In the first half of the 17th century, some European countries were involved in a war that lasted for thirty years. This historic event, spanning 1618-1648, is now known as the Thirty Years' War. One of the historical events that damaged the political reputation of the Habsburg dynasty in Europe is precisely this 30-year war, since the end of this war is characterized by the suppression of power Habsburgs. One of the main manifestations of this was the transformation of the Holy Roman Empire, led by the Habsburgs, into a politically fragmented and fragmented country. As a rule, historians distinguish the main four periods of the Thirty Years War, among which, the Czech (1618-1623), Danish (1625-1629), Swedish (1630-1635) and Franco-Swedish (1635-1648) periods.

The Thirty Years' War is considered one of the major military clashes of the late Middle Ages. This war showed the diplomatic and military preparedness of European states, the complexity of international relations and the fact that religious enmity is a complex and burning problem. Along with this, the war that engulfed all of Europe was distinguished by its scale. Most of the hostilities took place in the territory belonging to the Holy Roman Empire. The essence of this war was the confrontation of such Protestant countries as Sweden, Denmark, and along with them Catholic France, the Habsburgs. The Thirty Years' War began in the land of modern Bohemia or medieval Bohemia. Religious clashes were the impetus for the outbreak of hostilities. Thus, as a result of the aggravation of relations between Catholics and Protestants, warring Europe was divided into two sides. Indeed, on the eve of the 30-year war, state policy developed in close connection with religion. In general, religion occupies a special place in the history of Europe. However, the 30-year war continued not only in order to solve religious problems, on the contrary, several European states used the clashes between Catholics and Protestants for their own purposes. For example, religious conflicts or exacerbations served as a pretext for the possession of the dominant and strategically significant territory of Europe. In research work recent years provides several views on the root causes of the 30-year war. Some researchers associate the causes of the war with religion, others propose to consider this issue in close connection with political and economic problems.

The Thirty Years' War was the first war on a European scale. Many states participated in it, directly or indirectly. In the war collided two lines of political development Europe: Medieval Catholic tradition and a single pan-European Christian monarchy. Austria and Spain on the one hand and England, France, Holland, Sweden, with another.

 Internal strife in Germany. 1608-1609 - 2 military-political alliances of German princes on a confessional basis (the Evangelical Union and the Catholic League), this conflict turned into an international one.

 Confrontation between France and the coalition of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs, who claimed a special role in European politics. (plus the old disputed territories - Alsace and Lorraine)

4 periods:

 Czech, Danish, Swedish, Franco-Swedish

Religious reasons. There is no doubt that the beginning of the 30-year war is closely related to religion. The relationship between Catholics and Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire changed dramatically with the coming to power of Ferdinand II. Ferdinand of Styria, confirmed as heir to the Czech throne on June 9, 1617, took power into his own hands with the help of the Spaniards. Along with this, he was known as the heir to the head of the Holy Roman Empire. The Protestants were worried that Ferdinand was pursuing policies that served the interests of both Germans and Catholics. He was entirely converted to the Catholic faith and did not take into account the interests of the Protestants at all. Ferdinand II provided various privileges to Catholics, in every possible way restricting the rights of Protestants. Through such actions, he turned the people against himself, in addition, he established increased religious control. Catholics were involved in all available government positions, while Protestants began to be persecuted. Freedom of religion was limited, moreover, as a result of violence, many Protestants were forced to convert to Catholics. Of course, those who did not succumb to this were arrested or fined. There were also strict bans on the performance of any Protestant religious practice. The purpose of all these measures was the complete eradication of Protestantism as a faith within the empire and the separation of Protestants from society. In this regard, Protestant churches in the cities of Brumov and Grob were tumbled down and destroyed. The consequence of all this was that religious clashes began to increase in the empire, and a group was formed that was opposed to the adherent of the merciless religious policy of Ferdinand II and the Catholics, which led to a major uprising of the Protestant population of the empire on May 23, 1618. It was the uprising that occurred on this day that was the beginning of the 30-year war, which means that its generation was due to religious reasons. However, after the defeat of such Protestant states as Sweden and Denmark, the transition of Catholic France to the side of the Protestants called into question the religious reasons for generating such a protracted war. This indicates other, particularly important political reasons.

Political reasons. Along with the discontent of ordinary Protestant residents, at the same time, actions against Ferdinand of representatives of the ruling circles began. In connection with the coming to power of Ferdinand, several political personalities were deprived of their positions, including Heinrich Matvey Thurn, who organized the protest ordinary people against the deeds of Ferdinand. One of the personalities who contributed to the Protestant uprising against power was Frederick V, at that time he served as Elector in the possession of the Palatinate. By the beginning of the war, the Protestants proclaimed Frederick V king among themselves. All these actions of the Protestants only exacerbated the already exacerbated situation. Such political steps were another reason for the war. The 30-year war, which began in the Czech lands, was marked by a victory over the course of three years. However, hostilities were not limited to this, they continued in the Danish, Swedish and Franco-Swedish periods. The war, which began for religious reasons, began to acquire a purely political character over time. Denmark and Sweden, which were supposed to protect the interests of Protestants, through the war pursued the goal of improving their socio-economic situation and strengthening their political authority. Along with this, after defeating the Habsburgs, they aimed to gain major political power in Central Europe. Catholic France, which was afraid of the excessive strengthening of the political authority of the Habsburgs, went over to the side of the Protestants. Hence, we can conclude that the war, which began due to religious reasons, acquired a political character. Of course, the states involved in the war for political reasons also pursued their own economic interests.

Economic reasons. The Habsburg dynasty, disregarding the interests of the Protestants, was the head of the Holy Roman Empire, and the empire located in Central Europe possessed several strategically important territories. The northern regions are located close to the Baltic coast. If the Habsburg dynasty became the leader of Europe, then they would certainly fight for possessions on the Baltic coast. Therefore, Denmark and Sweden opposed such an imperial policy, as they put interests on the Baltic coast above all. Through the victory over the Habsburg dynasty, they aimed to incorporate the territory of the empire of the European states located near the Baltic Sea. Of course, this action was due to their economic interests. Along with this, the natural and other wealth of the state gave rise to a huge interest in foreign countries, moreover, from a simple warrior to a military leader, they were looking for benefits from this war. During the war, the commanders, through the local residents, kept their troops, moreover, at the expense of the residents they increased the number of soldiers. As a result of the robbery, the troops solved their socio-economic problems, moreover, with the help of robbing the wealth of the empire, the commanders replenished the state treasury. In general, a war that took place at any time can give rise not only to an economic crisis, but can also serve as a primitive example of replenishing the state treasury.

These are the main reasons for the 30-year war that spanned the period from 1618 to 1648. From the above information, one can make observations that the 30-year war began as a result of religious exacerbations. However, during the war itself, the religious problem acquired an additional character, the main purpose of which was to pursue state interests. Defending the rights of Protestants was only the main reason for the start of the 30-year war. In our opinion, the war that dragged on for long 30 years was the result of a deep political and economic crisis. The war ended on October 24, 1648 with the adoption of a peace agreement in the cities of Münster and Osnabrück. This agreement went down in history as the Peace of Westphalia.

The Thirty Years' War in Germany, which began in Bohemia and lasted a whole generation in Europe, had one specific feature compared to other wars. The “first violin” in this war (a couple of years after it began) were not the Germans, although they, of course, took part in it. The most populous provinces of the Roman Empire became a battleground for the armies of Spain, Denmark, Sweden and France. How and for what reason did the Germans survive this?
1618 - Ferdinand of Styria (1578-1637) was the heir to the Habsburg throne. Ferdinand was a staunch Catholic, raised by the Jesuits. He was extremely radical towards the Protestants among his servants. In fact, this man could become such a powerful emperor of the Roman Empire, which has not been since the time of Charles V. However, the Protestant rulers did not strive for this.
He could even surpass the great Charles as emperor. In the Austrian and Bohemian lands, which were ruled directly by the Habsburgs, Ferdinand had real power. As soon as he became king of Bohemia in 1617, he abolished the conditions of religious tolerance and tolerance that his cousin Rudolph II had bestowed on Protestants in 1609. The inhabitants of Bohemia were in the same position as the Dutch in the 1560s - foreign to their king in language, customs and religion.
As in the Netherlands, an uprising broke out in Bohemia. 1617, May 23 - Hundreds of armed representatives of the nobility of Bohemia literally cornered two of the most hated Catholic advisers Ferdinand in one of the rooms of the Castle of Gradshin in Prague and threw them down from a window from more than 50 meters in height. The victims survived: perhaps (according to the Catholic point of view), they were saved by angels or (as the Protestants believed) they simply fell on the straw. As a result of the incident, the rebels were brought to justice. They declared their goal to be the preservation of the former privileges of Bohemia and the salvation of Ferdinand from the Jesuits. But they actually violated the laws of the Habsburgs.
The crisis spread rapidly from Bohemia to the edges of the empire. The elderly Emperor Matthias, who died in 1619, gave German Protestant rulers the chance to join the uprising against Habsburg rule. Seven electors had the exclusive right to choose the heir to Matthias: three Catholic archbishops - Mainz, Trier and Cologne, three Protestant rulers - Saxony, Brandenburg and Palatinate - and the king of Bohemia.
If the Protestants deprived Ferdinand of the right to vote, they could revoke his candidacy as Emperor of the Roman Empire. But only Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596-1632) expressed his desire for this, but was forced to yield. 1619, August 28 - in Frankfurt, all but one votes were cast for Emperor Ferdinand II. A few hours after the elections, Ferdinand learned that as a result of the riot in Prague he had been dethroned, and in his place was Frederick of the Palatinate!
Frederick received the crown of Bohemia. The war was now imminent. Emperor Ferdinand was preparing to crush the rebels and punish the German upstart, who dared to claim the lands of the Habsburgs.
The uprising in Bohemia was very weak at first. The rebels did not have a hero-leader like John Huss (c. 1369-1415), who had led a rebellion in Bohemia two centuries earlier. Members of the Bohemian nobility did not trust each other. The Bohemian government hesitated in deciding whether to introduce a special tax or create an army.
Lacking a candidate to replace Ferdinand, the rebels turned to the German elector from the Palatinate. But Frederick was not the best choice... An inexperienced young man of 23 years old, he did not have the slightest idea about the religion he was going to defend, and also could not collect enough money and people. To defeat the Habsburgs, the inhabitants of Bohemia turned to other princes who could help Frederick. However, only a few went to meet them, Frederick's friends, for example, his stepfather, King James I of England, also remained neutral.
The main hope of the rebels was based on the weakness of Ferdinand II. The emperor did not have his own army, and it is unlikely that he could create one. The Austrian lands of the Habsburgs and for the most part nobility and townspeople supported the rebels. But Ferdinand was able to buy troops from three allies. Maximilian (1573-1651), Duke of Bavaria and the most influential of the Catholic rulers, sent his army to Bohemia in response to a promise that the emperor would grant him the right to elect Frederick and part of the lands of the Palatinate.
King Philip III of Spain also sent an army to help his cousin in exchange for the lands of the Palatinate. More surprisingly, the Lutheran Elector of Saxony also helped conquer Bohemia, targeting the Habsburg Lusatia. The result of these preparations was a lightning-fast military campaign (1620-1622), during which the rebels were defeated.
The Bavarian army was easily able to defeat Bohemia at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. From the Alps to the Oder, the rebels surrendered and surrendered to the mercy of Ferdinand. The Bavarian and Spanish armies further conquered the Palatinate. Foolish Frederick was nicknamed "the king of one winter": by 1622 he had lost not only the crown of Bohemia, but all of his Germanic lands.
This war did not end in 1622, because not all issues were resolved. One of the reasons for the continuation of the conflict was the emergence of free armies, ruled by the Landsknechts. Among their leaders, Ernst von Mansfeld (1580-1626) was the most memorable. A Catholic from birth, Mansfeld fought against Spain even before converting to Calvinism, and after giving his army to Frederick and Bohemia, he later often passed from one side to the other.
After Mansfeld fully supplied his army with everything necessary, plundering the territories through which he passed, he decided to move to new lands. After Frederick's defeat in 1622, Mansfeld sent his army to Northwest Germany, where he met with the troops of Maximilian of Bavaria. His soldiers did not obey the captain and mercilessly plundered the population of Germany. Maximilian benefited from the war: he received a significant portion of Frederick's lands and his place in the electorate; besides, he received a good sum of money from the emperor.

So Maximilian was not too eager for peace. Some Protestant rulers, who remained neutral in 1618-1619, now began to invade the imperial borders. In 1625, King Christian IV of Denmark, whose Holsten lands were part of the empire, entered the war as a protector of the Protestants in northern Germany. Christian was eager to prevent the Catholic takeover of the empire, but he also hoped to gain his own, as did Maximilian. He had a good army, but he could not find allies for himself. The Protestant rulers of Saxony and Brandenburg did not want war, and they decided to join the Protestants. In 1626, Maximilian's troops defeated Christian and drove his army back to Denmark.
So, Emperor Ferdinand II gained the most from the war. The surrender of the rebels in Bohemia gave him a chance to crush Protestantism and rebuild the country's governing scheme. Having received the title of Elector of the Palatinate, Ferdinand gained real power. By 1626, he did what was unattainable in 1618 - he created the sovereign Catholic state of the Habsburgs.
In general, Ferdinand's military goals did not fully coincide with the aspirations of his ally Maximilian. The emperor needed a more flexible tool than the Bavarian army, although he was a debtor to Maximilian and could not support the army on his own. This situation explained his amazing affection for Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583-1634). A Bohemian Protestant from birth, Wallenstein joined the Hapsburgs during the Bohemian Revolution and was able to stay afloat.
Of all those who took part in the Thirty Years War, Wallenstein was the most mysterious. A tall, menacing figure, he personified all the most unpleasant human features that can be imagined. He was greedy, evil, petty and superstitious. Seeking the highest recognition, Wallenstein did not put a limit to his ambitions. His enemies were afraid of him and did not trust him; it is difficult for modern scientists to imagine who this person really was.
1625 - he joined the imperial army. Wallenstein quickly became friends with the Bavarian general, but he still preferred to campaign on his own. He drove Mansfeld out of the empire and captured most of Denmark and the German Baltic coast. By 1628, he was in command of 125,000 soldiers. The Emperor made him Duke of Mecklenburg, granting him one of the newly conquered Baltic lands. Rulers who remained neutral, such as the Elector of Brandenburg, were too weak to stop Wallenstein from capturing their territories. Even Maximilian pleaded with Ferdinand to protect his domain.
1629 - The Emperor felt it was time to sign his Restitution Edict, perhaps the fullest expression of autocratic power. Ferdinand's Edict outlawed Calvinism in the Holy Roman Empire and forced adherents of Lutheranism to return all church property that they had confiscated since 1552. 16 bishoprics, 28 cities and about 150 monasteries in Central and North Germany were converted to the Roman religion.
Ferdinand acted independently, without addressing the imperial parliament. The Catholic princes were just as intimidated by the edict as the Protestant ones, because the emperor trampled upon their constitutional freedoms and established his unlimited power. Wallenstein's soldiers soon captured Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Bremen and Augsburg, which for many years were considered truly Protestant, and by force established Catholicism there. It seemed that there was no obstacle that, with the help of Wallenstein's army, Ferdinand completely abolished the Augsburg formula of 1555 and established Catholicism on his territory of the empire.
The turning point came in 1630, when Gustav-Adolphus came with his army to Germany. He announced that he had come to defend German Protestantism and the freedom of the people from Ferdinand, but in reality, like many, he tried to extract the maximum income from this. The Swedish king faced the same obstacles as the previous leader of the Protestant movement, King Christian of Denmark: he was an outsider without German support.
Fortunately for Gustav-Adolphus, Ferdinand played into his hands. Feeling secure and in power over Germany, Ferdinand convened parliament in 1630 to declare his son his successor to the throne and to help the Spanish Habsburgs oppose Holland and France. The emperor's plans were ambitious, and he underestimated the hostility of the German princes. The princes refused both of his offers, even after he tried to please them.
Having removed Wallenstein from the post of commander-in-chief of the army, Ferdinand did everything possible to consolidate his power. Gustav-Adolphus, however, had another trump card. The French Parliament, headed by Cardinal Richelieu, agreed to sponsor his intervention in German affairs. In fact, the cardinal of France had no reason to help Gustav-Adolphe. And yet he agreed to pay Sweden a million lire a year to support a 36,000-strong army in Germany, because he wanted to crush the Habsburgs, paralyze the empire and voice French claims to territory along the Rhine. All Gustav-Adolf needed was support from the Germans, which would allow him to become almost a national hero. This was no easy feat, but as a result, he persuaded the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony to join Sweden. Now he could act.
1631 - Gustav-Adolphus defeats the imperial army at Breitenfeld. It was one of the largest battles of the Thirty Years' War, as it destroyed the achievements of the Catholics in 1618-1629. Over the next year, Gustav-Adolphus systematically occupied the previously untouched Catholic regions in Central Germany. The campaign in Bavaria was carefully thought out. The king of Sweden was preparing to behead the Habsburgs Austria and acted more and more actively, seeking to take the place of Ferdinand on the throne of the Holy Empire.

The intervention of Gustav-Adolphus was powerful, because he kept Protestantism in Germany and broke the imperial core of the Habsburgs, but his personal victories were not so bright. 1632 Wallenstein returned from his retirement. Emperor Ferdinand had already approached the general with a request to take command of the imperial troops again, and Wallenstein finally gave his consent.
His army is more than ever his personal tool. On a dark, foggy November day in 1632, the two commanders met at Lützen in Saxony. The armies clashed in a fierce battle. Gustav-Adolphus put his horse at a gallop in the fog, at the head of the cavalry. And soon his horse returned wounded and without a rider. Swedish troops, thinking that they had lost their king, drove Wallenstein's army away from the battlefield. In the dark, they eventually found the body of Gustav-Adolphus on the ground, literally strewn with bullets. “Oh,” exclaimed one of his soldiers, “if God would give me such a commander again to win this glorious battle again! This dispute is as old as the world! "
Old disagreements had in fact led to a stalemate by 1632. No army was strong enough to win or weak enough to surrender. Wallenstein, who, as before, was the most intimidating figure in Germany, was given the chance to resolve all issues peacefully through compromise. Unburdened by passionate religious convictions or loyalty to the Habsburg dynasty, he was willing to make a deal with anyone who paid for his services.
1633 - he did little to serve the emperor, periodically turning to the enemies of Ferdinand: German Protestants who rebelled in Bohemia, the Swedes and the French. But now Wallenstein was too weak for a decisive and dangerous game. 1634, February - Ferdinand removed him from his post of commander-in-chief and ordered the new general to capture Wallenstein, alive or dead. Wallenstein spent the winter in Pilsner, Bohemia. He hoped his soldiers would follow him rather than the emperor, but they betrayed him. Shortly after his escape from Bohemia, Wallenstein was cornered. The final scene was gruesome: an Irish mercenary threw open the door to Wallenstein's bedroom, impaled the unarmed commander, dragged the bleeding body across the carpet, and threw him down the stairs.
By that time, Ferdinand II was convinced that he lacked Wallenstein's military talent. 1634 - the emperor made peace with the German allies of the Swedes - Saxony and Brandenburg. But the end of the war was still far away. 1635 - France, under the rule of Richelieu, sent new people and a considerable sum of money to Germany. To fill the gap following the Swedish defeat, Sweden and Germany were now fighting against Spain and the emperor.
The war escalated into a clash between two dynasties - the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, based on religious, ethnic and political reasons. Only a few Germans agreed to continue the war after 1635, most chose to stay on the sidelines. Nevertheless, their lands continued to be battlefields.
The final part of the war from 1635 to 1648 was the most destructive. The Franco-Swedish army eventually gained the upper hand, but their goal seemed to be to maintain the war rather than a decisive blow against their adversary. It is noted that the French and Swedes rarely invaded Austria and never ravaged the emperor's lands the way they plundered Bavaria and the territory of Central Germany. Such a war required more talent in looting than in battle.
Each army was accompanied by "sympathizers" - women and children lived in the camp, whose duties were to make the army's life as comfortable as possible so that the soldiers' desire for victory did not disappear. If you do not take into account the plague epidemics that often raged in military camps, the life of the military in the middle of the 17th century was much more calm and comfortable than the townspeople. Many cities in Germany became military targets in that era: Marburg was captured 11 times, Magdeburg was besieged 10 times. However, the townspeople had the opportunity to hide behind the walls or outbid the attackers.
On the other hand, the peasants had no other option but to run away, because they suffered the most from the war. The overall population loss was staggering, even if one does not take into account the deliberate exaggeration of these figures by contemporaries who reported losses or demanded tax exemptions. The cities of Germany lost more than one third of the population, during the war the peasantry decreased by two fifths. Compared to 1618, the empire in 1648 had 7 or 8 million fewer inhabitants. Until the beginning of the 20th century, no European conflict led to such human losses.
Peace negotiations began in 1644, but it took four years for the diplomats gathered in Westphalia to finally come to an agreement. After all the controversy, the Peace of Westphalia of 1644 became the actual confirmation of the Augsburg Peace. The Holy Roman Empire again became politically fragmented, divided into three hundred autonomous, sovereign principalities, most of which were small and weak.
The emperor - now the son of Ferdinand II Ferdinand III (reigned 1637-1657) - had limited power in his lands. The imperial parliament, in which all sovereign princes were represented, continued to exist de jure. So the Habsburgs' hope of uniting the empire into a single country with the absolute power of the monarch collapsed, this time finally.
The peace treaty also reaffirmed the provisions of the Augsburg Treaty regarding churches. Each prince had the right to establish Catholicism, Lutheranism or Calvinism in the territory of his principality. Compared to the treaty of 1555, significant progress was made in terms of guarantees of personal freedom of religion for Catholics living in Protestant countries, and vice versa, although in reality the Germans continued to profess the religion of their ruler.
Anabaptists and members of other sects were excluded from the provisions of the Treaty of Westphalia and continued to suffer from persecution and persecution. Thousands of their followers emigrated to America in the 18th century, especially to Pennsylvania. After 1648, the northern part of the empire was almost entirely Lutheran, and the southern part was Catholic, with a layer of Calvinists located along the Rhine. In no other part of Europe have Protestants and Catholics achieved such a balance.
Almost all the main participants in the Thirty Years War received part of the land under the Treaty of Westphalia. France got part of Alsace and Lorraine, Sweden - Western Pomerania on the Baltic coast. Bavaria retained part of the Palatinate lands and its place in the Elector's Office. Saxony received Luzhitsa. Brandenburg, given its passive role in the war, annexed East Pomerania and Magdeburg.
Even the son of Frederick V, the future king of Bohemia, was not forgotten: the Palatinate was returned to him (albeit reduced in size) and eight seats in the electorate college were presented. The Swiss Confederation and the Dutch Republic were recognized as independent from the Holy Empire. Neither Spain nor the Austria of the Habsburgs received territories in 1648, but the Spanish Habsburgs already owned the largest block of land.
And Ferdinand III had to control the political and religious situation in Austria and Bohemia more severely than his father before the uprising in Bohemia. It could hardly be said that everyone received enough under the contract for 30 years of war. But the state in 1648 seemed unusually stable and solid; Germany's political borders were virtually unchanged until the arrival of Napoleon. Religious boundaries were preserved until the 20th century.
The Westphalian Peace Treaty put an end to the Religious Wars in Central Europe. Even after 1648, the Thirty Years War in the works of the 17th and 18th centuries. was considered an example of how not to wage wars. According to the authors of those times, the Thirty Years War demonstrated the danger of religious unrest and armies led by mercenaries. Philosophers and rulers, despising the religious barbaric wars of the 17th century, came to a different way of waging war with the army, professional enough to avoid looting, and introduced into such a framework to avoid bloodshed as much as possible.
For researchers of the 19th century, the Thirty Years War seemed disastrous for the nation for many reasons, including because it slowed down for many centuries national association Germany. Scientists of the 20th century may not have been so obsessed with the idea of ​​German reunification, but they fiercely criticized the Thirty Years War for the absolutely inefficient use of human resources.
One of the historians formulated his thoughts in the following way: “Spiritually inhuman, economically and socially destructive, disorderly in its causes and confused in its actions, ineffectual in the end - this is an outstanding example of senseless conflict in European history”. This statement highlights the most negative aspects of the war. It is difficult to find pluses in this conflict.
Modern critics draw parallels, which are not entirely pleasant for us, between ideological positions and the cruelty of the middle of the 17th century and our modern style constant war. Therefore, Bertolt Brecht chose the Thirty Years War as the period for his anti-war play "Mother Courage and Her Children", written after the end of World War II. But of course, the analogies between World War II and the Thirty Years' War are strained: when in the end everyone was tired of the war, diplomats in Westphalia were able to come to the conclusion of peace.
Dunn Richard

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) is a pan-European war that resulted from the confrontation between France and the coalition of Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs.

Features of the Thirty Years War:

1) The first war of a pan-European scale

2) Became a leading factor in determining the foreign policy interests and priorities of all European states

3) The collision of two lines of political development in Europe:

medieval political tradition, embodied in the desire to create a single pan-European Christian monarchy (Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs)

the principle of creating strong states on a national basis (England, France, Holland and Sweden). In the named centralized states, except for France, the Protestant religion prevailed.

Background of the Thirty Years War:

in 1608-1609 in Germany there were two military-political alliances of German princes on a confessional basis - the Evangelical Union and the Catholic League, each of which received the support of foreign states.

Causes of the war:

Confrontation between France and the coalition of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. It was in France's interest to keep the empire fragmented and prevent the two Habsburg monarchies from acting together. She had territorial claims in Alsace, Lorraine, the Southern Netherlands, Northern Italy, territories bordering on Spain. France was ready to support the Evangelical League despite the difference of confessions The Republic of the United Provinces saw the Evangelical League as a natural ally against the Habsburgs

Denmark and Sweden tried to insulate themselves from competition in the northern sea ​​routes England constantly fought with Spain at sea, and for her the anti-Habsburg policy seemed natural. But, at the same time, it competed in foreign trade with the countries of the anti-Habsburg coalition.

The specific interests of different European countries and their common desire to suppress the hegemonic goals of the Habsburgs determined the participation of each of them in the war in its different periods.

History of the Thirty Years War:

Czech (1618-1623)

Danish (1625-1629)

Swedish (1630-1635)

Franco-Swedish (1635-1648). In the first three periods, the advantage was on the side of the Habsburg bloc. The latter led to the defeat of the empire and its allies.

Results of the war:

Mutual exhaustion of the warring parties, absolute ruin of the population of Germany

· The growing social tension in the belligerent countries themselves.

Thirty Years War - concept and types. Classification and features of the "Thirty Years' War" category 2017, 2018.

- Thirty Years War

Youth Wallenstein, Albrecht von Albrecht (Vojtech Wenceslas) von Wallenstein (Wallenstein) (German Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Waldstein (Wallenstein), Czech Albrecht (Vojtech) Václav z Vald & ....

- Thirty Years War and Peace of Westphalia

While Richelieu was the first minister (1624-1642), the threat of a new strengthening of the Habsburgs loomed over France again. By the end of the 16th century, the pressure of the Turks on the possessions of the Habsburgs weakened: the Habsburgs again turned their eyes to Germany, hoping to restore their influence there and ....

- Thirty Years War

XX. Requirements for the placement of weapons, equipment for weapon rooms, storages, warehouses, premises for display, demonstration or trade in weapons, shooting ranges and shooting ranges DECISION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION OF JULY 21, 1998 No. 814 BASIC ....

- Thirty Years War

When, in 1618, an uprising broke out in Moravia and Bohemia, Wallenstein saved the state treasury from Olmütz, participated with the cuirassier regiment he formed in suppressing the uprising and cleared the whole country of Protestant troops, for which he was promoted to major general with ...

We all know that world wars, affecting the interests of several states at once, took place in the 20th century. And we will be right. However, if we dig a little deeper into European history, we will find such a fact that 300 years before the world wars, Europe has already experienced something similar - maybe not on such a scale, but nevertheless, it is suitable for a world war. It's about 30- summer war which took place in the 17th century.

Prerequisites

At the end of the 16th century, Europe was experiencing a painful clash between religious groups - Catholics and Protestants. The Roman Catholic Church every year lost more and more parishioners - European countries, one after another, abandoned the old religion and adopted a new one. In addition, the countries gradually began to move away from the immense power of the Pope and took over the power of the local ruler. Absolutism was born. During this period, a real dynastic boom began - the princes of the blood entered into marriages with representatives of other states to strengthen both countries.

The Catholic Church strove with all its might to regain its former influence. The role of the Inquisition intensified - waves of bonfires, torture and executions swept across Europe. The Vatican's spies, the Jesuit order, strengthened their position due to their special proximity to Rome. Germany has defended its position on religious freedom most zealously. Despite the fact that the Habsburg dynasty that ruled there was Catholic, the representatives had to stand above all strife. A wave of uprisings and riots swept across the country. Religious disputes eventually turned into a war, which became a long stage for many European states. Started as a religious dispute, it eventually turned into a political and territorial conflict between European countries.

Causes

Among the many reasons for the war, there are several of the most significant:

1. the beginning of the counter-reformation - attempts by the Catholic Church to regain their former positions-
2. The Habsburg dynasty, which ruled in Germany and Spain, strove for complete domination in Europe under their leadership
3. the desire of Denmark and Sweden to control the Baltic and trade routes
4. interests of France, which also saw itself as the ruler of Europe
5. throwing England one way or the other
6. incitement to participation in the conflict of Russia, Turkey (Russia supported the Protestants, and Turkey supported France)
7. the desire of some small princelings to snatch a piece for themselves as a result of the division of European states

Start

The immediate reason for the war was the uprising in Prague in 1618. Local Protestants rebelled against the policies of the King of the Holy German Nation Ferdinand because he allowed foreign officials in large numbers to come to Prague. It is worth noting here that Bohemia (the territory of today's Czech Republic) was ruled directly by the Habsburgs. Ferdinand's predecessor, King Rudolph, granted the local residents freedom of religion and tolerance. Having ascended the throne, Ferdinand abolished all liberties. The king himself was a devout Catholic, educated by Jesuits, which, of course, did not suit local Protestants. But they could not do something serious yet.

Before his death, Emperor Matthias suggested that the German rulers choose their successor, thus joining the dissatisfied Habsburg policies. Three Catholic bishops had the right to vote, and three Protestants - the princes of Saxony, Brandenburg and the Palatinate. As a result of the vote, almost all votes were cast for the representative of the Habsburgs. Prince Frederic of Palatinate proposed to cancel the results and become the king of Bohemia himself.

Prague began to riot. Ferdinand hated this. Imperial troops entered Bohemia to crush the uprising at the root. Of course, the result was predictable - the Protestants lost. Since Spain helped the Habsburgs in this, she snatched a piece of German land for herself in honor of the victory - she got the land of Kurpfalz. This circumstance gave Spain the opportunity to continue another conflict with the Netherlands, which began years earlier.

In 1624 France, England and Holland will form an alliance against the Empire. Denmark and Sweden soon joined this treaty, rightly fearing that the Catholics would extend their influence to them. Over the next two years, local skirmishes between the troops of the Habsburgs and the Protestant rulers took place in Germany, and the victory was for the Catholics. In 1628, the army of General Wallenstein, the leader of the Catholic League, captured the Danish island of Jutland, forcing Denmark to withdraw from the war and sign a peace treaty in 1629 in the city of Lubeck. Jutland was returned on the condition that Denmark would no longer intervene in hostilities.

Continuation of the war

However, not all countries were afraid of the Danish defeat. Sweden entered the war in 1630.

A year later, an agreement was signed with France, according to which Sweden pledged to provide its troops on German lands, and France - to pay the costs. This period of the war is characterized as the most violent and bloody. The army mixed Catholics and Protestants, no one remembered why the war began. Now everyone had only one goal - to profit from the ruined cities. Whole families died, whole garrisons were destroyed.

In 1634 Wallenstein was killed by his own bodyguards. A year earlier, the Swedish king Gustav Adolf was killed in the battle. Local rulers leaned in one direction or the other.

In 1635, France finally decided to enter the war in person. The Swedish troops, who had suffered mainly defeats before, recovered their spirits and won a victory over the imperial troops at the Battle of Wittstock. Spain fought on the side of the Habsburgs as best she could, but the king had something to do besides the military arena - in 1640, a coup took place in Portugal, as a result of which the country achieved independence from Spain.

Outcomes

For the past few years, wars have been fought throughout Europe.

Not only Germany and the Czech Republic were the main arena of battles - clashes took place in the Netherlands, the Baltic Sea, France (the province of Burgundy). The Europeans were tired of the incessant fighting and sat down at the negotiating table in 1644 in the cities of Münster and Osanbrück. As a result of 4 years of negotiations, agreements were reached that took the form of the Peace of Westphalia.

• German rulers gained autonomy from the empire
• France received the lands of Alsace, Metz, Verdun, Toul
• Sweden - a monopoly in the Baltic
• The Netherlands and Switzerland gained independence.

Speaking of losses, this war can be compared with world wars - about 300 thousand people from the side of the Protestants, and about 400 thousand from the side of the empire over several battles. This is only a small part - in just 30 years, almost 8 million people were killed on the battlefield. For Europe at that time, not very densely populated - a huge figure. And whether the war was worth such sacrifices - who knows.

Albert von Wallenstein - commander of the Thirty Years War

Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) - the first all-European war. One of the most cruel, stubborn, bloody and long-lasting in the history of the Old World. It started out as a religious one, but gradually turned into a dispute over hegemony in Europe, territory and trade routes. Was led by the house of the Habsburgs, the Catholic principalities of Germany on the one hand, Sweden, Denmark, France, German Protestants on the other

Causes of the Thirty Years War

— Counter-Reformation: an attempt by the Catholic Church to win back the positions lost during the Reformation from Protestantism
— The aspiration of the Habsburgs, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and Spain, for hegemony in Europe
— Fears of France, which saw in the policy of the Habsburgs an infringement of its national interests
The desire of Denmark and Sweden to monopoly control of the sea trade routes of the Baltic
— The selfish aspirations of numerous small European monarchs who hoped to snatch something for themselves in the general dump

Participants in the Thirty Years War

— Habsburg bloc - Spain and Portugal, Austria; Catholic League - some Catholic principalities and bishoprics of Germany: Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia, Cologne, Trier, Mainz, Würzburg
— Denmark, Sweden; Evangelical or Protestant Union: Electors Palatinate, Württemberg, Baden, Kulmbach, Ansbach, Palatinate-Neuburg, Landgrave of Hesse, Electors of Brandenburg and several imperial cities; France

Stages of the Thirty Years War

• Bohemian-Palatinate period (1618-1624)
• Danish period (1625-1629)
• Swedish period (1630-1635)
• Franco-Swedish period (1635-1648)

The course of the Thirty Years War. Briefly

“There was a mastiff, two collies and a St. Bernard, a few bloodhounds and Newfoundlands, a hound, a French poodle, a bulldog, a few lapdogs and two mongrels. They sat patiently and thoughtfully. But then a young lady came in, leading a fox terrier on a chain; she left him between the bulldog and the poodle. The dog sat down and looked around for a minute. Then, without a hint of any reason, he grabbed the poodle by the front paw, jumped over the poodle and attacked the collie, (then) grabbed the bulldog's ear ... (Then) all the other dogs started military operations. The big dogs fought among themselves; small dogs also fought with each other, and in their free moments they bit large dogs by the paws "(Jerome K. Jerome "Three Men in One Boat")

17th century Europe

Something similar happened in Europe at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The Thirty Years' War began with a seemingly autonomous Czech uprising. But at the same time, Spain was at war with the Netherlands, in Italy they sorted out the relations of the Duchies of Mantua, Monferrato and Savoy, in 1632-1634 Muscovy and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth clashed, from 1617 to 1629 there were three major clashes between Poland and Sweden, Poland also fought with Transylvania, that in turn called on Turkey for help. In 1618 an anti-republican conspiracy was uncovered in Venice ...

• 1618 March - Czech Protestants appealed to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Matthew with a demand to stop the persecution of people on a religious basis
• 1618, May 23 - in Prague, participants in a Protestant congress committed violence against representatives of the emperor (the so-called "Second Prague Defenestration")
• 1618, summer - palace coup in Vienna. Matthew was succeeded by Ferdinand of Styria, a fanatical Catholic
• 1618, autumn - the imperial army entered the Czech Republic

  The movements of Protestant and imperial armies in the Czech Republic, Moravia, the German lands of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, sieges and capture of cities (Ceske Budejovice, Pilsen, Palatinate, Bautzen, Vienna, Prague, Heidelberg, Bern -Zoom), battles (at the village of Sablat, on White Mountain, at Wimpfen, at Höchst, at Stadtlohn, at Fleurus), diplomatic maneuvers were characteristic of the first stage of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1624). It ended with a victory for the Habsburgs. The Czech Protestant uprising failed, Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate, and Spain captured the Kurpfalz, securing a foothold for another war with the Netherlands

• 1624, June 10 - Treaty at Compiegne between France, England and the Netherlands for an alliance against the imperial house of the Habsburgs
• 1624, July 9 - Denmark and Sweden joined the Treaty of Compiegne, fearing the growth of the influence of Catholics in northern Europe
• 1625, spring - Denmark opposed the imperial army
• 1625, April 25 - Emperor Ferdinand appointed Albrech von Wallenstein as commander of his army, who invited the emperor to feed his mercenary army at the expense of the theater population
• 1826, April 25 - Wallenstein's army defeated the Protestant troops of Mansfeld at the Battle of Dessau
• 1626, 27 August - Tilly's Catholic army defeats the troops of Danish King Christian IV at the Battle of Lutter
• 1627 Spring - Wallenstein's army moved north of Germany and captured it, including the Danish peninsula of Jutland
• 1628, September 2 - at the battle of Wolgast, Wallenstein once again defeated Christian IV, who was forced to withdraw from the war

  On May 22, 1629, a peace treaty was signed in Lubeck between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire. Wallenstein returned the occupied lands to Christian, but made a promise not to interfere in German affairs. This ended the second stage of the Thirty Years War.

• 1629, March 6 - The Emperor issued an Edict of Restitution. fundamentally curtailed the rights of Protestants
• 1630, June 4 - Sweden entered the Thirty Years War
• 1630, September 13 - Emperor Ferdinand, who feared the strengthening of Wallenstein, dismissed him
• 1631, January 23 - the treaty between Sweden and France, according to which the Swedish king Gustav Adolphus pledged to keep an army of 30,000 in Germany, and France, represented by Cardinal Richelieu, to bear the costs of its maintenance
• 1631, May 31 - The Netherlands formed an alliance with Gustav Adolf, pledging to invade Spanish Flanders and subsidize the king's army
• 1532 April - Emperor called Wallenstein again into service

  The third, Swedish, stage of the Thirty Years War was the most fierce. Protestants and Catholics had long been mixed in the armies, no one remembered how it all began. The main motive of the soldiers was profit. Therefore, they killed each other without mercy. Taking the fortress of Neu-Brandenburg by storm, the emperor's mercenaries completely killed his garrison. In response, the Swedes killed all prisoners in the capture of Frankfurt an der Oder. Magdeburg was completely burned down, tens of thousands of its inhabitants died. On May 30, 1632, the commander-in-chief of the imperial army, Tilly, died during the battle at the fortress of Rhine, on November 16, the Swedish king Gustav Adolf was killed in the battle at Lützen, on February 25, 1634, Wallenstein was shot by his own guards. In the years 1630-1635, the main events of the Thirty Years' War unfolded in the lands of Germany. Swedes' victories alternated with defeats. The princes of Saxony, Brandenburg, and other Protestant principalities supported the Swedes and the emperor. The conflicting parties did not have the strength to persuade fortune to their own advantage. As a result, a peace treaty was signed between the emperor and the Protestant princes of Germany in Prague, according to which the execution of the Edict on restitution was postponed for 40 years, the imperial army was formed by all the rulers of Germany, who were deprived of the right to conclude separate alliances among themselves

• 1635, May 30 - Peace of Prague
• 1635, May 21 - France entered the Thirty Years War to help Sweden, fearing the strengthening of the House of Habsburg
• 1636, May 4 - the victory of the Swedish forces over the allied imperial army at the battle of Wittstock
• 1636, December 22 - the son of Ferdinand II Ferdinand III became emperor
• 1640, December 1 - Coup in Portugal. Portugal regained independence from Spain
• 1642, December 4 - Cardinal Ricillier, "soul" of French foreign policy, died
• 1643, May 19 - Battle of Rocroix, in which French troops defeated the Spaniards, marking the decline of Spain as a great power

  The last, Franco-Swedish stage of the Thirty Years' War had the characteristic features of a world war. Military operations were conducted throughout Europe. The Duchies of Savoy, Mantuan, the Republic of Venice, and Hungary intervened in the war. Fighting were conducted in Pomerania, Denmark, Austria, still in Germanic lands, in the Czech Republic, Burgundy, Moravia, the Netherlands, in the Baltic Sea. In England, financially supporting Protestant states broke out. A popular uprising was raging in Normandy. Under these conditions, in 1644, peace negotiations began in the cities of Westphalia (an area in northwestern Germany) Osnabrück and Münster. In Osanbrück, representatives of Sweden, German princes and the emperor met, in Münster - the ambassadors of the emperor, France, and the Netherlands. The negotiations, influenced by the results of the incessant battles, lasted 4 years