 The Holy Roman Empire was the battleground.  At the beginning  it was the Catholics vs. the Protestants.(1600s)  At the end  it was Habsburg power that was threatened.  Resolved by the Treaty of Westphalia in Characteristics of the Thirty Years War

Peace of Augsburg froze Lutheran/Catholic holdings Frederick III: Calvinism official religion in his realm 1609: Protestant defensive Alliance formed: Prot. Union Maximilian of Bavaria allied w/ Catholic League of Germ. States Jesuits return Strasbourg, Osnabruk to Catholics in German territories

Social Stage: Catholics hated protestants Lutherans hated Calvinists World War of the time Treaties established major boundaries Germany was divided: All principalities were self-governing Some let people through to trade; others did not—no unity

Bohemian Phase

 Ferdinand II inherited Bohemia.  Wants Catholicism to be dominant.  The Bohemians hated him. Most nobles were Calvinist.  Ferdinand II refused to tolerate Protestants. Protestants threw Hapsburg governors out the window of the royal castle in Prague The Bohemian Phase:

Defenestration of Prague  May, 1618— Protestants took control of Bohemia, deposed Ferdinand; Elected Elector Frederick V, head of Protestant Union as king of Bohemia 1619: Ferdinand II becomes Holy Roman Emperor—does not accept his deposition

Ferdinand II borrowed an army from Maximilian of Bavaria and the Catholic League Frederick V and Ferdinand II meet at Battle of White Mountain outside of Prague 11/8/1620 Frederick lost his lands in the fighting. Spanish troops take advantage of Frederick’s predicament and attack Palatinate—overtaking it by 1622

 By 1622, Bohemia & Palatinate—Catholic  Frederick fled to United Provinces  Ferdinand re-established as king of Bohemia; declares it a hereditary Hapsburg possession; confiscated Protestant land; Catholicism is sole religion

Danish Phase

 King Christian IV of Denmark, Lutheran, intervened for Protestants; leads army into N. Germany  Christian made alliance w/UP and England; wanted Catholic territories in N. Germany The Danish Phase:

Ferdinand II tried to end all resistance.  Tried to crush Protestant northern Holy Roman Empire.  Ferdinand II used Albrecht von Wallenstein for the army—Brilliant commander; Bohemian nobleman— country’s wealthiest landowner  Wallenstein defeated Protestants at Dessau in north.

Albrecht von Wallenstein

Forces of Christian IV received help from allies, but were defeated in 1626 by Catholic League army 1627—suffered major loss to Wallenstein Wallenstein occupied Baltic ports of Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen End of Danish supremacy in Baltic

HRE Ferdinand at height of power-- Edict of Restitution (1629): Prohibited Calvinist worship  Restored to Catholics all lands lost since  Deprived all Protestants, except Lutherans, of their religious and political rights. German princes feared Ferdinand (Hapsburg power)  he fired Wallenstein in effort to calm them.

Swedish Phase

 France & Sweden now get involved.  Both want to stop Habsburg power.  Sweden led the charge— reformed military/gunpowder/ wanted to help Lutheran brothers  France provided support. The Swedish Phase:

Gustavus Adolphus invaded the HR Empire. Cardinal Richeleau paid Adolphus to keep armies occupied in Germany  Gustavus’ Tactics:  1 st standing army of conscripts  Flexible tactics

Infantry Brigades:  Equal numbers of musketeers and pikemen  Six-men deep  Use of the SALVO: all rows fired at once (not by row)  Salvos cut up ranks of enemy  Pike charge followed  Infantry became offensive  Cavalry charged w/swords after pistol volley

Additional flexibility obtained w/lighter artillery pieces: more easily moved during battle Changed demanded coordination, careful training, better discipline (no more using undisciplined mercenaries) These changes were effective and imitated by 1560

Gustavus Adolphus

Swedish Army swept the imperial forces in Northern Germany Ferdinand II brought back Wallenstein.  Swedish army was victorious, but their advance was stopped at Lutzen in 1632  King Gustavus Adolphus was killed in battle  Swedish army remains in Germany, although less effective

 German princes still feared Ferdinand II Wallenstein assassinated to appease German princes, on orders of HRE Ferdinand 1634—Battle of Nordlingen—Swedes driven out of South by Imperial army

Result: Southern Germany remained Catholic HRE made peace w/German princes Agreed to annul 1629 Edict of Restitution No peace came to Germany: Swedes wanted to continue war; French (Cardinal Richelieu) entered war Directly

 Religious issues lost significance  Catholic French supported Protestant Swedes against Catholic Hapsburgs of Germany and Spain  1643 Battle of Rocroi: French beat Spanish and ended Spanish military greatness The French Phase:

French proved victorious over HRE armies in Bavaria This was most devastating phase of the war:  German towns decimated.  Agriculture collapsed  famine resulted.  8 million dead  1/3 of the population [from 21 million in 1618 to 13.5 million in 1648]

Loss of German Lives in 30 Years’ War

 Trade was crippled throughout Europe.  Caused massive inflation. All parties ready to sue for peace After 5 years of negotiations, peace was declared in 1648.

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

 Political Provisions:  Each Ger. prince became free from any kind of control by the HR Emperor. (300 separate states)  The United Provinces [Dutch Neths.] became officially independent  so. part remained a Sp. possession. The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

France received. most of the Ger- speaking province of Alsace, parts of W. Germany, and cities along Fr-Ger border Austrian Hapsburgs did not lose territory, but diminished authority: Hapsburg emperor became figurehead in HRE

 Sweden  got lands in No. Ger. on the Baltic & Black Sea coasts.  Switzerland became totally independent of the HR Emperor  Swiss Confederation.  Sweden won a voice in the Diet of the HR Empire  Brandenburg & Bavaria got important territories on North Sea & in central Germany.

 Religious Provisions:  Calvinists would have the same privileges as the Lutherans had in the Peace of Augsburg.  The ruler of each state could determine its official religion, BUT [except in the hereditary lands of the Habsburgs], he must permit freedom of private worship. The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Pope ignored all decisions at Westphalia Economically and Socially: effects still debated German population declined Areas of Germany completely devastated Other areas actually prospered Most destructive war yet in Europe

 Many Protestants felt betrayed.  The pope denounced it.  Only merit  it ended the fighting in a war that became intolerable!  For the next few centuries, this war was blamed for everything that went wrong in Central Europe. Nobody Was Happy!

What were the long-range effects of the Thirty Years’ War?