I personally liked his cousin Stephen better but Vlad knew how to deal with a rough country and even rougher enemies.
If Hungary, Poland and Moldavia had united to stomp the mohammedans into the dust rather then spending their blood and treasure on petty wars that meant nothing we would not have half the problems in the world we have today.
Interesting point, but Poland and Hungary practically never fought.
There is a saying in Polish and a corresponding one in Magyar that goes “Polak, Węgier – dwa bratanki, i do szabli, i do szklanki” pole, Hungarian two brothers in arms and drinking.
The Crusade of Varna (1444) was a direct union between Poland and Hungary under King Władysław III (also known as Władysław Warneńczyk). Moldavia and Wallachia also contributed troops. The coalition suffered a catastrophic defeat, and King Władysław was killed, which effectively ended the last major unified effort to expel the Ottomans from the Balkans for decades.
The Moldavian prince Stephen the Great won a major victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui (1475) with help from Hungarian and Polish reinforcements.
The Ottoman Empire was a global superpower with a highly disciplined professional army (the Janissaries) that often outnumbered European coalitions.
The Ottomans in the 1500s were almost like the USA in the 1990s, a juggernaut.
The Christian forces were divided due to Calvinist Hungarians actually fighting on the side of the Ottomans in 1683 and Catholic France in alliance with the Ottomans against the Hapsburgs