The Four Phases Of The Thirty Years War

The Thirty Years Wars began in 1618 in central Europe but most battles were fought within Germany. It was divided up into four phases, the Bohemian Phase, Danish Phase, Swedish Phase, and the French Phase. These phases are mostly defined by the primary military support that is being supplied from an individual country. The Thirty Years War began with Ferdinand II of Bohemia, a catholic, arranging to become the Holy Roman Emperor. Nobles met and agreed that they did not want Ferdinand II to become the Holy

The massive disturbance that the Reformation caused had an enduring impact on European politics. After the Catholic Church considered Martin Luther a “protestant,” Europe became divided along confessional and territorial lines. The religious chaos of the period led to warfare within most states and between many. This warfare, especially the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), destroyed Europe. For example, the Lutherans and the Holy Roman Empire ended a war in 1555 with a stalemate to sign the peace of Augsburg. The most crucial part of this treaty was “cuius regio eius religio,” which mean’t whatever political entity controlled an area had the right to decide what religion that area would follow. The Peace of Augsburg was only intended to be temporary, but it caused many unintended issues such as the split of Germany until its unification in the 1860s.

These beliefs affected not just religion, but society and political relations to the the church and the

According to Document F, England held the most land at the time, with France and Germany behind it. This led to strained relations between the countries in Europe as many were afraid that they were going to be taken over by one of the larger countries. For example, a German Chancellor before Congress says, “We don’t want to step on the toes of any foreign power, but at the same time we don’t want our own feet tramped by any foreign power.” (Doc D). In this quote, he describes the feeling that many countries had at the time before the war. He says that they do not want to anger any large countries by expanding into their territory, but he does not want to appear weak and be invaded by a powerful country. This was how many of the countries were perceiving what was going on at the time, and therefore caused tension between the very close knit countries in Europe. Thus, when conflict broke out between the Serbia and Austria- Hungary, it led to war breaking out between countries that had been holding back before. The imperialism going on in Europe was a main contributor to World War

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the throne of Austria and Hungary. The assassination was planned by a Serbian terrorist group, called, “The Black Hand”. The man who shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife was a Bosnian revolutionary named Gavrilo Princip. Gavrilo Princip wanted the Austro-Hungarian Empire out of Bosnia. To me, the cause of the war was mainly nationalism and alliances. While Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s murder was the immediate cause for the declarations of war, a patchwork of mutual defence alliances were made throughout Europe meaning, if one country was attacked, another was likely to defend them. The allies included Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States. These countries fought against the Central Powers which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and

Throughout the time frame between 1450 and 1700 the Catholic Church had power over all European countries because the main religion everyone followed was Catholicism. One main priority

The men who founded the legislature of our country had seen first hand the difficulties that church and state partnerships could create in Europe. The consequences of this partnership are the main

1. How did the disintegration of the medieval church and the coming of the Reformation contribute to the development of nation-states in Western Europe between 1450 and 1648?

The Danish Intervention started out with the Protestant Union in pursuit of the support of the Scandinavian kingdoms; Denmark led by Christian IV and Sweden which was led by Gustavus Adolphus who entered the war in 1630. The Danish and Sweden Interventions together lasted from 1625-1635 with the Edict of Restitution that occurred in between the parts. At the start of the Danish intervention Christian IV was given the title of Director of Lower Saxon District and a bitter defeat in a battle in the sea as an outcome, “Christian had to withdraw from the conflict and signed the Peace of Lübeck in 1629, giving up his claims to several prince-bishoprics in northern Germany but retaining Holstein and Schleswig” (Asch 31). Ferdinand II having issued the Edict of Restitution which essentially was the claim of all previous religious conventions and agreements, that did not follow religion of the ruler, within a set time null and void. The Swedish Intervention officially began on July 4th, 1630 in accordance with the Gustavus landed in Germany. When Gustavus entered the opposing forces were disorganized Gustavus had taken control of a city quickly. When the Swedish joined the Protestant side of the war there grew some more tension between the Swedes and the Danish as, “ Their marked rivalry… stood in the way of a joint enterprise,”(Friedrich 169) This settlement did not increase the

Many things happened in Europe which lead to the outbreak of war. As early as 1872, France lost Alsace and Lorraine on her eastern

As Protestantism began to spread in Europe, tension arose between Catholics and Protestants. The tension caused war between monarchs, nobles, and common people over religion. However, the many wars evolved into being about much more than religion; they became about politics and specifically, a struggle for power. Many people throughout Europe saw religion as a perfect pretext for the real reason of war: power. Through the seemingly infinite wars of religion, politics and religion came hand in hand. As exemplified by the Dutch Revolt and the Thirty Years’ War, religion was the starting cause of both wars, but political power was the true justification in the end.

It is difficult to determine when the Thirty Years War really began. Ultimately, a culmination of events led to the tension between the countries of the Ottoman Empire. Prior to the war’s beginning on May 23, 1618, Europe was in a state of religious, political, and imperial turmoil. The Lutherans, Catholics, and Calvinists were all competing for religious dominance. Political leaders tried to advocate for their religions in the elections. There was much controversy regarding the new kings of Bohemia and political stress between the Bourbons and the Hapsburgs. War was

The war began in 1756 and would be fought between the two alliances or war parties of the convention of Westminster and the treaty of Versailles. Fredrick’s invasion into saxony was a success and he was able to capture this day but he was not granted the momentum he desired to push into the Austrian territory of Bohemia. Meanwhile in the America, Britains luck began to turn around as the British government turned more and more recourses into the theater. This would mean that Fredrick could not expect much assistance from the British on the contentment. Britain had allied with Prussia because they found him the most fit to defend Gorigias tittle. Fredrick hoped that the British would be able to economically cripple France by eliminating their

1. Briefly summarize the four phases of the 30 Years War. How did the war change the economic and political landscape of the Holy Roman Empire?

A political idea known as ‘respublica Christiana’ emerged in the Middle Ages, as the closest sovereign institution before the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. A joint arrangement, between the Sacerdotium, led by the Pope, and the Regnum, led by a designated emperor, ‘respublica Christiana’ was ‘universitas’ in that it was a unified authority devoted to Christian ‘redemption and salvation’. Although, this unification differs completely from the ‘societas’ notion of the sovereignty norm, in the Middle-Ages it was a bridge which helped