The Hungarian–Ottoman wars (Hungarian: magyar–török háborúk, Turkish: Macaristan-Osmanlı Savaşları) were a series of battles between the Ottoman Empire and the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Following the Byzantine Civil War, the Ottoman capture of Gallipoli, and the inconclusive Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Ottoman Empire was poised to conquer the entirety of the Balkans. It also sought and expressed desire to expand further north into Central Europe, beginning with the Hungarian lands.
Since 1360s Hungary confronted with the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Hungary led several crusades, campaigns and carried out several defence battles and sieges against the Ottomans. Hungary bore the brunt of the Ottoman wars in Europe during the 15th century and successfully halted the Ottoman advance. The Ottomans won a significant victory at the Battle of Varna in 1444, but suffered a defeat at the 1456 Siege of Belgrade. One notable figure of this period was Vlad the Impaler, who, with limited Hungarian help, resisted Ottoman rule until the Ottomans placed his brother, Radu the Handsome, on the throne of Wallachia. Ottoman success was once again halted at Moldavia due to Hungarian intervention, but the Turks finally succeeded when Moldavia and then Belgrade fell to Bayezid II and Suleiman the Magnificent, respectively. In 1526 the Ottomans crushed the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohács, where King Louis II of Hungary and more than 20,000 of his soldiers died.
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