the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Forced against his will into war with Russia, Ahmed III came nearer than any Ottoman sovereign before or since to breaking the power of his northern rival, whose armies his grand vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha succeeded in completely surrounding at the Pruth River Campaign in 1711. The subsequent Ottoman victories against Russia enabled the Ottoman Empire to advance to Moscow, had the Sultan wished. However, this was halted as a report reached Istanbul that the Safavids were invading the Ottoman Empire, causing a period of panic, turning the Sultan's attention away from Russia. Wars with Venice and Austria On 9 December 1714, war was declared on Venice, and an army under Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha's command, the Ottomans managed to recover the whole Morea (Peloponnese) from Venice through coordinated operations of the army and navy. This success alarmed Austria and in April 1716, Emperor Charles VI provoked the Porte into a declaration of war. The unsuccessful battle, also commanded by Silahdar Ali Pasha, ended with the treaty of Passarovitz, signed on 21 July 1718, according to which Belgrade, Banat, and little Wallachia were ceded to Austria. This failure was a real disappointment for Ahmed and after the bad conditions imposed by this treaty, Istanbul's economy suffered from increased inflation and all of its attendant evils. Ibrahim Pasha who was the second leading figure of the empire after Ahmed had joined the Morea campaign in 1715, and was appointed as the city of Nish's minister of finance the following year. This post helped him realize the downturn of the state's finances and, due to his insight of this sensitive financial situation he avoided war as much as possible during his vizierate. Ibrahim Pasha's policy of peace suited Ahmed as well since he had no wish to lead any military campaigns, in addition to the fact that his interest in art and culture made him reluctant to leave his Istanbul. Character of Ahmed's rule While shooting competitions were held in Okmeydanı with the idea of increasing the morale of the soldiers and the people, a new warship was launched in Tersane-i Amir. He tried three grand viziers at short intervals. Instead of Hasan Pasha, he appointed Kalaylikoz Ahmed Pasha on 24 September 1704, and Baltacı Mehmed Pasha on 25 December 1704. It was a great pleasure that the ambassadors of Iran and Austria, who came from 1706 to