30 years war

The 30-year war is one of the most important events of the Modern Age for several reasons:

• Because religious freedom resulted from it for various States.
• Because notable warriors such as Gustavus Adolphus, Wallenstein and Touraine emerged in its course.
• Because I ensure France's dominance over the other nations of Central Europe.
• Because it restored the European balance , broken as a result of the victories of Carlos V. European balance is understood as the desire of the Eastern and Western European States to maintain the same power, the same strength, in order to respect each other.

Causes of the 30 Years War

They were religious, political and international.

Religious

1. The desire of Emperor Ferdinand II of Germany to unify his States, imposing Catholicism.
2. Religious struggles in Bohemia.

Political

1. The desire of the Emperor himself to transform the German Empire, which was elective, into a hereditary Empire, to leave the crown to his son.
2. The rivalry between the Emperor and the various Princes who ruled the States from him.

International order

1. France's plan to ruin the House of Austria, restoring European balance.
2. Germany's commercial rivalry with Denmark and Sweden in the Baltic Sea.

Periods

The periods of the 30-year war were:

1. Palatine Period

The war started in Bohemian (part of Austria). The Bohemians were divided:some were Protestant and formed the evangelical union; others were Catholic and formed the Catholic League .
As the Catholics destroyed a Protestant church, tempers flared and the Protestants attacked the premises where the royal officials, who were Catholic, worked, seizing the secretaries and throwing them out of the windows. This historical fact is called the defenetration of Prague (May 23, 1618). The insurgents took over the city and established a provisional government, declaring that Emperor Ferdinand II had no right to rule in Bohemia. So Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, was called to take over the throne.
As said elector accepted the appointment, he moved to Prague and assumed power. In this way the revolution that was initially religious, was transformed into a political revolution against the emperor. Fernando II, in view of this situation, sent an army to Bohemia, under the command of General Von Tilly, who, through terror, seized several cities until he reached Prague.
As the Elector Federico V had not taken advantage of the time to organize a bohemian army, he was completely defeated in the white mountain by Von Tilly's troops. Following this triumph, the victor entered Prague in blood and fire, and Frederick V fled the city. As the Bohemians censured him for his conduct, he threw the royal cloak and scepter in a public square and left. To punish Bohemia, Ferdinand II prohibited religious freedom, and to punish Frederick V he took away all his domains on the Palatine.

2. Danish Period

When the German electors saw that the Emperor appropriated the Palatinate and Bohemia, they were greatly alarmed, because henceforth the Protestant electors of Germany were reduced to 2 (Brandenburg and Saxony), all the remaining electors being Catholic. So when it comes to electing an Emperor, the Catholics would be in the majority and they could not allow this. Then they called Cristian IV. King of Denmark, who was also Germany's rival in the Baltic Sea trade and, together with Sweden, tried to financially ruin the Emperor. For this war, the Emperor relied on the able German general Wallenstein who had distinguished himself in previous religious wars, Cristian IV he resolved to invade from North Germany, but General Von Tilly first and Wallenstein later defeated him.
Christian IV was quick to sign the Peace of Lubeck , under the following conditions:

1. Denmark promised not to help German Protestants.
2. Instead, Denmark got the integrity of her territory guaranteed.

Emperor Ferdinand, to take revenge on the princes who had caused this second war, published the restitution edict , by which these princes were forced to return to the church all the goods that had been secularized during the wars of the Reformation.

3. Swedish Period

For Sweden to intervene in the 30 Years War, there were two causes:

1. The trade rivalry between Sweden and Germany.
2. The diplomacy of Richelieu, a French minister who stirred up Sweden against Germany in order to weaken the power of the Emperor, before France entered the conflict.

The King of Sweden Gustavo Adolfo He was an expert warrior. The armament of his troops was the best at that time. He had devised a cartridge for the rifle and used the bayonet to great effect.
Gustavus Adolphus's campaign in North and Central Germany was brilliant. He first defeated Tilly's army near Leipzig, using a new tactic, based on rapid infantry movements; then to the famous Wallenstein in the memorable battle of Lutzen where the Swedish king, showing exceptional courage, stepped into the line of fire and was riddled with bullets.
The Swedes, after the victory, did not know how to keep their positions, because they needed Gustavo Adolfo, and Wallenstein took advantage of this to achieve some triumphs; but as he became very proud of his military prestige, Emperor Ferdinand believed that he aspired to the crown and had him assassinated. The war ended with the ** Peace of Prague of 1635 ** in favorable conditions for the Emperor and disastrous for the Swedes.

4. French Period

France believed the time had come to intervene to ruin the House of Austria. The Minister of Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu With great vision, he pushed his country into the conflict, certain of final victory. He made alliances with Bernard of Saxony, with the Netherlands and with some Princes of Italy and launched his armies against Germany and Spain, who were also united. Early in the war, Emperor Ferdinand II invaded France and won some victories; but Richelieu he put at the head of his armies Bernard of Saxony and the reckless General Chatillon. The first defeated the Germans in Alsace . The second defeated the Spanish at Arras and took the French province of Artois from them.
For several years, neither side dominated the 30-year war very clearly, and then there was a change of government in the belligerent countries. In Germany Ferdinand III occupied the throne, and in France Louis XIV came to power. Then the war could end. The French generals Tourenne and Count After sensational victories, they thrust their armies deep into the heart of Germany, and threatened to take Vienna, which was the capital of the Empire. And faced with such grave danger, the new Emperor Ferdinand III preferred to make peace.

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

It was the most important Treaty of modern times, and whose consequences are still felt today. Here are their conditions:

1. The Emperor of Germany recognized that the princes of his country were sovereign in each of their respective States.
2. Complete religious freedom was established in Germany.
3. Germany returned the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France.

Treaty of the Pyrenees

As the war had also been against Spain, it was necessary to sign a separate treaty with this nation and this was the Peace of the Pyrenees (1658). According to her, Spain returned to France the provinces of Roussillon and Artois, located on the border with the Netherlands. Thus ended the 30 Years War.