Under Suleiman the Magnificent the Ottoman Empire was a force to be reckoned with, ruling the Middle East and Suleiman was rapidly realizing his goal of advancing into Europe. However in 1529 a major military upheaval in the Austrian city of Vienna would halt Ottoman Islamic expansion and save Europe from the possibility of Ottoman control. However this may not have been the case if it were not for several key disadvantages that the Ottoman Empire had against the Viennese. The defeat of Suleiman the Magnificent during the 1529 Siege of Vienna was caused by poor weather conditions, chaos and disorganization among the Ottoman ranks, and a much stronger than expected Viennese defense. On May 10, 1529, Sultan Suleiman left Istanbul on an offensive campaign. . Previously, in August 1526, Ottoman forces had defeated the forces of King Louis II of Hungary at the Battle of Mohacs. This placed southeastern Hungary under Ottoman control, giving Suleiman the Magnificent the foothold in Europe he so desperately desired. Up to this point Suleiman's military prowess had been unprecedented; he easily overwhelmed and conquered many kingdoms such as Belgrade, Rhodes and Hungary. This gave him confidence that he could easily take Vienna as well and begin to conquer the rest of Europe; this mistake would prove harmful. After the Hungarian defeat in 1526, the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand I of Habsburg, claimed the empty Hungarian throne by right of his wife, Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, who was the heirless sister of Louis II. . However, there was a dispute over power in Hungary; Ferdinand gained recognition only in the west, while a Transylvanian nobleman named John Zápolya challenged him for the crown in the east. Zápolya tr...... middle of paper ......t, Harvard University Press, 19133. Spielman, John Philip, The City and the Crown: Vienna and the Imperial Court, Purdue University Press, 19934. Reston, James Jr, Defenders of the Faith: Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent and the Battle for Europe, 1520-1536, Marshall Cavendish, 20095. Turnbull, Stephen, The Ottoman Empire: 1326–1699, Osprey Publishing, 20036. Kann, Robert Adolf, A History of the Habsburg Empire: 1526–1918, University of California Press, 19807. Murphey, Rhoads, Ottoman Warfare 1500–1700, Rutgers University Press, 19998. Riley-Smith, Jonathan, The Oxford History of the Crusades, Oxford University press9. Shaw, Stanford Jay and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press10. Walton, Mark.W., George. F. Nafziger and Laurent. W. Mbanda, Islam at War: A History, Praeger/Greenwood, 2003