Chapter 15
Part 3
The 30 Years’ War
A Big Deal
Background
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Philip II (Spain) rebuilding his fleet
Henry IV (France) Reconstruction of France
Elizabeth I (England) Savoring the Spanish
defeat
The Dutch Recovering and building trading
empire…Beginning of their Golden Age
Remember 1555 Peace of Augsburg
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Made no provision for Calvinists
Undermined the authority of the HRE in
Lutheran states
Over time, Other Problems
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Lutherans continued to make gains in other
German states (in violation of the Peace of
Augsburg)
Jesuits having some success converting
Lutherans back to Catholicism
Calvinists began to convert German Princes
Lutherans feared being overwhelmed by
Catholics and Calvinists
Lutherans and Catholics
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Were determined to stop the advances of the
other
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1608 Lutherans formed the Protestant League
1609 Catholics formed the Catholic League
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In the Meantime…
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Charles V had abdicated and died
Had divided the Hapsburg family into two
branches
Philip II (son): Spain, Spanish Netherlands,
American colonies, Italian Provinces
Ferdinand I (brother): Imperial title (HRE) and
central Europe (Austria, etc)
Ferdinand I’s grandson, Matthias
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Had no direct heir so cousin, Ferdinand of
Styria (II) got the title in 1619
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In 1617 Ferdinand of Styria was elected King of
Bohemia
Also gained jurisdiction over Silesia and Moravia
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Groups in Bohemia
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Catholics and Lutherans, and Calvinists, and
Hussites
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Were Bohemian and German
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Ferdinand made a move to close Protestant
Churches in Bohemia
The Defenestration of Prague
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May 1618 Protestants threw 2 of Ferdinand’s
officials out a castle window
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A 70 foot drop!
But survived!
A miracle…Catholics said they were saved by
angels
Protestants said they survived because they fell
into a huge pile of manure
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Thus began the 30 Years’ War
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Most important war in the 17th Century
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Four Phases:
Bohemian
 Danish
 Swedish
 International (French and others)
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Bohemian Phase 1618-1625
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Civil War
Catholic League led by Ferdinand of Styria
Protestant Union led by Frederick of the
Palatinate
Bohemians wanted religious freedom and
independence from Hapsburg rule
1618
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Bohemians deposed Ferdinand and gave crown
to Frederick
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1620 The Battle of White Mountain: Frederick
was defeated by Catholic forces
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Within 10 years Protestantism was wiped out of
Bohemia, Forced conversions…Jesuits involved
Phase II Danish Phase 1625-1629
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Albert of Wallenstein led Catholic Imperial
Army
Protestant League led by inept King Christian
IV of Denmark
Wallenstein kicked butt BUT
Hapsburgs came to rely too much on him
Wallenstein’s army was loyal to HIM…not
Hapsburgs
Wallenstein
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Kept the territory he conquered for himself and
his men
Caused clash with Hapsburgs
Catholic forces became divided
Danes lost anyway
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1629 Ferdinand of Styria issued…
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The Edict of Restitution
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All Catholic properties lost since 1552 to be
restored
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Think…Peace of Augsburg 1555!
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Wallenstein ruthlessly enforced edict
Phase III Swedish Phase 1630-35
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Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus very capable
Controlled Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Finland,
Baltic States…was Lutheran
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Came to Germany:
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To aid family members (Dukes of Mecklenburg)
who had been exiled
 To aid oppressed Protestants
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France entered unofficially
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Louis XIII and minister Richelieu sent aid to
Adolphus
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NOTE: no longer a religious war since France
entered on the side of Lutherans (again)
NOTE: Again religion took a back seat to
politics…keep Germany divided
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Victories for Swedes:
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Battle of Breitenfeld
Battle at Lutzen
BUT Adolphus was killed at Lutzen
Swedes lost in 1634 Battle of Nordling
Hapsburgs hoped to unite all German states
under Hapsburg control….
Phase IV The International Phase
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1635-48 Enter the French
But this time Hapsburgs v Bourbons
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Also others: Dutch, Swedes, Scots, Fins,
German mercenaries (note: Calvinists, too)
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Germany was trashed
The war lasted so long
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Because nether side had the resources to win a
quick victory
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Many treaties involved
Were combined into one big one…
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The Peace of Westphalia
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Was a turning point in European political, religious,
and social history
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30 Year’s War was the last religious war
Recognition of over 300 sovereign German States…
HRE titular power only
Pope had NO authority
New Peace of Augsburg…included Calvinists
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The Peace of Westphalia
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All acknowledged independence of the United
Provinces of the Netherlands
Switzerland gained independence
France gained prestige and territory: Alsace
Sweden: cash and jurisdiction over German
territory along Baltic Sea
International status to Brandenburg (Prussia)
Germany
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The 30 Year’s War was the most destructive
event in Germany until the wars of the 20th
Century
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½ of urbanites and 2/5 of rural Germans
perished
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Entire areas were depopulated
Germany
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Thousands of refugees
Disease: typhus, dysentery, plague, syphilis
Late 16th early 17th Centuries
an economic crisis in all of Europe
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Inflation due to silver coming in from S.
America
Problems worse in Germany than anywhere else
Losses in agriculture, livestock, trade
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Transportation routes had shifted during the war
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Population decrease
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Caused labor to be more costly
Nobles bought up small landholdings and
created large estates
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Some areas saw the rise of new serfdom
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The Question:
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Compare the sixteenth-century Hapsburg-Valois
struggle and treaty to the seventeenth-century
conflict between the Hapsburgs and the
Bourbons and that treaty. In what ways were
they different? In what ways were they alike?