The Battle of Vienna took place on 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months.

The Turks laid siege to Vienna in the middle of July 1683 and the Austrian Emperor appealed to other European monarchs for help.
King of Poland - Jan III Sobieski - responded by marching on Vienna and taking command of a joint army of Polish, German and Austrian forces counting 80,000 troops.
The Turkish army of approximately 150,000 men, commanded by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa, was routed.

The strongest attack came from the 3,000 famed Polish "Winged Hussars" (heavy cavalry with characteristic plumage on their backs) under Sobieski's command.
They gained a victory, thus definitively stopping the Turks in one of the greatest and most significant battles in Europe at the time.

Their defeat at the gates of Vienna ultimately put paid to the Ottoman Empire's plans to conquer Central Europe.

After the Vienna victory, when welcomed by the Austrian Emperor Leopold I, Jan III Sobieski reportedly paraphrased the words of Julius Caesar by saying, 'Veni, vidi, Deus vicit,' (I came, I saw, God carried the victory).
Indeed, the victory of the Poles supported by the Emperor's army, broke the Turkish power which never recovered from the defeat.
In the 18th century, a partition of Turkey was even contemplated, but never took place. However, partition is what happened to Poland.
Characteristically, Turkey, which had fought our ancestors for over two hundred and fifty years, was the only state in Europe that never recognised the partitioning of Poland.

The monument of King Jan III Sobieski in Warsaw Lazienki complex, was enveiled on Sept. 14,1788 - 105 years after the battle. Designed by Andre Le Brun and carved by a sculptor Franciszek Pinck.
It is placed on the bridge and survived both world wars, uprisings and the fire of Lazienki.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

Battle of Vienna http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-BhRWAjYC8&watch_response
Monument http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlG0wB4gtfk