Thirty Years War
The Peace of Augsburg
brought a temporary truce
to the German states and
recognized Lutheranism
and Catholicism but
Calvinism was demanding
rights.
It began in the Habsburg
province of Bohemia
Bohemian Phase 1618 - 1625
1617 the Bohemian Diet elected
Ferdinand of Syria as the King of
Bohemia. He was a Habsburg and
Catholic.
Two Years later he was elected the HRE
and Calvinists became alarmed
May 1618 war began when the rebel
Calvinists threw 2 Catholic members of
the Bohemian Royal Council from a
window. Both fell into a pile of manure
and suffered only minor injuries. This
was the Defenetration of Prague. Now
the rebels took control of Prague and
denounced Ferdinand as ruler. They
elected in his stead a new king, Frederick
V, the elector of Palatinate, and leader of
the Protestant Union.
Ferdinand and Max of Bavaria, the leader
of the Catholic League invaded Bohemia.
At the Battle of White Mountain, the
Catholics scored a great victory.
Ferdinand became King of Bohemia, Max
got Palatinate, many Protestant nobles
were killed and Bohemia became
Catholic.
Danish Phase 1625 - 1629
This phase began when Christian IV of
Denmark (a Protestant) intervened to
stop Ferdinand II. Christian was also
the Duke of Holstein, a territory in the
HRE.
Ferdinand hired Albrecht of
Wallenstein who raised an army of
50,000 men and easily defeated
Christian IV. Then they occupied his
land holding of Holstein.
The Treaty of Lubeck gave Holstein
back to Christian who promised not to
intervene in German affairs.
Just like the Bohemian phase, this
ended in a victory for the Catholics.
Edict of Restitution
Calvinism was illegal and all church
land taken by Lutherans must be
returned
Catholic victories worried:
Swedish Phase 1630 - 1635
1.
Protestants
2.
Independent German Princes
3.
The French who were concerned
about growing Habsburg power
Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus
invaded Germany and allied with France
Sweden won easily and Ferdinand II
called on Wallenstein to form a new army
At the Battle of Lutzen, Wallenstein was
defeatd but Adolphus was killed. The
Protestants lost a great leader.
When Wallenstein entered into a secret
agreement with Sweden and France he
was relieved of command and
assassinated a few days later.
Ferdinand’s army defeated the Swedes at
Nordlingen in s. Germany
French Phase 1635 - 1648
French Cardinal Richelieu wanted a
weakened German neighbor and the
province of Alsace. He also had designs
against Spain and its Habsburg king,
Philip IV.
In Germany, the Swedes and German
princes would fight Ferdinand and
Richelieu could concentrate on Spain.
The battle waged on as one side gained
an advantage then lost it. Max and other
Catholic princes held against the Swedes
and German Protestant princes. But
France would send larger forces to hinder
the Catholics
Ferdinand II died and was replaced by his
son, Ferdinand III in 1637 but little was
settled until Richelieu died in 1642 and
the French occupied Bavaria
The Peace of Westphalia 1648
ｷ Sweden gets Pomerania
ｷ Brandenburg gets E. Pomerania
ｷ Bavaria becomes an elector
ｷ Switzerland gets independence
ｷ Netherlands gets independence
ｷ Calvinism recognized
ｷ Edict of Restitution rescinded
ｷ Spain is isolated and marries off a
princess to France (Maria Therese
to Louis IV
Also:
•France gets Alsace
•The Edict of Restitution was
rescinded
•German states got the right to make
treaties and alliances thus weakening the HRE
I/3 of German population and land is destroyed