Transcript The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

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 that
was threatened.
 Resolved by the Treaty of Westphalia in
1648.
The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1622
 Ferdinand II inherited Bohemia.

The Bohemians hated him.
Ferdinand refused to tolerate Protestants.
Defenestration of Prague May, 1618

Bohemia named a new king, Frederick II.


The Bohemian Phase: 1618-1622
 Ferdinand II becomes Holy Roman
Emperor.
 Frederick II borrowed an army
from Bavaria.
 Frederick lost his lands in the
fighting.
 The rebellion in Bohemia inspired
others.
Bohemian Phase
The Danish Phase: 1625-1629
 Ferdinand II tried to end all resistance.



Tried to crush Protestant northern Holy
Roman Empire.
Ferdinand II used Albrecht von Wallenstein
for the army.
Wallenstein defeated Protestants in north.
 Edict of Restitution (1629):


Restored to Catholics all lands lost since 1552.
Deprived all Protestants, except Lutherans,
of their religious and political rights.
 German princes feared Ferdinand  he
fired Wallenstein in effort to calm them.
Danish Phase
Albrecht
von
Wallenstein
The Swedish Phase: 1630-1635
 France & Sweden now get involved.



Both want to stop Habsburg power.
Sweden led the charge.
France provided support.
 Gustavus Adolphus invaded the HR Empire.


•
Ferdinand II brought back Wallenstein.
Adolphus fatally wounded in 1632.
Swedish advance was stopped at Battle of
Nordingen.
 German princes still feared Ferdinand II.
 Wallenstein assassinated to appease
them.
Swedish Phase
Gustavus
Adolphus
The French Phase: 1635-1648
 France & Sweden switched roles.
 All countries in Europe now participated.
 This phase was most destructive!
 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]
 Caused massive inflation.
 Trade was crippled throughout Europe.
Loss of German Lives in 30
Years’ War
The Peace of Westphalia (1648)
 Political Provisions:
 Each Ger. prince became free from
any kind of control by the HR
Emperor.
 The United Provinces [Dutch Neths.]
became officially independent  so.
part remained a Sp. possession.
 Fr. rcvd. most of the Ger-speaking
province of Alsace.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648)
 Political Provisions:
 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 Emp.
 Brandenburg got important terrs. on
No. Sea & in central Germany.
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.
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
1688-1700
Nobody Was Happy!
 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.
What were the
long-range
effects of the
Thirty Years’
War?
Eastern Absolutism
• In eastern Europe three major powers developed
during the seventeenth century – Austria, Russia,
and Prussia
• In those states absolutism became the norm but
the actions of the monarchs and the
consequences were very different from the events
in France
• In the west peasants gained rights, in the East the
rights of the peasants were taken away
• As a labor shortage swept eastern Europe workers
became a necessity
• The movement of peasants was restricted
• Peasants lost their land and were forced into more
obligations for their lords
Eastern Absolutism
• Between 1500 and 1650 conditions
worsened and serfs could be killed for
nothing
• Political factors accounted for the new
serfdom
• Weaker kings were forced to give more
freedom to landlords
• Landlords sold directly to foreign capitalists
and abolished the need for a middle class
Austria
• The Habsburgs controlled Austria, but their
region under their control was a polyglot of
nationalities, languages, and cultures
• In 1558 Charles V abdicated and divided his
empire into east and west
Ferdinand I (brother) got the east
Philip II (son) got the west
• Both Catholic, both hated France – but
separate
Austria
• So large was the Austrian empire that it
included Germans, Bohemians, Hungarians,
Croatians, Slavs, Italians and many more
• War and the threat of war aided the absolute
monarchies
Habsburg Family Crest
Austrian Empire: 1657-1718
Austria
• Would-be absolutists gained power in 3
areas:
a) imposed and collected permanent
taxes without consent
b) maintained permanent armies
c) conducted relations with other
states as they pleased
• Royal absolutism in Prussia was
stronger than in Austria
Austria
• The Habsburgs were exhausted after
the Thirty Years’ War, but they still
remained emperors of the Holy Roman
Empire
• But real power lay with 300 varying
political entities
• Conditions for serfs became worse
• The robot - 3 days of unpaid labor a
week became the norm, many serfs
worked everyday except Sunday
Leopold I
• Leopold I ruled through a variety of legislative
bodies
• In 1683 the Turks laid siege to Vienna
• An imperial army led by the Polish king Sobieski
defeated the Turks and forced them to retreat
• The Habsburgs then turned to fight the Ottomans,
who under Suleiman the Magnificent ruled the
most powerful empire in the world
• In 1686 the Austrians captured Budapest, the
capital of Hungary
• By the Treaty of Karlowitz, Austria gained nearly
all of Hungary
Leopold I
Holy Roman
Emperor
(r. 1658-1705)
Hungary
• The Hungarian Magyars were forced to comply
with Habsburg authority
• In 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession
Prince Eugene of Savoy allied with England’s
Duke of Marlborough to defeat the French at the
Battle of Blenheim
• During the War of Spanish Succession the
Hungarians led by Prince Francis Rakoczy
rebelled
• Rakoczy was defeated but it led to a compromise
a) Hungary accepted Habsburg rule
b) Charles VI restored the rights of the aristocracy
of Hungary
• Victory for the Austrians confirmed their position
as one the great powers of Europe
Prince Eugène of Savoy: 1718
Charles VI
• Leopold died in 1705 and was succeeded by
Joseph I
• Joseph died in 1711 and was succeeded by
his brother Charles VI who was also Holy
Roman Emperor
• After the War of Spanish Succession the
Bourbons did get the Spanish throne, but
Austria won the Spanish Netherlands and
some Spanish areas in Italy
• The Habsburg state had 3 parts:
a) Austria
b) kingdom of Bohemia
c) kingdom of Hungary
Charles VI (r. 1711-1740)
The Pragmatic Sanction
• Charles was unable to produce a male heir and he
realized that unless he acted Austria would be torn
apart after his death
• In 1713, Charles VI, persuaded the nobility and the
great powers of Europe to agree to the Pragmatic
Sanction, Habsburg possessions would never be
divided even if it meant a female heir
• The next heir would be his daughter Maria Theresa
• Almost immediately after the death of Charles,
Frederick the Great of Prussia invaded Austrian
Silesia and started the War of Austrian Succession
(1740-48)
Maria
Theresa
(r. 1740-1780)
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace
Holy Roman Empire: 1750
Prussia
• The Hohenzollern family started ruling as
electors of Brandenburg in 1415 but they
had little real power
• Choosing the Holy Roman Emperor was of
little value and they had no military strength
• The Hohenzollern power-base was
Brandenburg and was cut off from Prussia,
which was part of Poland
• 1618 Hohenzollern prince died and Prussia
returns to elector of Brandenburg
• In the Thirty Years’ War Prussia was
destroyed by invading armies
Prussian Family Crest
Frederick William, the Great Elector
• Frederick William assumed control during the
Thirty Years’ War
• One of his first tasks was to reduce the power of
the Estates (the Junkers) and the estates
(assemblies) and assume absolute control
• To assert his control he used the army and the
civil service – but he let the Junkers control the
serfs and placed most of the tax burden on the
peasants and the townspeople
• To pay for standing armies soldiers doubled as tax
collectors and policemen
Frederick William, the Great Elector
• He used the nobility to work in the Civil
Service and the higher ranks of the army
• There are 3 reasons he was successful
1) the wars between Sweden and Poland
and the wars of Louis XIV seemed to create
a sense of permanent crisis
2) the Junkers were allied to the
Hohenzollerns and unwilling to join the
commoners against the crown
3) he practiced religious toleration and
welcomed the Huguenots and the Jews
Frederick William, the Great Elector
• By 1688 Prussia was one state
• Frederick William was succeeded by
Frederick I who had little interest in the army
and who preferred the arts
• During the War of Spanish Succession he
did support the Habsburgs and in 1713 was
allowed to claim the title King of Prussia
King Frederick I of Prussia (r.1701-1713)
Formerly:
Frederick III of
Brandenburg
(r. 1688-1701)
Frederick William I
• After the death of Frederick I in 1713 his son
Frederick William I “the soldier king” truly
established Prussian absolutism
• He created the best army in the world and gave
society military values and removed many of the
luxuries implemented by his father
• Frederick William I, who always wore a uniform,
created a strong centralized bureaucracy to fully
utilize the limited resources of the country
• Parliamentary government vanished as Frederick
William enlisted the Junkers to help him, but state
revenue increased
Prussia & the Austrian Empire: 1721-72
Poland - A failed state
• Poland is a good example of what could
happen if the nobles became too powerful.
 Poland was a very large state in
Eastern Europe.
 The "Noble Republic" - the nobles
elected the kings.
 Any noble could veto any law in the
parliament.
Poland - A failed state
 Consequences?
 Complete collapse of central
government.
 The enserfment of the peasant
population for the profit of the nobles.
 The eventual disappearance of Poland
from map of Europe.
 A result of no constitutionalism and no
absolutism
Europe in 1740