The origins of the wars are clouded by the fact that although the Habsburgs were occasionally the Kings of Hungary and Germany (though almost always that of Germany after the fifteenth century), the wars between the Hungarians and the Ottomans included other Dynasties as well. Naturally, the Ottoman Wars in Europe attracted support from the West, where the advancing and powerful Islamic state was seen as a threat to Christendom in Europe. The Crusades of Nicopolis and of Varna marked the most determined attempts by Europe to halt the Turkic advance into Central Europe and the Balkans. The confrontations always had a religious hue; the Ottomans saw territorial expansion as a duty, to extent God's rule. Christians saw the Muslims as infidel; Europeans also characterized the Turks as uncivilized.
For a while the Ottomans were too busy trying to put down Balkan rebels such as Vlad Dracula. However, the defeat of these and other rebellious vassal states opened up Central Europe to Ottoman invasion. The Kingdom of Hungary now bordered the Ottoman Empire and its vassals.
After King Louis II of Hungary was killed at the Battle of Mohacs, his widow Queen Mary fled to her brother the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand I. Ferdinand's claim to the throne of Hungary was further strengthened by the fact that he had married Anne, the sister of King Louis II and the only family member claimant to the throne of the shattered Kingdom. Consequently Ferdinand I was elected King of Bohemia and at the Diet of Bratislava he and his wife were elected King and Queen of Hungary. This clashed with the Turkish objective of placing the puppet John Szapolyai on the throne, thus setting the stage for a conflict between the two powers.
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