Battle of Lepanto

The Fourth Ottoman–Venetian War, also known as the War of Cyprus was fought between 1570–1573. It was waged between the Ottoman Empire... and the Republic of Venice, the latter joined by the Holy League, a coalition of Christian states formed under the auspices of the Pope, which included Spain , the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and other Italian states. The war, the preeminent episode of Sultan Selim II's reign, began with the Ottoman invasion of the Venetian-held island of Cyprus. The capital Nicosia and several other towns fell quickly to the considerably superior Ottoman army, leaving only Famagusta in Venetian hands. Christian reinforcements were delayed, and Famagusta eventually fell in August 1571 after a siege of 11 months. Two months later, at the Battle of Lepanto, the united Christian fleet destroyed the Ottoman fleet, but was unable to take advantage of this victory. The Ottomans quickly rebuilt their naval forces, and Venice was forced to negotiate a separate peace, ceding Cyprus to the Ottomans and paying a tribute of 300,000 ducats.
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In the battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe, there were eight distinct conflicts that greatly affected the history of... Europe, ranging from the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC to the Battle of Vienna in 1683. In each of these battles, foreign forces from various parts of Asia and Africa threatened the existence of European settlements by invasion, whether by land or by sea. Sheer numbers aside, the conduct of the victorious commanders with respect to tactics and timing helped to turn the tide in each instance despite who their opponent was. The outcomes of battles have often been assessed by historians in respect to their influence on the development of polities, states or cultures. This article provides an overview of those battles whose outcome has been judged by at least two modern historians to be of lasting cultural or political importance for European nation-states—or European polities recognized by historians as independent nation-states—and invading outside forces. It does not include the battles where both opposing factions were European, but may contain battles where both opposing forces belonged to a similar culture.
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