30 Years War: Swedish, French, Post
by: Chloe Perkins and Blessing Bayingana
Summary
30 Years War 1618-1648: The 30 Years War was and is one of the longest most brutal wars in history with about 8 million casualties. The war began in 1618 because the emperor of habsburg, Ferdinand II, attempted to force catholicism on people in his domains. The Sweden people did not agree with Ferdinands ideas and France, although it was a catholic country, supported the protestant side for political purposes. The war mostly occurred in central europe and lasted until 1648.
There were many phases of the war. The Swedish period lasted from 1630-1635. Gustavus Adolphus of sweden became the protestants new leader. During the this phase, sweden and france signed an alliance and France entered the war. When the French entered the war they caused treaties to be retrieved. France's goal was to weaken habsburgs power, not anything related to religion.
Causes
Emperor Ferdinand II’s was appointed head of state of the Holy Roman Empire in 1619, this sparked religious conflict. Ferdinand II’s first task was to convert all citizens in the empire to Roman Catholicism. However, the religious freedom had been established in the Peace of Augsburg. The Peace of Augsburg core value was, “whose realm, his religion.” The princes were to select Catholicism, Lutheranism or Calvinism as the religion of their property. This caused conflict between the people of the 2 different faiths within the Holy Roman Empire for about 60 years.
Timeline / Course
1618: Ferdinand causes rebellion when trying to stamp out protestantism in Bohemia; defenestration of prague
1619: Battle of Sablat: first/ one of the first battles of war. Catholics won and protestants had to retreat
1630-1632: King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invades Germany and dies during battle
1633: Cardinal Richelieu of France sides with Sweden by providing massive subsidies
1635: Ferdinand II signed the Peace of Prague in attempt to end fighting, but war continued on German soil between Spain /Austria and France/Sweden
1648: Peace of westphalia- signed by habsburg, france, spain, roman empire etc.
1648: Battle of Prague- Swedes attacked prague castle and city, but retreated when found out they were signing the peace treaty
Important People
Gustavus Adolphus was born December 9, 1594 and came ito power when he was 17 years old. He was the king of Sweden had a huge impact on sweden and its power and state it is in today. He was known to be very brave and a strong leader. He passed away November 6,1632 while battling the catholic side.
Cardinal Richelieu: was born September 9, 1585 and was chief minister to King Louis XIII. He made very smart strategic decisions the 30 Years War. Although he was catholic and his country was catholic he decided to side with the protestant side to take political power away from Habsburg. He changed the course of the war for Sweden by signing an alliance with them and passed away December 4, 1642
Outcome / Post War
The French ended up with the most power because they had the most land. The Netherlands gained their independence from Spain, the Swedish gained control over the Baltic. With the Holy Roman Empire broken, the German states were able to select the religion of their land. The Treaty of Westphalia was established ending the 30 Years War
Main Significance
The 30 years war had a huge impact on Europe. Its main significance was weakening the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg, France gaining more power and Switzerland becoming independent. It was the last religous war in Europe and settled a long argument. Many people died and were injured in this war and it is one of the longest lasting wars in history.