Thirty Years War Notes

Preconditions for The Thirty Years War

  • Fragmented Germany: 360 autonomous political entities.
    • Europe’s highway for trade.
    • Peace of Augsburg: Recognized rights of Lutherans, but not Calvinists.
    • Protestants feared Catholics recreating pre-Reformation Europe.
  • Religious Divisions in the Holy Roman Empire
    • Catholics and Protestants equally numbered.
    • Divisions among Lutherans.
    • Conflicts between Lutherans and Calvinists.
  • Ruler of Palatinate: Frederick IV (Calvinist).
    • Forms Protestant Union.
    • Duke Maximilian of Bavaria (Catholic) organizes Catholic League.
    • Habsburgs sought to strengthen Catholic rule.
    • German princes resisted, wanting to maintain their rights.

Four Phases of the 30 Years War

  • The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1625
    • Calvinist Bohemian nobles revolted against Habsburg King Ferdinand II.
    • Ferdinand II aimed to re-Catholicize Bohemia.
  • THE DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE
    • Catholics put on trial and thrown from windows.
    • Bohemians seized control, elected Frederick IV.
    • Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor; Spain aided him.
    • Protestants defeated at Battle of White Mountain (1620).
    • Spain invaded Palatinate, Frederick fled.
  • The Danish Phase (1625-1629)
    • King Christian IV of Denmark (Lutheran) intervened for Protestants.
    • HRE Ferdinand II hired Albrecht von Wallenstein.
    • Wallenstein defeated Christian, took Baltic ports.
    • Ferdinand issued Edict of Restitution (Catholic Church property restored).
  • The Swedish Phase (1630-1635)
    • King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (Lutheran).
    • Military genius.
    • Invaded northern Germany.
    • Ferdinand rehired Wallenstein.
    • 1632: Sweden won at Lutzen, Gustavus Adolphus killed.
    • 1634: Ferdinand had Wallenstein assassinated.
    • HRE defeated Swedes, securing Catholic southern Germany.
    • Ferdinand revoked Edict of Restitution, but Swedes sought revenge.
  • The French-Swedish Phase (1635-1648)
    • Longest, deadliest phase.
    • Religious issues became irrelevant; war for political reasons.
    • France (Catholic) allied with Sweden and Germans against Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs.
    • France led by Cardinal Richelieu.

The Aftermath

  • German towns destroyed.
  • European trade crippled.
  • Massive inflation in Germany.
  • Agriculture destroyed, leading to famine.
  • 8 million dead.
  • Early war: Catholics vs. Protestants.
  • Late war: Habsburg power threatened; war for greed and politics.
  • Europeans craved peace: The Peace of Westphalia.

The Peace of Westphalia

  • Religious Provisions:
    • Freedom of Religion: Princes determined state religion, individuals could practice their own faith.
    • Calvinists gained freedom of worship.
    • Did not apply to Habsburg lands (Austria).
  • Separation of Church and State in the HRE
    • Emperor became a figurehead.
    • Pope lost influence in state affairs.
    • Beginning of political secularization in Europe.
  • Political Provisions
    • France gained land: Alsace and Rhine area.
    • France became dominant European power.
    • Habsburgs lost authority in parts of Germany.
    • German states became sovereign; Germany not unified until 1870.
    • Brandenburg and Prussia became powerful.
    • Switzerland freed from HRE.
    • United Provinces became Dutch Netherlands.