The 30 Years War
Pre-War, Bohemian & Danish
Summary
The Bohemian phase details the Protestant revolt against the Catholic ruler, the Defenestration of Prague, as well as the Battle of White Mountain -- this was a decisive Catholic victory.
The Danish phase includes the Lutheran King of Denmark and his attempts to invade the Holy Roman Empire, all of which ended poorly.
Cause
The Danish phase started as a result of the defeat of the Protestants at the Battle of White Mountain, leading to the Lutheran King of Denmark trying to invade the Holy Roman Empire.
Timeline
1555 - The Peace of Augsburg is signed, promising religious freedom under the tenet “cuius regio, eius religio” (whose realm, whose religion). It is a major event of the Reformation and calms tensions between Protestants and Catholics within the Holy Roman Empire for 60 years.
1608 - The Protestant Union, a coalition of Protestant German states, is formed by Frederick IV.
1618 - The Bohemian nobility reject King Ferdinand II and defenestrate his representatives at Prague Castle (Defenestration of Prague). Bohemian states, with the backing of Sweden and Denmark-Norway, begin openly revolting and the Thirty Years’ War begins.
1618 - Bohemian Revolt: The northern states of Bohemia are primarily Protestant and sought to break away from the Holy Roman Empire.
1619 - Ferdinand II becomes King of Bohemia after Matthias' death.
1619 - Ferdinand II becomes Holy Roman Emperor. He forces citizens of the empire to practice Roman Catholicism.
1620 - Emperor Ferdinand II, his cousin, King Philip III of Spain, and Duke Maximilian of Bavaria form an alliance.
1620 - Bohemians elect Frederick V, the Elector of the Palatinate, as their king.
1620 - The Battle of White Mountain. Habsburg forces crush the Bohemians. Bohemia remains under Habsburg for nearly three hundred years and becomes Catholic.
1621 - The Protestant Union is dissolved.
1621 - War resumes between the Spanish and the Dutch.
1624 - England, France, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Savoy, Venice, and Brandenburg form an anti-Habsburg alliance to fight against Spain and the HRE.
1629 - Emperor Ferdinand II issues the Edict of Resolution, which orders the return of all secularized bishoprics and monasteries since 1552 to Catholic control.
1629 - The Treaty of Lubeck is signed May 22, 1629, effectively ending Danish involvement in the Thirty Years' War. Christian IV retains control of Denmark but had to stop supporting Protestant German states. This starts the next phase of the Thirty Years' War.
Key Figures and Groups
Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II was a member of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1619-1637), King of Bohemia (1617-1619), and King of Hungary (1618-1637). He waged war against the Protestant Forces of Bohemia due to being Catholic. As a child, his parents, devout Catholics Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria, sent him to a Jesuit college in Ingolstadt to isolate him from Lutheran nobles. Though his predecessors Rudolf II and Matthias began the Thirty Years' War, his acts against Protestantism caused the escalation of the war. Ferdinand II sought to restore the Catholic Church as the only religion in Europe and wipe out religious dissent.
King Christian IV
Frederick V of the Palatinate
Outcome
The Bohemian revolt resulted in the removal of King Ferdinand, a Catholic, from the throne. A Protestant, Frederick, was chosen to replace him.
Despite this, Ferdinand was named Holy Roman Emperor, a decision that consolidated his power. In addition, the Bohemians’ defeat at White Mountain resulted in the Bohemian revolt being crushed by the Catholics; Catholic became the state religion. This shifted the sway of power to the Catholics, which put further pressure on the Protestants. Thus, such tensions lead into the Danish phase of the war.
The Danish phase resulted in the Treaty of Lubeck. The defeated King of Denmark, the Protestant Christian IV, signed the Treaty and withdrew from Saxony. Ferdinand issued the Edict of Restitution, stating that all church possessions the Protestants owned were to be returned to the Catholic Church. This caused a lot of tensions. By continuing to bolster Catholic power at the expense of Protestants, a rift began to grow between the two religious denominations and this significantly contributed to the third and fourth phases of the war.
Significance
At the end of the war most of Europe had undergone major geographical change. Switzerland and the Netherlands had declared themselves autonomous states and, the Roman Empire lost most of the power that it had left. Due to the Dutch Netherlands and Switzerland claiming independence, the Spanish Hapsburgs were no longer the primary power in Europe. With the Spanish Hapsburgs’ lesser power, France grew to have more power and became a stronger country in general. Along with this nearly every country involved was going through major financial difficulties and they agreed on the freedom to practice different religions in private.
The main significance of the first two phases of the Thirty Years’ War is that it led to the third and fourth phases. Sweden and France were drawn into the war, turning it into a political conflict that spanned across the continent rather than a small religious war.