30 Years War
Athreya Sundaram
Quick Summary
Key People, Groups, and Countries
Protestants: A religious group fighting in the war against the Catholics
Catholics: The religion of the Holy Roman Empire, which was counteractive to the Protestants and wanted Catholicism to be the dominant religion
Ferdinand 2: Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and wanted Catholicism to be the dominant religion and started the war by invading Brohemia
Danish: Attacked the Holy Roman Empire supported by the financial backing from France and some German States, though they lost in the end they still kept Denmark
Christian lV: Ruler of Denmark who attacked the Holy Roman Empire thinking Ferdinand was a threat to Protestants everywhere.
Sweden: A powerful Protestant country/empire that attacked the Holy Roman Empire with the help of the remaining German Protestants and the French backing them up financially
Gustavus Adolphus: The King of Sweden who was an effective war commander and helped Protestants get their first major victory against the Roman Empire, he died in Lutzen, Germany in one of the battles against the Holy Roman Empire
France: Funded many empires/countries that attacked the Holy Roman Empire, they later on joined the war and fought the empire
Root Cause
Disagreement between Catholics and Protestants
Direct Cause
Ferdinand 2 tried to impose Catholicism on Bohemia but Protestant nobles rebelled
Protestant church destroyed ordered by Archbishop of Prague
Timeline
Outcome
Spain had lost the Netherlands but its dominant position in western Europe. France was now the chief power in the west. Sweden had control of the Baltic. The United Netherlands was recognized as an independent republic. The member states of the Holy Roman Empire were granted full sovereignty.
Main Significance
Primary Source
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/westphal.asp
The Treaty of Westphalia ended the 30 year war. It stated that rulers could chose what religion their land should fall.The treaty also redefined territories from many empires and gave them more control over their land and some states earned sovereignty.