During the conflict, Venetian troops seized the island of Lefkada (Santa Maura) and the Morea peninsula, although they failed to retake Crete and expand their possessions in the Aegean Sea.

[8][9][10] The Ottomans immediately shifted their attention towards the western coasts of the Greek mainland, threatening the Venetian Ionian Islands and the Republic's possessions in Dalmatia.

The approach of the Ottoman fleet under the Kapudan Pasha forced the Venetian Provveditore Generale da Mar, Daniele Dolfin, to stay at Lefkada (Santa Maura) to protect the vulnerable island, located close to the mainland.

[13] Preparing for the inevitable confrontation, the Venetian Senate replaced Dolfin, seen as too timid and ineffective, with Andrea Pisani, already in Corfu as Provveditore Generale da Mar.

[16] In February, the Saxon field marshal, Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg arrived on the island as commander-in-chief of the Venetian forces.

[13][17] The fortifications of Corfu city, situated on a promontory in the middle of the island's eastern shore, had been neglected during the previous decades, as the extraordinary effort during the Morean War had left the Venetian treasury empty.

Some help began to arrive in spring 1716, as Portugal and Spain responded to Papal calls for a crusade by offering parts of their fleets for operations against the Ottomans.

[19] In April, Prince Eugene of Savoy sent an ultimatum to cease hostilities and restore to Venice the territories accorded to her by the Treaty of Karlowitz, but the Ottomans rejected it and declared war in June.

[21] In May, the Austrians warned Schulenburg that strong Ottoman forces under the serasker Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha—governor of Diyarbekir Eyalet and nephew of the namesake Grand Vizier who led the siege of Vienna in 1683[22]—were assembling on the mainland coast across the island.

[23] While keeping his rowed warships in Corfu, Pisani sent his more manoeuvrable ships of the line ahead, under the Capitano Straordinario delle Navi Andrea Corner, to observe the straits between the Morea and Crete for the Ottomans' approach.

After considering disembarking his crews to reinforce the garrison, he resolved to abandon his station in the Corfu Channel for the open sea, hoping to find Corner's squadron, which he had not heard from for 20 days.

[25][26] Rumours spread that the fleet had abandoned the island to its fate, leading to the outbreak of looting of the empty houses, as well as cases of arson, and even killings as the looters clashed.

[27] Schulenburg, with the assistance of the Provveditore Generale da Mar, Antonio Loredan, tried to impose order while mustering his forces for the defence of the city: on 6 July, the Venetian commander disposed of about 1,000 German mercenaries, 400 Italian and Dalmatian soldiers, 500 Corfiots, and 300 Greeks from other regions.

[28] As a result, the mood of the population swung into enthusiastic support for the defence, and many hundreds volunteered to assist in building fortifications, man artillery pieces, or enlisted in militias.

[28][32] At the same time, the Ottoman forces on the island were making progress, capturing the fort of the Saviour (San Salvatore) and the hill of Abramios (Monte Abramo) to the west of the city.

[33] In turn, on the morning of 19 August, the Janissaries launched a mass assault on the fortifications, overrunning the bastion of St. Athanasios and part of the outer fortified belt and reaching the Scarpon Gate, where they hosted their banners.

[28][33] Undeterred, the Ottomans reorganized their forces on 20 August to resume their assault on the fortification, but on the next day, a Spanish squadron of six ships of the line appeared on the horizon.

[40] The defence of Corfu was also commemorated in Venice with the erection of a fourth stone lion at the entrance of the Venetian Arsenal, with the inscription "anno Corcyrae liberatae".

[44] The Austrians, buoyed by their victories, were unwilling to discuss terms, until the Spanish launched an attack on the Habsburg possessions in Italy by sending the very fleet ostensibly being prepared to aid Venice to capture Sardinia in July 1717, and another to invade Sicily a year later.