Transcript Thirty Years War

The Thirty
Years’ War
(1618-1648)
1618-1648
Characteristics of the Thirty Years War
 The Holy Roman Empire was the
battleground.
 At the beginning it was the
Catholics vs. the Protestants.
 At the end it was Habsburg power
in the Holy Roman Empire that was
weakened.
 Resolved by the Treaty of
Westphalia in 1648.
Causes of the Thirty Years War
Religious divisions:
 Protestant & Catholic states in the
Holy Roman Empire form religious
groups to defend their interests.
Causes of the Thirty Years War
Political divisions:
 Austrian Habsburgs in the HRE
wanted a stronger monarchy and
reverse Protestant gains.
 German states wanted to retain
their rights and resisted a unified
nation.
Causes of the Thirty Years War
International interference:
 France opposed any policy
that would create a stronger
Holy Roman Empire.
 Lutheran kings of Denmark &
Sweden were prepared to
defend Protestant interests in
the HRE
Phases of the Thirty Years’ War
The Bohemian Phase:
Religious/Political 1618-1622
The Danish Phase:
Religious/Political 1625-1629
The Swedish Phase:
Political/Religious 1630-1635
The French Phase:
(International Phase)
Political 1635-1648
The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1622
(modern day Czech Republic & Slovakia)
 Ferdinand II became King of
Bohemia (with assistance from Spanish
Habsburgs.)
Ferdinand refused to tolerate
Protestants.
The Bohemians hated him.
Religious freedoms that had
been given to Lutherans &
Calvinists were revoked.
Ferdinand II
Holy Roman
Emperor
1619-1637
King of Bohemia
1617-1619,
1620-1637
The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1622
Defenestration of Prague:
May 1618
 Two of King Ferdinand’s
officials were thrown out of a
window in Prague during
negotiations with Protestant
officials.
 This action was view as an
attack on the king and war
ensued.
Defenestration of Prague

70 feet up
The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1622
Results:
Bohemia revolts and names a
new king, Frederick V who is
Protestant.
Ferdinand II borrowed an army
from Bavaria.
Catholic League and Spanish
Habsburgs offer support to
defeat Frederick V and the
Protestant League.
The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1622
Results:
Ferdinand II becomes Holy
Roman Emperor.
Frederick lost his lands in the
fighting.
The rebellion in Bohemia
inspired other regions to rise
up against the Holy Roman
Empire, but Bohemia becomes
Catholic.
Frederick V
King of Bohemia
1619-1620
Bohemian Phase
The Danish Phase: 1625-1629
 Ferdinand II tried to end all
Protestant resistance in the Holy
Roman Empire.
Ferdinand hires Albrecht von
Wallenstein of Bohemia to lead
the army.
Albrecht
von
Wallenstein
The Danish Phase: 1625-1629
 King Christian IV, Protestant
leader of Denmark, intervenes to
defend fellow Protestants in
Northern Germany. He was
supported financially by the
Netherlands and England.
 Wallenstein scores major
victories and defeats
Protestants in north.
King
Christian IV
of Denmark
 Edict of Restitution (1629):
– Restored to Catholics all lands
lost since 1555 Peace of
Augsburg.
– Deprived all Protestants, except
Lutherans, of their religious and
political rights. Calvinism is
outlawed.
 German princes feared Ferdinand
 who fired Wallenstein in effort
to calm them.
 Edict of Restitution (1629):
Danish Phase
The Swedish Phase: 1630-1635
 Alarmed by the Catholic victories,
Protestants in the HRE, Dutch
(Netherlands), and French turned
to the Lutheran King of Sweden,
Gustavus Adolphus.
 France, under Louis XIII,
supported the Lutherans in an
effort to weaken the power of the
Habsburgs in Spain and the Holy
Roman Empire.
Gustavus Adolphus
King of Sweden
The Swedish Phase: 1630-1635
 Gustavus Adolphus invaded the
HR Empire to support fellow
Protestants.
 Ferdinand II brought back
Wallenstein and sought the help
of Spain.
The Swedish Phase: 1630-1635
 Swedish forces defeat Wallenstein
and HRE forces in a series of
decisive battles.
 Sweden liberated territory
Protestants lost in Danish phase.
Ended Habsburg hopes of
reuniting HRE under Catholicism
 Adolphus dies in Battle of Luetzen
(1632)
Swedish advance was stopped.
German princes still distrusted
Ferdinand II.
Wallenstein assassinated to
appease them.
Edict of Restitution was also
revoked
Southern Germany remained
Catholic
Swedish Phase
The French Phase: 1635-1648
 Death of Gustavus Adolphus
prompted France to intervene
on the Swedish side.
 Louis XIII of France wanted to
weaken both the HRE & Spain.
 Sweden and the Netherlands
provided support.
Louis XIII
of France
The French Phase: 1635-1648
Religious issues become secondary to
political.
 Coalition of
 Catholic
Catholic
Habsburgs
France and
(HRE &
Protestant
Spain) and
countries
Protestant
(Sweden,
Denmark
Netherlands,
(who wanted
Switzerland,
to weaken
Northern
Swedish
Germany)
power).
• This phase was most destructive!
 8 million dead in the HRE  1/3 of
the population [from 21 million in
1618 to 13.5 million in 1648]
 German towns decimated, farms
were burned.
 Agriculture collapsed  famine
resulted.
 German commerce was destroyed.
 Caused massive inflation.
 Trade was crippled throughout
Europe.
Loss of German Lives in 30 Years’ War
Ferdinand III
Holy Roman
Emperor in 1637.
He hoped to make
peace with France
& Sweden, but the
war continued 11
more years until
1648.
His decisions led
to the decline of
imperial power in
the Holy Roman
Empire.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648)
 Political Provisions:
Each German prince became free
from any kind of control by the
HR Emperor.
The United Provinces [Dutch
Netherlands] became officially
independent. Southern part
remained a Spanish possession.
{Spanish Netherlands]
France received most of the
German speaking province of
Alsace.
Sweden acquired territory in
Northern Germany on the Baltic
& Black Sea coasts.
Switzerland became totally
independent of the HR Emperor
 Swiss Confederation.
State of Brandenburg acquired
important territory in central
Germany & on the North Sea.
(will later become Prussia)
The Peace of Westphalia (1648)
 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.
1688-1700
Nobody Was Happy with the Peace!






HRE was weakened.
Many Protestants felt betrayed.
The pope denounced it.
France emerges as power in Europe.
European economy was weakened.
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.