Page:A General Sketch of Political History from the Earlist Times.djvu/315

 CHAPTER XXII THE EAST AND THE NORTH During the last quarter of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth, the Ottoman power had ceased to be actively aggressive in Europe. This was partly 1 The owing to the vigour of the Persian Empire under Turkish the Safavid dynasty on its eastern border, but still Em P ire - more to sheer incapacity or misrule at Constantinople. This Safavid dynasty, we may note in passing, arose at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and lasted till the middle of the eighteenth. The title of the ' Persian Sofy ' is derived from it. Towards the end of this period a maritime war broke out with Venice. But in 1656 court intrigues raised an Albanian, Mohammed Kiuprili, to the office of Grand Vizier or Chief Minister, and there ensued an era of renewed vigour. The Ottomans attacked Transylvania, a virtually independent principality comprising the eastern portion of Turkey- Hungary, over which they claimed sovereignty, aggressive. The Emperor Leopold supported Transylvania, and the Otto- man viziers turned hostile eyes on Vienna. In 1664 they were defeated at St. Gothard and made peace, withdrawing their troops from Transylvania, but still receiving tribute from it. They then turned to the completion of the war with Venice, which was compelled to surrender Crete in spite of the stubborn defence conducted by the heroic Morosini. The next move was made upon the Ukraine, a district in the south of what is now Russia, occupied by the Cossacks. This had recently been partitioned between Russia and Poland against the will of the Cossacks, who appealed to the Turks.