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Introduction to the Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Year's War was fought over a vast number of complex issues, concerning the territories in Germany but also involving almost every European power. The variety of issues could probably be split into religious and political themes but I have refrained from making such a rift and will discuss the reasons behind each particular nation's involvement in the war because this gives a better reflection of the inextricably interwoven nature of the issues involved.

The Bohemian crisis is traditionally seen as the starting point of the war. The Emperor Rudolf had granted religious equality to freedom of worship by the Letter of Majesty to many Protestant Bohemian nobles by 1609. In 1612 Matthias became Emperor and he was determined to whittle away the privileges granted to Bohemians and in 1617 he secured the election of his cousin Archduke Ferdinand to the throne of Bohemia. Although he swore to observe the Letter of Majesty he was a devout Catholic who would rather ' beg his bread from door to door than suffer a single insult to the true religion' i.e. Catholicism. The Catholics had a majority in the ruling council and they ordered the restoration of all church lands seized by the Protestants. This unleashed a storm of anti-Hapsburg feeling which culminated in the Defenestration of Prague which sparked off a widespread Protestant rising.

A Directory was set up and Frederick the Elector Palatine accepted the crown but he received little assistance from other Protestant territories. Spinola captured the Lower Palatine for the Hapsburgs, the Saxon elector John George seized Lusatia and Frederick's forces were crushed by the Emperor at the Battle of White Mountain. Meanwhile Maximilian of Bavaria's general Tilly captured the Upper Palatine. The complexity of the issues involved can be seen from this brief narrative. On the religious front we can see Ferdinand trying to undermine the Protestant base of Czech nationalism but the division is not as clear cut as that. Frederick was in a weak position because the Slavs who were predominantly Hussite were suspicious of Frederick's Calvinism as were many Lutherans. Many Protestant states has not given Frederick any aid and indeed the Lutheran John George had invaded Lusatia. This shows politics and territorial acquisition played a large part in the Thirty Years' War. Indeed the devout Catholic Maximilian of Bavaria had only entered the war on Ferdinand's side because he was tempted by the territory of the Palatinate and the electoral title that went with it. Economic issues also played a part in the crisis.The activities of Rudolf II and Ferdinand II had posed a considerable threat to material interests of the Protestant nobility. The Letter of Majesty had made no mention of the legal rights of Protestants living on ecclesiastical lands and many saw the church as an economic power in a religious guise. Thus we can see that economic, social and political issues were inextricably intertwined in the first phase of the Thirty Years' War.

The Danish Phase

Though he had been successful Ferdinand was unable to relax his efforts because Richelieu had risen in France which led to the revival of Henry IV's anti-Habsburg policy but of perhaps more immediate significance was the attitude of Christian IV King of Denmark and Norway, who really wished to outrival Gustavus Adolphus of the Dominicium maris Baltici. Christian was also the Duke of Holstein in North Germany and he wished to secure the northern sections of the Elbe and Oder as well as the economically important towns of Hamburg and Lubeck to enhance Denmark's monopoly of Baltic commerce. He was elected President of the Lower Saxon Circle to provide protection for their 'liberties' and he invaded Germany as his general Mansfield invaded Bohemia. Unfortunately for Christian Mansfield was defeated by Wallenstein as Dessau and Tilly beat Christian at Lutter in 1626. There was no longer any question of a Protestant offensive and Wallenstein took the initiative and overran the Danish mainland, took Wismar and Rostock and forced the Treaty of Lubeck on Christian.

Once more we see the interaction of a number of issues in the Danish phase of the war. Christian was a Protestant and possessed a certain degree of confessional convictions alongside his personal ambition. Economic and political motives had persuaded him to seek control of vital towns in North Germany. Although the bulk of the fighting had taken place in Germany the issues involved covered extra-German interests in this case Danes rivalry with Sweden. The complexity of the religious and strategic interest is illustrated clearly by the 1629 Edict of Restitution which followed the Dane's defeat, by which Ferdinand ordered the return of all church property that had been secularized since 1555. as this included the Archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Bremen and many other less important bishoprics its transfer would destroy the supremacy of Protestantism in Northern Germany. However, many Roman Catholic princes resented the fact that the Emperor had acted without consulting them and the imperial prerogatives of the Emperor seemed to threaten all princes of whatever religion. This attitude was shown in the Diet of Ratisbon in July 1630. It was decided that Wallenstein should be dismissed and the election of Ferdinand's son to become King of the Romans was postponed. No agreement seems to have been reached on the Edict of Restitution and this was sure to persuade many princes to aid Gustavus Adolphus.

However, the Diet of Ratisbon also shows the broader issues involved in the Thirsty Years' War. Franco-Spanish rivalry for the throne of Mantua had been discussed and the French candidate Nevers had been accepted but France lost vital fortresses and the chance to interfere in Imperial affairs. Indeed Northern Italy had been a centre of trouble between France and Spain even before the Valtelline dispute which had threatened to bring France, Venice and Savoy into a war with Spain is Northern Italy. The Spaniards had to uphold their interests in this vital strategic area which comprised one section of the Spanish Road. Indeed the Alpine valleys became a 'volcano of political, linguistic and religious instability'. This example helps us to remember that although much of the actual fighting in the Thirty Years' War was done in Germany some of the issues involved had little or nothing to do with Germany. However, at the same time I think it is important to achieve a balanced view of the issues involved and although Spain was primarily concerned with territory outside the immediate confines of Germany many of the issues were directly related to German interests and the defense of 'German liberties'.

The Swedish Phase

The interlocking issues are evident when we study Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden's motives for entering the war. Gustavus sent John Salvius to various North German courts to emphasize the dangers of Ferdinand II's autocratic policy to the constitutional liberties of the German Estates and Gustavus was to be represented as the savior of Protestant Germany. Diplomatically Gustavus claimed that his motives in participating in the Thirty Years' War were to relive the 'oppressed brothers' of Protestantism. In fact Gustavus had really been goaded into the war by Wallenstein who was aiding Sweden's enemies, the Poles under Sigismund. Gustavus aimed at dominating all German ports and at occupying the north German coastline to protect himself from Habsburg influence. He had written 'Pomerania and the Baltic Coast are the outworks of Sweden - they are our guarantee against the Emperor'. As well as such a guarantee of security Gustavus also sought the control of the mouths of the Elbe, Wesser and Oder whose trade would enrich Sweden.

Thus we have a variety of issues, politics combined with religion because religious security could only be maintained by landed possessions. The brunt of the fighting between Sweden and the Emperor was bourne in Germany but the war was not exclusively over German interests because the control of north Germany was closely linked to Gustavus' will to destroy Poland as well as dominate the north of Europe. Gustavus' campaign was initially rapid and victorious. In 1631 he stormed Frankfurt -am - Oder and smashed Tilly's army at Breitenfeld near Leipzig in September 1631. Wurzburg, Frakfurt-am-Main and Mainz fell and in 1632 Gustavus captured Munich but he was unfortunately killed at the battle of Lutzen in 1632.

The death of Gustavus confused the issues and Richelieu had to take the initiative against the Habsburgs by forming the League of Heilbron but its forces were annihilated in 1634 at Nordlingen and the Emperor forced the Treaty of Prague on the Protestant princes by which a general amnesty was agreed and the terms of the Edict of Restitution were relaxed as 1627 rather than 1555 was to be the determining year for the ownership of ecclesiastical lands. The Treaty of Prague shows both the complexity of issues involved and that the Thirty Years' War was not just a German affair. The dominant theme of the war was now to be the Bourbon-Habsburg struggle. The war continued mainly because of France's involvement and Spain feared that a settlement might release Protestant troops to help the Dutch. Oxenstierna - the Chancellor of Sweden was also determined to make significant gains for Sweden. The Treaty of Compiegre was signed between France and Sweden and the war was prolonged. France suffered a number of reversals in 1636 but with their Swedish allies they took the offensive. Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, an ally of Sweden seized Rheinfelden and Breisach which severed the Spanish Road. Spain was heavily defeated in a naval battle against the Dutch and in 1640 revolts broke out in Portugal and Catalonia. The Habsburgs and their allies were crushed in 1645 at the Battle of Jankau and at Lens in 1648. However, France and Spain could not press for total victory because all combatants were exhausted and peace negotiations were brought to a conclusion at Munster and Osnabruck. I feel that some detailed analysis of the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 is required to show that the Thirty Years' War was not just fought over exclusively German issues. It is true that most of the clauses refer to German affairs but not the exclusion of French and Swedish interests.

The Treaty of Westphalia

Within the Empire the 343 separate states and free cities were all recognized as being free to control their own affairs independently of each other and the Emperor and the principle of cuius regio, eius religio was reaffirmed and Calvinism recognized as an official alternative to Lutheranism. Alongside this the retention of all land secularized before 1624 was permitted. From this we can see that religion and territorial acquisition were major issues involved in the conflict . Ferdinand III retained Bohemia, Maximilian of Bavaria became an elector and gained the Upper Palatinate while Charles Louis was restored to the Lower Palatinate and Saxony and Brandenburg gained various territories. Outside Germany the French candidate the Duke of Nevers was recognized as the ruler of Mantua. Montferrat and Casale - a clear illustration that northern Italy too was embroiled in the Thirty Years' War which shows that although the bulk of fighting took place in Germany. conflicts did take place elsewhere. Sweden and France gained various strategic territory within Germany which greatly increased their strength. Perhaps the most glaring omission from the Treaty of Westphalia was any form of settlement between France and Spain.

Spain had conceded Dutch independence in 1648 but she reached no agreement with France and war continued until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. Similarly in northern Europe the treaty had not settled the conflicts in the Baltics even if it had established Sweden as the dominant power there. It is only when we consider such issues that we realize that it is absurd to try and confine the Thirty Years' War to Germany. Indeed it could be argued that it was the first global war because fighting had raged from Pernambuco to Russia. Also the actual length of conflict is surely in question. If we interpret the Thirty Years' War as running from 1618 to 1648 then most of the issues were decided in Germany but not exclusively so.. However, the Thirty Years' War was an integral part of a much longer conflict which ranged from the Julich-Cleves succession crisis of 1609 to the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 at the very least. However, in trying to argue the international character of the war we must remember that as CV Wedgewood said 'arch of European politics rested on the key stone of Germany'.

When considering the question of issues involved in the war I feel we are confronted by a vast tangled web of motives or various nations for fighting and no issue seems clear cut or well defined. Religion was certainly one of the issues involved but it can hardly be argued that it was the Crusade of the Protestants against the forces of the Counter Reformation. Perhaps since there had been no major war within Germany since 1555 when a form of religious compromise had been reached as Augsburg this suggests that religion played a vital role in the war because such a compromise was undermined by several factors. Calvinism had become established in the Palatinate and was becoming increasingly militant and anti-Catholic and Bohemia provided an explosive situation as the Emperor attempted to enforce Catholicism and removed the religious base of Czech nationalism. In addition there were certain actions throughout the war that were inspired by religion such as the issue of the Edict of Restitution and Tilly's annihilation of Magdeburg. Against this I can say that the confessional divisions were never clear.

Many Protestant states had refused to help Bohemia which was clearly a political decision and even when Protestant states were in general cooperation in the 1630s they were not only helped by Lutheran Sweden but by Catholic France. The list of anomalies is seemingly endless -hence we see Pope Urban VIII admiring the Protestant champion Gustavus Adolphus who was causing problems for the Papacy's sometimes rival the Emperor. Lastly when the Catholic's fortunes were further in decline and the Imperial cause seemed to be lost two Protestant powers Sweden and Denmark went to war with each other over rival claims in the Baltic which delayed Swedish assistance to France and delayed the final thrust. Despite the obvious importance of religious issues - and I feel it is difficult to deny their importance because many of the principle characters in the Thirsty Years' War were inspired by religious reasoning e.g. Ferdinand II and his Jesuit confessor Lamormaini and Frederick the Elector Palatine; such issues were not the only ones at stake. Within Germany the war could be seen to a certain extent to be a contest of the Emperor's authority against the princes - not just concerning religion - but whether the Emperor was to be head of a unified monarchy or a titular president of a federation. In practice, religion, politics and economics were inextricably entangled - for some leaders such as Philip III spiritual and secular considerations were fused while for others religion was a form of justification for devious diplomacy and cynical political decisions. To complicate the religious issues there was also a conflict for hegemony within the various faiths e.g. between France, Spain and the Papacy. However, perhaps historians have an obsessive preoccupation with religious and political issues when dealing with the Thirty Years' War.

What about socio-economic factors ? Polisenky for example thinks the war could be largely due to a crisis of an old feudal ruling class - the situation is illustrated by Bohemia. Rudolf II and Ferdinand II. I have already stated, posed a threat to the national interests of the Protestant nobility but Polisensky develops the argument into a clash between an embryonic bourgeois society and a feudal Catholic one which reflected the European wide situation, I think these types of argument really pre-date the true existence of class but at the same time I feel that economic issues could play a vital role in the war - both in its inception and continuation. Let me cite a few example - Bohemia was an importance source of wealth and an a focal point of many trans-European trade routes - such a valuable asset could not pass from the Habsburg camp into the hands of a potential enemy without resistance. Other economically motivated ideas inspired Sweden, Denmark and other powers to intervene in the war and in Sweden's case she could not stop fighting until adequate compensation had been obtained. In conclusion the statement 'A war in Germany , but not about Germany' is only partially correct. To deny the importance of Germany is absurd but at the same time we should remember the geographical extent of the war. France, Poland, Russia, Denmark, Transylvania and Sweden all helped to make the conflagration almost Europe wide while Holland and Spain helped to make it almost worldwide; nor were the issues involved simply confined to Germany but involved almost every power in Europe in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Dr Simon Harding

www.chronosconsulting.com

www.chronos.es

www.biblon.com

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