The difference in size between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire becomes obvious at once. Nevertheless, Venice managed to put up a fierce resistance a quarter of a century to the Ottoman attempt to conquer the largest Greek island during the Cretan War (1645-1669). A few years later, in 1684, the Republic joined an alliance with the Habsburg Empire and Poland and declared war on the Ottoman Empire for the first time in its history. In the slipstream of the war in Hungary, the Republic initially attained considerable successes in both Greece and Dalmatia. But while Venice was able to hold on to its conquests on the edges of the considerably enlarged Dalmatia until the end of the Republic in 1797, its acquisitions in Greece were largely lost again in the Second Morea War (1715-1718). Based on Venetian and other European sources, such as senate minutes and other state writings, ego documents, as well as contemporary official Venetian state historiography, this paper addresses questions such as the following: Which structural changes did take place in the Republic's fighting capabilities during the Venetians' "Iron Century" between 1645 and 1718? Was there technological change in the Venetian land and naval forces of the time, and if so, what did it consist of? Did something like military modernisation occur? Were there failures in this direction and if so, why?