The Thirty Years War
1618-1648
► The
Thirty Years War began in 1618 and
ended in 1648
► It
was a religious conflict between the
Protestants and Catholics of Central Europe
► It
involved most of the European powers
but was fought mainly on German territory
► The
War began because of religious, territorial,
and dynastic conflicts
► It
started with an uprising of the Protestant nobles
of Bohemia against King Ferdinand of Bohemia
► It
spread throughout Europe eventually involving
all of the Holy Roman Empire
 It consisted of a series of conflicts that spanned thirty
years
 With most of the conflicts being fought in Germany
Germany (1618)
► Significant
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
Battles on German Territory
Stadholn (1623)
-Lutzen (1632)
Hochst (1622)
-Breintenfeld (1631)
Heidelberg (1622)
-Dessau (1626)
Nordlingen (1634)
-Lutter (1626)
White Mountain (1620) -Usedom (1630)
A War-Torn town in Germany
Bohemian Revolt
► The
war started when Protestant Nobles,
fearing persecution from Catholic king
Ferdinand, rebelled in the Bohemian city of
Prague.
► By
August 17, 1619 King Ferdinand of
Bohemia had been replaced by the Palatine
Elector Frederick V as king of Bohemia
The War Spreads
► The
war quickly started spilling over into
western Germany as the Bohemians joined
with the Protestant Union
► At
the same time the Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand, asked for assistance from his
nephew King Phillip VI of Spain for support
Denmark Joins the War
► The
Protestant Danes, fearing their
sovereignty due to the recent Catholic
advances, entered the war in 1625
► The
Danes withdrew from the war in 1629
► They
signed the Treaty of Lubreck and
abandoned their support of the Protestants
Swedish Intervention
► In
1630 the Protestant Swedes, under
Gustavus Adolphus, invaded Germany in
hopes of:
 Weakening the growing Empire
 Gaining economical superiority around the Baltic
Sea
 And in fear of a Catholic expansion into their
land
► Adolphus
in 1632
was killed in the Battle of Lutzen
► Lacking
in leadership due to the death of
Adolphus, the Swedes lost the Battle of
Nordlingen
► This
led to the Peace of Prague in 1635
French Invasion
► With
the Swedes retraction from the war,
the French started war against Spain in
1635 and against the Hapsburgs in 1636
► The
Catholic French entered the war against
their fellow Catholics for political reasons
-if the Hapsburgs conquered Germany
France would have been surrounded
Treaty
►
In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia ended the war and granted each
German state the right to chose their religion
►
The Peace of Westphalia was born of the first modern diplomatic
congress
►
It introduced a new peace order in Central Europe that was built on
nation-state sovereignty
►
The regulations of the new system of constitution lasted within the
Holy Roman Empire until 1806
►
The Peace of Westphalia referred to two peace treaties
 Treaty of Osnabruck signed on May 15, 1648
 Treaty of Munster signed on October 24, 1648
►
With the signing of the
Treaty of Westphalia,
Germany had lost over
30% of its population
►
As a result of the war,
German agriculture,
commerce and industry
were greatly weakened, as
was the Holy Roman
Empire
bibliography
► http://www.pipeline.com/~cwa/TYWHome.h
tm
► http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1ThirtyYe.html
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years'_
War