Due to European diplomatic and military cooperation, the Great Turkish War, lasting
from 1683 to 1699, resulted in the nearly complete recapture of Hungary from Ottoman
rule. Only Banat remained in Ottoman hands until 1718. Although the events of the
long war are known in detail, little research has been dedicated to what hardships
and conflicts the recaptured territories encountered during the organization of the
military and financial, followed by the civil and ecclesiastical administration. The
present study aims to focus on these issues by synthesizing the research results of
the past decades. It presents the challenges of the reconstruction that began during
the war, as well as the conflicts among the military, financial, and civil authorities.
During the Great Turkish War, the fate of Hungary was determined primarily by the
interests of the Habsburg standing army, the Aulic Chamber (Hofkammer), and the Viennese
court. This was also reflected by the fact that Leopold I convened the Hungarian diet
only once, at the end of 1687. During the war, the Hungarian political elite, therefore,
had very little say in the shaping of events and the new administration of the country.
For this reason, the revival of civil and ecclesiastical institutions could only commence
very slowly and in the face of great difficulties in the liberated areas, which were
under close control from the military and financial points of view. Consequently,
a part of the country’s population often regarded the liberation as occupation by
the imperial generals, war commissioners, and chamber officials, and even as a series
of devastations caused by the Habsburg forces. The recapture of the historical state
of Hungary was, therefore, not without fierce political, social, and religious debates.
Paradoxically enough, the Great Turkish War fundamentally contributed to the outbreak
of the first independence movement in the history of Hungary, the War of Independence
(1703–1711) led by Francis II Rákóczi.
