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The Thirty Years' War was fought between 1618 and 1648 , principally on the territory of today's Germany , and involved most of the major European continental powers. Although it was from the outset a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics , the rivalry between the Habsburg dynasty and other powers was also a central motive, as shown by the fact that Catholic France under the ''de facto'' rule of Cardinal Richelieu supported the Protestant side in order to weaken the Habsburgs, thereby furthering France's position as the pre-eminient Continental Power . This increased the France-Habsburg Rivalry which led later to direct war between France and Spain . The major impact of the Thirty Years' War, which primarily used mercenary armies who had little concern for anyone's rights or property, was to lay waste to entire regions scavenged bare by the foraging armies, causing a much higher than normal death rate among the civilian population, as episodes of widespread Famine and Disease (a starving body has little resistance to illnesses) devastated the population of the Germanies and, to a lesser extent, the Low Countries , while bankrupting many of the Powers involved. The war may have lasted for 30 years, but the conflicts that triggered it continued unresolved for a much longer time. The war ended with the Treaty Of Münster , a part of the wider Peace Of Westphalia . During the war, Germany 's population was reduced by 30%; in the territory of Brandenburg , the losses had amounted to half, while in some areas to an estimated two thirds of the population. Germany’s male population was reduced by almost half. Population of the Czech Lands declined by a third. The Swedish armies alone destroyed 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, the number represented one-third of all German towns. ORIGINS OF THE WAR The Peace Of Augsburg ( 1555 ), signed by Charles V , confirmed the result of the 1526 Diet Of Speyer and ended the violence between the Lutherans and the Catholics in Germany. It stated that:
Although the Peace created a temporary end to hostilities, it did not solve the underlying basis of the religious conflict. Both parties interpreted it at their convenience, the Lutherans in particular considering it only a momentary agreement. In addition, Calvinism spread quickly throughout Germany in the years that followed, adding a third major faith to the region, but its position was not supported in any way by the Augsburg terms, which permitted only Catholicism and Lutheranism. Political and economic tensions developed among many of the nations of Europe in the early 17th Century as the Age Of Discovery had opened access to New World resources, and new philosophies such as Mercantilism , Colonialism and Imperialism took hold amongst political elites, whilst concurrently the early stirrings of Nationalism began to take hold in This Era .
The Holy Roman Empire , encompassing present-day Germany and portions of neighbouring lands, was a fragmented collection of independent states with the Holy Roman Emperor as head of a confederation of princes - one of whom, the Austrian House Of Habsburg (including also Bohemia and Hungary ), was a major European power, ruling over some eight million subjects. The Empire also contained several regional powers, such as Bavaria , Electoral Saxony , the Margraviate Of Brandenburg , the Palatinate , Hesse , the Archbishopric Of Trier and Württemberg (containing from 500,000 to one million inhabitants). A vast number of minor independent duchies, free cities, abbeys, bishoprics, and petty lords (whose authority sometimes extended to no more than a single village) rounded out the Empire. Apart from Austria and perhaps Bavaria, not one of those entities was capable of national-level politics; alliances between family-related states were common, due partly to the practice of often splitting a lord's inheritance among the various sons. and King Of Bohemia . He urged the Council Of Trent to approve Communion In Both Kinds for German and Bohemian Catholics.]] Religious tensions remained strong throughout the second half of the 16th century. The Peace of Augsburg began to unravel as some converted bishops refused to give up their Bishoprics , and as certain Catholic rulers in Spain and Eastern Europe sought to restore the power of Catholicism in the region. This was evident from the Cologne War (1582–83) onwards, a conflict initiated when the prince-archbishop of the city converted to Calvinism. Being an imperial elector, this could have produced a Protestant majority in the College that elected the Holy Roman Emperor - a position that had always been held by a Catholic. In the Cologne War, Spanish troops expelled the prince-archbishop and replaced him Ernst Of Bavaria , a Catholic. After this success, the Catholics regained pace, and the principle of ''cuius regio eius religio'' began to be exerted more strictly in Bavaria, Würzburg and other states. This forced Lutheran residents to choose between conversion or exile. Lutherans also witnessed the defection of the lords of Palatinate (1560), Nassau (1578), Hesse-Kassel (1603) and Brandenburg (1613) to the new Calvinist faith. Thus at the beginning of the 17th century the Rhine lands and those south to the Danube were largely Catholic, while Lutherans predominated in the north, and Calvinists dominated in certain other areas, such as west-central Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. However, minorities of each creed existed almost everywhere. In some lordships and cities the number of Calvinists, Catholics, and Lutherans were approximately equal. Much to the consternation of their Spanish ruling cousins, the Habsburg emperors who followed Charles V (especially Ferdinand I and Maximilian II , but also Rudolf II , and his successor Matthias ) were supportive of their subjects' religious choices. These rulers avoided religious wars within the empire by allowing the different Christian faiths to spread without coercion. This angered those who sought religious uniformity. Meanwhile, Sweden and Denmark , both Lutheran kingdoms, sought to assist the Protestant cause in the Empire, and also wanted to gain political and economic influence there as well. and King Of Bohemia . His firm Catholicism was the proximate cause of the war.]] as King of Bohemia'', painted by Gerrit Von Honthorst in 1634 , two years after the subject's death. Frederick is called the "Winter King" of Bohemia because he reigned for less than three months in 1620 after he was installed by a rebellious faction.]] Religious tensions broke into violence in the German Free City of Donauwörth in 1606 . There, the Lutheran majority barred the Catholic residents of the Swabia n town from holding a procession, which caused a riot to break out. This prompted foreign intervention by Duke Maximilian Of Bavaria (1573–1651) on behalf of the Catholics. After the violence ceased, Calvinists in Germany (who remained a minority) felt the most threatened. They banded together and formed the League Of Evangelical Union in 1608 , under the leadership of the Palatine Elector Frederick IV (1583–1610), (whose son, Frederick V , married Elizabeth Stuart , the daughter of James I Of England ). Incidentally, the Prince-Elector had control of the Rhenish Palatinate , one of the very states along the Rhine that Spain sought to acquire. The establishment of the League prompted the Catholics into banding together to form the Catholic League in 1609 , under the leadership of the Duke Maximilian. In 1619 Matthias , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia , died without an heir. His lands went to his nearest male relative, his cousin Ferdinand of Styria , who thus became King of Bohemia and Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor . Ferdinand, having been educated by the Jesuits , was a staunch Catholic who wanted to impose religious uniformity on his lands. This made him highly unpopular in primarily Hussite Bohemia. The rejection of Ferdinand served to launch the Thirty Years' War. The War can be divided into four major phases: the Bohemian Revolt, the Danish intervention, the Swedish intervention, and the French intervention. THE BOHEMIAN REVOLT ''Period: 1618 – 1625 '' Without descendants Emperor Matthias sought to assure an orderly transition during his lifetime by having his dynastic heir (the fiercely Catholic, Ferdinand of Styria , later Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor ) elected to the separate royal thrones of Bohemia and Hungary . Some of the Protestant leaders of Bohemia feared they would be losing the religious rights granted to them by Emperor Rudolf II in his letter of majesty. They preferred the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Of The Palatinate (successor of Frederick IV , the creator of the League Of Evangelical Union ). However, other Protestants supported the position taken by the Catholics and so in 1617 Ferdinand was duly elected by the Bohemian Estates to become the Crown Prince, and automatically upon the death of Matthias, the next King of Bohemia. The king-elect then sent two Catholic councilors ( Wilhelm Grav Slavata and Jaroslav Borzita Graf Von Martinicz ) as his representatives to Hradčany Castle in Prague in May 1618 . Ferdinand had wanted them to administer the government in his absence. Suddenly, the Bohemian Hussites seized them, subjected them to a mock trial, and threw them out of the palace window, which was some 70 feet off the ground. Remarkably, they survived unharmed. The Catholic version of the story claims that angels appeared and carried them to safety, while the Protestant version says that they landed in a pile of Manure , which saved their lives. This event, known as the Second Defenestration Of Prague , is what started the Bohemian Revolt. Soon afterward the Bohemian conflict spread through all of Greater Bohemia, which was effectively Bohemia , Silesia , Lusatia and Moravia . Moravia was already embroiled in a conflict between Catholics and Protestants. The religious conflict eventually spread across the whole continent of Europe , involving France, Sweden , and a number of other countries. Had the Bohemian rebellion remained a local conflict, the war could have been over in fewer than thirty months. However, the death of Emperor Matthias emboldened the rebellious Protestant leaders, who had been on the verge of a settlement. The weaknesses of both Ferdinand (now officially on the throne after the death of Emperor Matthias) and of the Bohemians themselves led to the spread of the war to western Germany. Ferdinand was compelled to call on his nephew, King Philip IV Of Spain , for assistance. The Bohemians, desperate for allies against the Emperor, applied to be admitted into the Protestant Union , which was led by their original candidate for the Bohemian throne, the Calvinist Frederick V, Elector Palatine . The Bohemians hinted that Frederick would become King of Bohemia if he allowed them to join the Union and come under its protection. However, similar offers were made by other members of the Bohemian Estates to the Duke Of Savoy , the Elector Of Saxony , and the Prince Of Transylvania . The Austrians, who seemed to have intercepted every letter leaving Prague, made these duplicities public. This unraveled much of the support for the Bohemians, particularly in the court of Saxony. The rebellion initially favoured the Bohemians. They were joined in the revolt by much of Upper Austria , whose nobility was then chiefly Lutheran and Calvinist. Lower Austria revolted soon after and in 1619 , Count Thurn led an army to the walls of Vienna itself. In the east, the Protestant Prince of Transylvania led a spirited campaign into Hungary with the support of the Ottoman Sultan. The Emperor, who had been preoccupied with the Uzkok War , hurried to reform an army to stop the Bohemians and their allies from entirely overwhelming his country. Count Bucquoy , the commander of the Imperial army, defeated the forces of the Protestant Union led by Count Mansfeld at the Battle Of Sablat , on 10 June 1619 . This cut off Count Thurn's communications with Prague, and he was forced to abandon his siege of Vienna. The Battle of Sablat also cost the Protestants an important ally—Savoy, long an opponent of Habsburg expansion. Savoy had already sent considerable sums of money to the Protestants and even sent troops to garrison fortresses in the Rhineland . The capture of Mansfeld's field chancery revealed the Savoyards' plot and they were forced to bow out of the war. In spite of Sablat, Count Thurn's army continued to exist as an effective force, and Mansfeld managed to reform his army further north in Bohemia. The Estates of Upper and Lower Austria, still in revolt, signed an alliance with the Bohemians in early August. On August 17 1619 Ferdinand was officially deposed as King of Bohemia and was replaced by the Palatine Elector Frederick V. In Hungary, even though the Bohemians had reneged on their offer of their crown, the Transylvanians continued to make surprising progress. They succeeded in driving the Emperor's armies from that country by 1620. , commander of the Bavarian and Imperial armies.]] The Spanish sent an army from Brussels under Ambrosio Spinola to support the Emperor. In addition, the Spanish ambassador to Vienna, Don Iñigo Vélez De Oñate , persuaded Protestant Saxony to intervene against Bohemia in exchange for control over Lusatia. The Saxons invaded, and the Spanish army in the west prevented the Protestant Union's forces from assisting. Onate conspired to transfer the electoral title from the Palatinate to the Duke of Bavaria in exchange for his support and that of the Catholic League. Under the command of General Tilly , the Catholic League's army (which included René Descartes in its ranks) pacified Upper Austria, while the Emperor's forces pacified Lower Austria. The two armies united and moved north into Bohemia. Ferdinand II decisively defeated Frederick V at the Battle Of White Mountain , near Prague , on 8 November 1620 . In addition to becoming Catholic, Bohemia would remain in Habsburg hands for nearly three hundred years. This defeat led to the dissolution of the League Of Evangelical Union and the loss of Frederick V's holdings. Frederick was outlawed from the Holy Roman Empire and his territories, the Rhenish Palatinate, were given to Catholic nobles. His title of elector of the Palatinate was given to his distant cousin Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. Frederick, now landless, made himself a prominent exile abroad and tried to curry support for his cause in the Netherlands , Denmark , and Sweden . This was a serious blow to Protestant ambitions in the region. As the rebellion collapsed, the widespread confiscations of property and suppression of the Bohemian nobility ensured that the country would return to the Catholic side after more than two centuries of Hussite and other religious dissent. The Spanish, seeking to outflank the Dutch in preparation for renewal of the Eighty Years' War , took Frederick's lands, the Rhine Palatinate . The first phase of the war in eastern Germany ended December 31 1621 , when the Prince of Transylvania and the Emperor signed the Peace Of Nikolsburg , which gave Transylvania a number of territories in Royal Hungary . Some historians regard the period from 1621–1625 as a distinct portion of the Thirty Years' War, calling it the "Palatinate phase." With the catastrophic defeat of the Protestant army at White Mountain and the departure of the Prince of Transylvania, greater Bohemia was pacified. However, the war in the Palatinate continued. This phase of the war consisted of much smaller battles, mostly sieges conducted by the Spanish army. Mannheim and Heidelberg fell in 1622, and Frankenthal was taken in 1623, leaving the Palatinate in the hands of the Spanish. The remnants of the Protestant armies, led by Mansfeld and Christian Of Brunswick , fled to Holland. Although their arrival did help to lift the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom , the Dutch could not provide permanent shelter for them. They were paid off and sent to occupy neighboring East Friesland. Mansfeld remained in Holland, but Christian wandered off to "assist" his kin in the Lower Saxon Circle , attracting the attentions of Tilly. With the news that Mansfeld would not be supporting him, Christian's army began a steady retreat toward the safety of the Dutch border. On August 6, 1623, Tilly's more disciplined army caught up with them 10 miles short of the Dutch border. The battle that ensued was known as the Battle Of Stadtlohn . In this battle Tilly decisively defeated Christian, wiping out over four-fifths of his army, which had been some 15,000 strong. After this catastrophe, Frederick V, already in exile in The Hague, and under growing pressure from his father-in-law James I to end his involvement in the war, was forced to abandon any hope of launching further campaigns. The Protestant rebellion had been crushed. |
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