History knows many wars and battles provoked by absurd events, and one of these will be discussed.
In September 1788, a detachment of elite Austrian cavalry crossed the Timis River and stumbled upon a Gypsy settlement. There the hussars drank a fair amount and had a good rest, finally taking a barrel of schnapps with them. It should be noted that Iophsif II, the emperor of Austria-Hungary of those times, who unleashed a war with Turkey and had very optimistic plans, lost all interest in it some time after the start. Therefore, the army literally suffered from idleness, and the soldiers were inactive, periodically dying of disease and hunger.
This was the reason that the hussars were literally jubilant when they found a settlement of gypsies, because it was one of the few entertainment in the past few months. Having ferried the ill-fated barrel of schnapps across the river, on the way to the camp, the detachment came across a company of infantrymen of their own army, who demanded to divide the booty. As an elite unit of the emperor himself, the hussars flatly refused this offer. A fight broke out, soon the soldiers took out their weapons, and a firefight began.
Other Austrian soldiers who did not understand the essence of what was happening and fired indiscriminately into the darkness came running to the noise. The situation was complicated not only by poor pre-dawn illumination, but also by the heterogeneity and multinationality of the army, in which there were Germans, French, and Italians. Hearing the German "Halt!", Meaning the order to stop, and mistaking it for a Turkish exclamation glorifying Allah, the soldiers began to fire even more actively.
Joseph II himself jumped out of his tent and was almost trampled to death by the cavalry; an adjutant saved him from inevitable death. Defending the emperor, he killed several soldiers of his own army. After that, the commander-in-chief accidentally fell into the river, which saved his life. The commotion continued, and, suffering heavy losses, the one hundred thousandth army began to retreat. Word of the battle with the Turks and the flight of the Austrians immediately spread throughout Europe. The next day, the Turkish army arrived at the site of the battle and found several thousand people killed and many more wounded. The latter were executed by the Turks on the spot.
This event greatly undermined the morale of the army. In addition, a few weeks later, the emperor died of an illness, which, apparently, he contracted by falling into an icy river. Then the command of the army passed to the truly experienced Marshal Laudon, but there was no talk of any ambitious plans to seize Istanbul. Perhaps, if not for this ridiculous situation with the barrel of schnapps, the huge army of Emperor Joseph defeated the Turks and the course of history would have gone completely differently. However, history does not tolerate subjunctive moods.
PANFILOVA ARINA