Oy’ll Fight ‘ Em !

1. Oy’ll Fight ‘Em! More on the Thirty Years War…and More… (I’m a poet, and I don’t even know it)

2. 4 Major Phases of the War • Phase One: The Bohemian Phase (1618-1625) • Phase Two: The Danish Phase (1625-1629) • Phase Three: The Swedish Phase (1630-1635) • Phase Four: The Franco-Swedish Phase (1635-1648)

3. A Bohemian Rhapsody…Keepin’ It Real… • I see a little silhouette-o of a man… • The Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand was accepted as the Bohemian Estates’ king • These nobles were quickly unhappy with their choice because many of them were Calvinists, while Ferdinand was a devout Catholic • In and of itself, the Catholicism would not have been a problem, but Ferdinand began re-Catholicizing Bohemia and strengthening royal power • The Protestant nobles rebelled against Ferdinand in May 1618 and it was on like Donkey Kong • No, they literally did something that Donkey Kong may have considered: they threw two Habsburg governors and a secretary out of the window of the royal castle in Prague! On Like Donkey Kong Donkey Kong

4. When Keepin’ It Real Goes Wrong… • They lived. • No. Seriously. They fell 70 feet from a castle and lived. • Now mind you, these are very religious people, so the Catholics pointed out that they survived only because of the Virgin Mary • The Protestants pointed out they fell into a manure pile • (You can’t make this up—sometimes history is greater than fiction) • The Bohemian rebels seized Bohemia, ousted Ferdinand and elected Frederick V (also head of the Protestant Union) as his replacement • Ferdinand refused to accept his deposition, as he was also recently elected as the Holy Roman Emperor • If Ferdinand had left, the balance of religious and political power in central Europe may have shifted, giving the Protestants more control of the Holy Roman Empire • Therefore, Ferdinand sought the help of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria and the Catholic League and Frederick was defeated on November 8, 1620 • Spanish troops took advantage of Frederick’s predicament by invading the Palatinate and conquering it by the end of 1622 • Frederick fled, the Spanish took control of the western part of the Palatinate to gain access from Italy to the Netherlands • Now Emperor Ferdinand, he established Bohemia as a Habsburg possession, confiscated the land of the Protestant nobles, and established Catholicism as the sole religion • And that’s what happens when keepin’ it real goes wrong…

5. The Great Danes • The Danish phase of the war lasted from 1625-1629 • It began when King Christian IV of Denmark, a Lutheran, led an army for the Protestants into northern Germany • His anti-Habsburg, anti-Catholic alliance with the United Provinces and England was looking to regain land for the Protestants and grab some Catholic territory in Northern Germany for his family • On the other side, the Bohemian noble Albrecht von Wallenstein had taken advantage of Ferdinand’s victory in Bohemia to become the country’s richest landowner • His tactics led the Catholic League to a victory over Christian IV’s troops in 1626 and 1627 • Christian IV’s mission backfired as Wallenstein now occupied parts of northern Germany and ended Danish supremacy in the Baltic region • The Boys of Ferdy are lookin’ purdy… • …and because of that Ferdy 2 (also known by the rest of the civilized world as Emperor Ferdinand II) was at the height of his power and issued the Edict of Restitution in March, 1629 • The devout Catholic prohibited Calvinist worship • He restored all property taken by Protestant princes or cities in the previous 75 years to the Catholic Church • However, German princes got scurred (scured? scurr’d?) and forced the dismissal of Wallenstein by Emperor Ferdy 2

6. How Swede It Is… • The Swedish phase of the war takes from 1630-1635 and begins Swedish king GustavusAdolphus’s entry into the war • He was responsible for reviving Sweden and turning it into a great Baltic power • He would soon be seen as being responsible for being dead • A devout Lutheran, Adolphus felt compelled to aid his fellow Protestants against the Catholics • Gustavus’s army moved through Germany until the imperial side desperately recalled Wallenstein • At the Battle of Lutzen, the Swedish forces won, but it was a pyrrhic victory as Adolphus was killed in the battle • What do you think it means if one achieves a pyrrhic victory? • Hopefully you recognize that it means the Swedish troops were less effective…because that’s what happened • By 1634, on the orders of Ferdy 2, the imperial army knocked out the Swedes and guaranteed southern Germany for the Catholics • This was agreed upon because Ferdy 2 agreed to annul the Edict of Restitution of 1629, making peace with the princes of Germany… • …but that didn’t take care of the Swedes or the French… • …God’s a helluva drug… (semi-pun intended)…

7. Frank + Swede = Blood • The final phase of the war is the Franco-Swedish Phase • The Catholic French were now supporting the Protestant Swedes (for political reasons) against the Catholic Habsburgs of Germany and Spain • This is where politics officially begins to supersede religion • The Battle of Rocroi in 1643 was the decisive victory for the French and ended Spanish military might • The French then defeated the imperialist-Bavarian armies in Southern Germany • Finally, everyone is ready for Peace…the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 (except the French and Spanish kept fighting until the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659) • By then, Spain was second-rate and France was the dominant European nation (as hard as that is to believe…)

8. The Results • Peace of Westphalia: • All German states, including the Calvinist ones, were free to determine their own religion • France gained parts of western Germany, part of Alsace, and three cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun • This gave France control of the border area between France and Germany • If you ever wondered why Germany generally, and Hitler specifically, was so concerned with France regaining the Alsace-Lorraine region following World War I, this is one of the first reasons • The Austrian Habsburgs didn’t lose any land of note but their authority as rulers of Germany was diminished • More than 300 states that made up the Holy Roman Empire were recognized as virtually independent because they could look after their own foreign policy (the Habsburg emperor was merely a figurehead) • Religion and politics are now documented as separate • The pope was completely ignored—politics is the guiding light • Religion is less state-based and more of an individual choice • Argument: the beginning of sovereign states operating as equals within a secular framework • Economically, the damage was inconsistent, with the Holy Roman Empire likely being hit the hardest (likely a 15%-20% decline in the population)

9. The Revolution of War? • Green: No military • Blue: No enforced conscription • Orange: Plan to abolish conscription in near future • Red: Conscription • War terms to note (and know) to facilitate discussion: • Calvary • Squadrons/Battalions • Conscription • Salvo • Standing armies • Linear formations • Musket + bayonet • Naval arms race