottoman Empire), during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791. Rebellion was planned already in 1787, since it was anticipated that the Habsburg Monarchy will enter into war against the Ottomans. The Habsburg-organized Serbian Free Corps, among whom Koča Anđelković was a prominent captain (hence the historiographical name of the movement), initially captured and held various central parts of Ottoman Serbia during 1788 and 1789. After the arrival of regular Habsburg armies, who captured Belgrade from the Ottomans on 8 October (1789), the liberated Serbian territory was much expanded and became a Habsburg protectorate under military administration, called Serbia (German: Serbien). By the Treaty of Sistova (1791), Habsburg forces had to retreat, and the entire liberated territory was returned to the Ottomans. Such outcome also ended Serbian hopes for liberation through alliance with the Habsburgs.