The Thirty Years War, 1618 1648: The Disintegration of Germany

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Section 3.16

• The Thirty Years War, 1618 1648 The
  Disintegration of Germany

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The Thirty Years War
Defenestration of Prague
95 Thesis
Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre
Spanish Armada
30 Years War
1517 1555 1572 1581 1588 1598 1618 1648
Union of Utrecht
Edict of Nantes
Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Augsburg
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HRE after 1555

• HRE is a mix of Czech, Bohemian, French and
  German (Majority), evenly split between
  Protestant and Catholic
• Peace of Augsburg (1555)
• Recognized Lutheranism
• Attempted to keep the status quo
• Did not recognize Calvinism or other sects
• Numerous German princes had converted to
  Calvinism and Lutheranism after 1555
• Tried to spread religion
• Protestant Union (1608)
• Military alliance of protestant princes
• Catholic League (1609)
• Military alliance of Catholic princes
• Advised by Jesuits

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Background of the Thirty Years War
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Background of the Thirty Years War

• Complexity of the Thirty Years War
• Fought over religion, constitutional issues,
  centralization v independence of German states
• Between the French and Hapsburgs, Spain and Dutch
• Fought mostly on German soil
• Divided into 4 phases
• Bohemian (1618-1625)
• Danish (1625-1629)
• Swedish(1630-1635)
• Swedish-French(1635-1648)

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Phase One Bohemian Phase (1618-1625)

• Elector Frederick V (protestant) wanted to wanted
  to oust King of Bohemia (Ferdinand) as elector
• A protestant majority could elect new Emperor of
  HRE
• Ferdinand (of Styria)
• Closed protestant churches in Bohemia
• Arrested Hussites
• Defenestration of Prague
• 1618 emissaries of HRE were thrown out the
  window by Protestant Bohemians
• Motivated both by religion and nationalism
• Fell 70 feet and landed in poo-poo kaa-kaa
• King/HRE sends troops
• Bohemians elect a new king by choosing Elector of
  Palatine (Frederick V)

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Phase One The Bohemian Phase

• Catholic Ferdinand with support of Catholic
  League, Pope, Spanish troops, some Lutheran
  princes and Bavarian forces combine to rout the
  Protestant uprising at Battle of White Mountain
  in 1620
• Frederick the Winter King flees
• Named because of his brief rule
• Forced re-Catholicization of Bohemia is
  implemented with the Jesuits
• Protestantism in Austria is stamped out

Ferdinand I
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Score

• Protestants
• 0

• Catholics
• 1

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Phase Two Danish Phase

• King of Denmark Christian IV of Denmark invades
  HRE
• HRE Ferdinand commissions Albert of Wallenstein
  to raise army
• Owned huge tracts of land in Bohemia
• Ambitious
• Wanted to unite and rule all of Germany
• his army are professional pillagers loyal only
  to him
• With Catholic League he defeated the King of
  Denmark and occupied Denmark
• Edict of Restitution
• Ferdinand issued a demand to reclaim all Catholic
  land seized since 1552 in Germany for Catholic
  Church
• terror sweeps over Protestants of Germany

King Christian IV of Denmark. General of the
Lutheran army
Catholic general Albrecht von Wallenstein
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Score

• Protestants
• 0

• Catholics
• 2

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Halftime Show
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Phase Three Swedish Phase (1630-1635)

• Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden
• Used Dutch and other military experts to create a
  modern army
• Aided by
• Richelieus diplomatic efforts against the HRE
• Won series of battles with small army
• Decisive because it ended HRE ambitions at
  recatholicization
• HRE annuls the Edict of Restitution to pacify
  German leaders
• Adolphus killed at Lutzen in 1632
• Forced the French to formally enter the conflict
  on side of Protestants

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Score

• Protestants
• 1

• Catholics
• 2

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Phase Four French Phase (1635-1648)

• French are led by Cardinal Richelieu
• Adviser to King Louis XIII
• Motivations are purely dynastic and political
• Want to prevent a unified HRE and being encircled
  by Hapsburgs
• Richelieu continued to give to Swedes
• Comes out openly in favor of the German
  Protestants against Spanish and Austrian
  Hapsburgs
• Battle of Rocroi marked end of Spanish hegemony
• What is peculiar about French and its allies?

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The Peace of Westphalia 1648

• Checkmates Counter Reformation
• Renewed the terms of the Peace of Augsburg
• Added Calvinism to list as acceptable faiths
• Catholic claims to church territories were
  abandoned
• HRE is downsized
• Dutch and Swiss are independent
• French get territories in Lorraine and rights in
  Alsace
• A victory for states rights
• 300 independent states were to exist in HRE alone
• Marks the advent in international law of the
  modern European Staatensystem or system of
  sovereign states
• Use of balance of power
• the end of a possible unified or universal
  monarchy in Europe

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Aftermath of the Thirty Years War

• Germany is a wreck
• Starvation and depopulation
• Magdeburg was besieged 10 times
• Farmers ceased to farm
• Germany fades into the background of political
  affairs in Europe
• Western Europe takes the lead in moving toward
  the modern age
• Eastern Europe sinks into a sedentary culture and
  begins to look eastward
• State viewed as more important than religion

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Score

• Winners
• French Monarchy
• Princes of Germany
• Protestantism

• Losers
• German People
• HRE
• Catholicism
• Spain