AD 1650-1800 Early modern

In the late 17th century AD the Ottoman Turks made their last major attempt to increase their power in Europe. Thereafter they were increasingly on the defensive, although they remained a threat and obstacle for some time. Nevertheless the power of the Austrian Habsburgs grew and in 1689 all of Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia came under their control. The Muslim inhabitants of these regions mostly emigrated to the Ottoman territories. Venice’s power in Dalmatia also grew. Bosnia remained a border region, with a large Muslim population.

In the early 18th century Serbia was also ceded to the Habsburgs, but the Turks recovered it in the 1730s at a time when Ottoman power recovered under the vigorous influence of the great Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha. The tributary Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were controlled more closely. However, from the time of Peter the Great, Russia began to take a lead in the Balkan region and in 1774 became the official protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Turkish empire, in particular the Serbs and Bulgars.

The impact of the French Revolution on the region was great. Venice’s empire was dissolved and Dalmatia became part of the ‘Illyrian Provinces’ attached to French north Italy while the Ionian Islands changed hands several times between France, Russia and Britain.