Editing Mehmed III (section)

=== Austro-Hungarian War ===
[[File:Surrender of Eger, 1596, A.jpg|thumb|Mehmed III accepting the surrender of Eger, 1596]]

The major event of his reign was the [[Long Turkish War|Austro-Ottoman War]] in [[Hungary]] (1593–1606). Ottoman defeats in the war caused Mehmed III to take personal command of the army, the first sultan to do so since Suleiman I in 1566. Accompanied by the Sultan, the Ottomans conquered [[Eger]] in 1596. Upon hearing of the Habsburg army's approach, Mehmed wanted to dismiss the army and return to Istanbul.<ref>Karateke, Hakan T. "On the Tranquility and Repose of the Sultan." The Ottoman World. Ed. Christine Woodhead. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2011. p. 120.</ref> However, the Ottomans eventually decided to face the enemy and defeated the [[Habsburg]] and [[Transylvania]]n forces at the [[Battle of Mezőkeresztes|Battle of Keresztes]]<ref>Finkel, Caroline. ''Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire'', p.175. Basic Books, 2005. {{ISBN|0-465-02396-7}}</ref> (known in [[Ottoman Turkish]] as the Battle of Haçova), during which the Sultan had to be dissuaded from fleeing the field halfway through the battle. Upon returning to Istanbul in victory, Mehmed told his viziers that he would campaign again.<ref>Karateke, p. 122.</ref> The next year the Venetian Bailo in Istanbul noted, "the doctors declared that the Sultan cannot leave for a war on account of his bad health, produced by excesses of eating and drinking".<ref>Goodwin, Jason. ''Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire'', p.166. New York: Henry Holt & Company.</ref>{{unreliable source?|reason=This is a pop history book, not a real history book |date=September 2016}}

In reward for his services at the war, [[Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha]] was made Grand Vizier in 1596. However, with pressure from the court and his mother, Mehmed reinstated Damat Ibrahim Pasha to this position shortly afterward.<ref name=islamans>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.islamansiklopedisi.info/| title=Mehmed III |encyclopedia=İslam Ansiklopedisi |publisher=Türk Diyanet Vakfı |pages=407–413 |year=2003 | volume=28}}</ref>

However, the victory at the Battle of Keresztes was soon set back by some important losses, including the loss of [[Győr]] ({{langx|tr|Yanıkkale}}) to the Austrians and the defeat of the Ottoman forces led by [[Hafız Ahmet Pasha]] by the [[Wallachian military forces|Wallachian forces]] under [[Michael the Brave]] in [[Nikopol, Bulgaria|Nikopol]] in 1599. In 1600, Ottoman forces under [[Tiryaki Hasan Pasha]] captured [[Nagykanizsa]] after a 40-day siege and later successfully held it against a much greater attacking force in the [[Siege of Nagykanizsa]].<ref name=larousse>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Mehmed III |encyclopedia=Büyük Larousse |publisher=Milliyet Newspaper Press |pages=7927–8 | volume=15}}</ref>