How much do you know about the 30 Years War? We tell you what were the causes that started this war, the different periods of it and the consequences that the 30 Years War had for the world.
Causes of the 30 Years War
The Causes of the 30 Years War they were multiple, from the religious, political and economic spheres to the international level.
For many years it has been believed that the 30 Years War had been originated by religious reasons, by the conflict between protestants and catholics of the 16th century, although in recent years historians have argued that it was not just this.
Even so, it is true that one of the historical milestones that caused it was the appointment of the Catholic King Ferdinand II as Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, in 1617, who intended to unify all the states and impose his religion. The Protestants did not agree with the coronation and asked for help from other countries, this led to the war affecting Europe and each one taking a stand.
Refering to politics, Said Emperor had the desire to remove the Holy Roman Emperor’s election to be a blood legacy, so that the government would remain in his family.
In the field economic, Some countries also had commercial interests as there was a great rivalry for trade in the war zone, in the North Sea and the Baltic area.
Periods of the 30 Years War
palatine period
The beginning of the war began in Bohemia, in a context in which society was divided between Protestants and Catholics. One of the relevant moments took place in May 1618 and was baptized as defenestration of praguemoment in which the Catholics destroyed a church and the Protestants, in response, attacked the place where the royal officials and secretaries work.
The result of this brawl was that the Protestants nominated Frederick V, elector of the Palatinate, to take over the throne, which was a clear and direct message to Fernando II as king who did not represent them. The fact that Federico V accepted such a position, supposed that the confrontation stopped being only religious to be political.
Fernando’s response was immediate and the General Von Tilly, under his orders, led an army to recapture the cities all the way to Prague. Federico V publicly dismissed and fled from the city of Prague, while it was razed to the ground by fire, terror and blood.
Once again under the reign of Emperor Ferdinand, he forbade Bohemia freedom of worship and Frederick took away his domains on the Palatine.
danish period
The advance of Ferdinand II meant that the Protestant voters were fewer and fewer, only Brandenburg and Saxony remained, compared to all the others who were Catholic. This meant that a great commotion and fear, they could not allow it, so help was requested from the King of Denmark, Christian IV. The interests of the latter were not altruistic, since he was a direct commercial rival of Germany.
Despite attempts to defeat the Emperor, Christian IV was defeated by both the German General Wallenstein and General Von Tilly. This led to the treaty Peace of Lubeckwhich meant for Denmark the commitment not to help the German Protestants and that its territory was safe.
With respect to the rest of the participating princes in this second period of the war, the Emperor forced them to return the goods to the church.
swedish period
It receives this name due to the intervention of Sweden in the war, motivated by its rivalry with Germany and, in turn, by the influence of the French minister, Richelieu.
On this occasion, the protagonist of this period will be Gustavo Adolf, King of Sweden and expert warrior who had the best weapons to date. His army managed to defeat General von Tilly and Wallenstein, thanks to his new tactics in strategy and even his ferocity, since he did not hesitate to get involved in the battle being himself in the line of fire but it cost him his life.
The Swedes ended up losing their new positions and Wallenstein ended up assassinated under the order of Ferdinand, as he was achieving glory and was not very sure of his intentions. Finally, it all ended with the treaty of Peace of Prague of 1635.
french period
France intended end the House of Austria and, for this, he did not hesitate to establish alliances with the Netherlands and some princes of Italy to begin the battle against France and Spain.
The battles they followed one another without one or the other achieving complete control. At this time, the most named protagonists are Richelieu, Bernard of Saxony, General Chatillon, Touraine and Count.
Finally, it was Ferdinand III who came to the German throne and Louis XIV to the French throne. With them the war ended and they chose to declare a peace treaty.
Treaty of Westphalia 1648
The Treaty of Westphalia took place in the year 1648 and, with it, the a peace treaty which ended the Thirty Years’ War.
This treaty consisted of the Emperor’s recognition of the sovereign princes of each of the states, freedom of worship, and the return of Alsace and Lorraine to French rule.
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees is a treaty that was incumbent on Spain, since it was also part of the war and was signed in the year 1658. This treaty consisted of the return of Roussillon and Arotis to France, also marking the end of the war.