gustavus adolphus thirty years war

As present not one of them dares to defend the other: each will look on quietly at the ruin of all. [140], The extent to which these witch-hunts were symptomatic of the impact of the conflict on society is debatable, since many took place in areas relatively untouched by the war. Sweden’s power grew until it was the greatest of the Baltic nations. [68] Payments amounted to 400,000 Reichstaler, or one million livres per year, plus an additional 120,000 Reichstalers for 1630. In July 1620, the Protestant Union proclaimed its neutrality, while John George of Saxony agreed to back Ferdinand in return for Lusatia, and a promise to safeguard the rights of Lutherans in Bohemia. [113], Taken as a whole, the consequences of these two treaties can be divided into the internal political settlement and external territorial changes. Brandenburg-Prussia received Farther Pomerania, and the bishoprics of Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Kammin, and Minden. He also hired mercenaries led by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar for an offensive in the Rhineland and declared war on Spain in May, beginning the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War. To recover his costs, Maximilian was allowed to annex Donauwörth, which under the principle of cuius regio, eius religio changed a formerly Lutheran town into a Catholic one. Gustav II Adolf's politics in the conquered territory of Estonia also show pro… The Thirty Years’ War, of which Gustavus Adolphus was the greatest hero, was the result of those religious agitations which the ideas of Luther produced. [137], Elsewhere, persecution followed Imperial military success, expanding into Baden and the Palatinate following their reconquest by Tilly, then into the Rhineland. [65], Expectations of widespread support proved unrealistic; by the end of 1630, the only new Swedish ally was Magdeburg, which was besieged by Tilly. He wrote at length to Christian of Denmark on October 21, 1627: I have now little difficulty in discerning that the projects of the House of Hapsburg are directed against the Baltic; and that, partly by force and partly by cajolery, the United Netherlands, my own power, and finally yours are to be ousted therefrom. In 1621, the Dutch West India Company was formed to challenge this control and captured the Brazilian port of Salvador in 1624. [60], Made over-confident by success, in March 1629 Ferdinand passed an Edict of Restitution, which required all lands taken from the Catholic church after 1555 to be returned. Frederick and the remnants of Mansfeld's army took refuge in the Dutch Republic. But Adolphus was a great statesman as well as a soldier. [53], The Danish campaign plan involved three armies; the main force under Christian IV was to advance down the Weser, while Mansfeld attacked Wallenstein in Magdeburg and Christian of Brunswick linked up with the Calvinist Maurice of Hesse-Kassel. During his reign, Sweden became one of the primary military forces in Europe during the Thirty Years' War, helping to determine the political and religious balance of power in Europe. [124] Although regular outbreaks of disease were common for decades prior to 1618, the conflict greatly accelerated their spread. [110], The Peace of Münster was the first to be signed on 30 January 1648; it was part of the Westphalia settlement because the Dutch Republic was still technically part of the Spanish Netherlands and thus Imperial territory. [147], While differences over religion remained an issue throughout the 17th century, it was the last major war in Continental Europe in which it can be said to be a primary driver; later conflicts were either internal, such as the Camisards revolt in South-Western France, or relatively minor like the 1712 Toggenburg War. He asked for the opinion of each in writing, so that their opinion would not be quelled by others. The Thirty Years War by C. V. Wedgwood Return Policy Then the predominant global power, the Spanish Empire included the Spanish Netherlands, much of Italy, the Philippines, and most of the Americas, while Austria remained focused on Central Europe. [26], Frederick IV now formed the Protestant Union, largely composed of states in Southern Germany, to which Maximilian responded by setting up the Catholic League in July 1609. [136], At the same time, Prince-Bishop Johann von Dornheim held a similar series of large-scale witch trials in the nearby Bishopric of Bamberg. [44] Since Frederick demanded full restitution of his lands and titles, which was incompatible with the Treaty of Munich, hopes of reaching a negotiated peace quickly evaporated. [142], The Peace reconfirmed "German liberties", ending Habsburg attempts to convert the Holy Roman Empire into an absolutist state similar to Spain. This forced them to become smaller and more mobile, with a greater emphasis on cavalry, shortened the campaigning seasons and restricted them to main supply lines. Fighting in Germany ended with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, whose main provisions included Spanish confirmation of Dutch independence and acceptance of "German liberties" by the Austrian Habsburgs. In all these areas, war, famine and disease inflicted severe losses on local populations. Store “Lion of the North” Gustavus Adolphus and the Thirty Years’ War: Victories and Downfall – Part II This is the recounting of the dramatic life of the “The Golden King” and “The Lion of the North” Gustav Adolf, and the Swedish Empire during stormaktstiden – “the Great Power era”. Christian IV of Denmark was also Duke of Holstein, and it was in this capacity he joined the war in 1625. I am now putting everything aside, which can possibly hinder a swift termination of this wretched Polish business of mine. Fighting did not end immediately, since demobilising over 200,000 soldiers was a complex business, and the last Swedish garrison did not leave Germany until 1654. [115] It also disappointed many exiles by accepting Catholicism as the dominant religion in Bohemia, Upper and Lower Austria, all of which were Protestant strongholds prior to 1618. At Prague in 1635, Ferdinand made peace with his German opponents by accepting their autonomy. For this religious and economic reason, the Protestant German princes were reluctantly pushed over to the side of Gustavus, the foreigner. But when a siege of Dantzic was begun, the Swedes were unable to capture it. Queen Christina (1933), the film starring Greta Garbo, opens with the death of Christina's father, King Gustavus Adolphus, at the Battle of Lützen in the Thirty Years' War. He was willing to put aside his differences with Christian of Denmark, but the rest of the Protestant powers would not agree to his requirements. Although the battle was far from decisive, the rebels were demoralised by lack of pay, shortages of supplies, and disease, while the countryside had been devastated by Imperial troops. … I am not ignorant of the deplorable condition in which you stand at this moment; but I wish you had been able to call upon me for help earlier. Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus was the King of Sweden from 1611-1632, and historically he was credited for Sweden’s rise to be a great European power, by laying the foundation for Sweden to become the modern state that it did post 30-year war. Lack of a sense of 'shared community' resulted in atrocities such as the destruction of Magdeburg, in turn creating large numbers of refugees who were extremely susceptible to sickness and hunger. This was due to the influx of soldiers from foreign countries, the shifting locations of battle fronts, as well as the displacement of rural populations into already crowded cities. [54], Many of Christian's German allies, such as Hesse-Kassel and Saxony, had little interest in replacing Imperial domination for Danish, while few of the subsidies agreed in the Treaty of the Hague were ever paid. Another important event not long before Adolphus’ landing was the Edict of Restitution, which served to swing the reluctant German Protestants to his side. Gustavus AdolphusThe king of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, credited with founding the Swedish Empire, who led Sweden to military supremacy during the Thirty Years’ War. [63], Using Stralsund as a bridgehead, in June 1630 nearly 18,000 Swedish troops landed in the Duchy of Pomerania. [46] However, Spanish and Dutch involvement in the campaign was a significant step in internationalising the war, while Frederick's removal meant other Protestant princes began discussing armed resistance to preserve their own rights and territories. It could be resupplied by water, since the Swedes did not have a powerful navy to blockade. He did so with support from the Catholic League, despite strong opposition from Protestant members, as well as the Spanish. [86], While he accepted military victory was no longer possible, Ferdinand hoped to restrict peace negotiations to members of the Empire, excluding France and Sweden. They would gladly violate the sovereignty of a neighbor and conquer them to give a buffer against a powerful adversary. [52] In early 1626, Cardinal Richelieu, main architect of the alliance, faced a new Huguenot rebellion at home and in the March Treaty of Monzón, France withdrew from Northern Italy, re-opening the Spanish Road. In an event known as the Second Defenestration of Prague, the two men and their secretary Philip Fabricius were thrown out of the castle windows, although all three survived. With the exception of the 1639 to 1642 Piedmontese Civil War, this secured the French position in Northern Italy for the next twenty years. The combination destabilised large parts of the Empire. So during the first part of the war several Protestant princes were defeated one by one, by Catholics like Ferdinand, Holy Roman Emperor. When Frederick refused to admit defeat, the war expanded into the Palatinate, whose strategic importance drew in external powers, notably the Dutch Republic and Spain. He is often Gustavus Adolphus - Gustavus Adolphus - Entrance into the Thirty Years’ War: The motives prompting his intervention have long been a subject of historical controversy. Gustavus’ challenges were not only in war with the Catholics, but also from diplomacy with the Protestants. By 1623, Spanish-Imperial forces had defeated Frederick, who was stripped of his possessions and exiled. A victory would also increase the Swedish power, giving it control of the Baltic, and possibly even control of Germany. Of the 30,000 citizens, only 5,000 survived. In return, they dissolved the Heilbronn and Catholic Leagues. He did not have money to pay his troops for long, and even the German princes he was coming to support were not sure they wanted his help. [128], In 1940, agrarian historian Günther Franz published Der Dreissigjährige Krieg und das Deutsche Volk, a detailed analysis of regional data from across Germany; membership of the Nazi Party meant his objectivity was challenged post-1945, but recent reviews support his general findings. The advance quickly fell apart; Mansfeld was defeated at Dessau Bridge in April, and when Maurice refused to support him, Christian of Brunswick fell back on Wolfenbüttel, where he died of disease shortly after. [130] The financial impact is less clear; while the war caused short-term economic dislocation, overall it accelerated existing changes in trading patterns. [16] Related conflicts include the Eighty Years War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Portuguese Restoration War. These concerns were exacerbated when a series of legal disputes over property were all decided in favour of the Catholic Church. [126], The modern consensus is the population of the Holy Roman Empire declined from 18-20 million in 1600 to 11–13 million in 1650, and did not regain pre-war levels until 1750. Unlike French gains which were incorporated into France, Swedish territories remained part of the Empire, and they became members of the Lower and Upper Saxon kreis. Gustav II Adolf's success in making Sweden one of the great powers of Europe, and perhaps the most important power in the Thirty Years' War after France and Spain, was due not only to his military brilliance, but also to important institutional reforms in Sweden's government. In 1938, C. V. Wedgwood argued it formed part of a wider European conflict, whose underlying cause was the ongoing contest between Austro-Spanish Habsburgs and French Bourbons. [88], By now, the devastation inflicted by 25 years of warfare meant all armies spent more time foraging than fighting. The plot of the film is set against the backdrop of the war and Christina's determination as queen, depicted a decade later, to end the war and bring about peace. [145], Arguably, France gained more from the Thirty Years' War than any other power; by 1648, most of Richelieu's objectives had been achieved. [22], While Emperors were elected, since 1440 this had been a Habsburg, the largest single landowner within the Empire; their lands included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Bohemia, and the Kingdom of Hungary, with over eight million subjects. [96] Seeking to release French troops and prevent further Swedish gains by neutralising Bavaria, Mazarin negotiated the Truce of Ulm, signed on 14 March 1647 by Bavaria, Cologne, France, and Sweden. However, the rebels soon found the new French administration differed little from the old, turning the war into a three-sided contest between the Franco-Catalan elite, the rural peasantry, and the Spanish. When he determined that it was time to enter the Thirty Years War, Gustavus was careful to first obtain the consent of his council. Now we must positively during the winter concoct measures for our mutual defence, and for the defence of the Baltic. [145], Bautzen is besieged by Saxon troops, 1620 by Matthäus Merian, Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder,April 1631, Death of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden at the Battle of Lützen,6 November 1632, The capture of Rheinfelden by the troops of the Duke of Feria,1633, 1618–1648 multi-state war in Central Europe, Phase II; France joins the war 1635 to 1648, States that fought against the Emperor at some point between 1618 to 1635, Since officers were paid per soldier, numbers, All armies were multinational; an estimated 60,000 Scottish, English or Irish individuals fought on one side or the other during the period; based on an analysis of a mass grave discovered in 2011, fewer than 50% of "Swedish" forces at, Maximum in Germany, excludes 24,000 home defence, Parrott suggests many of these should be included in the figures for Imperial troops above, and that estimates of cavalry in particular were massively overstated. While flight saved lives in the short-term, in the long run it often proved catastrophic. The French now persuaded the Catalan Courts to recognise Louis XIII as Count of Barcelona, and ruler of the Principality of Catalonia. As the Thirty Years War began to rage through Germany, Gustavus Adolphus wanted to join in the conflict, but he could not do it alone. The Thirty Years' War lasted from 1618 to 1648 in Europe, and was one of the most destructive wars in European history, claiming around eight million lives in total.In some places half the pre-war population died and the war thoroughly influenced the Baroque Era which had prevalent themes of "vanitas" or the ultimate death and decay of all earthly things. The Swedes rejected a proposal that Christian of Denmark act as mediator, with Papal Legate Fabio Chigi and the Venetian Republic appointed instead. [95] Sweden received an indemnity of five million thalers, the Imperial territories of Swedish Pomerania, and Prince-bishoprics of Bremen and Verden; this gave them a seat in the Imperial Diet. [28], Outside powers became involved in an internal German dispute due to the imminent expiry of the 1609 Twelve Years' Truce, which suspended the war between Spain and the Dutch. This included ambitious Imperial states like Lutheran Saxony and Catholic Bavaria, as well as France, which faced Habsburg territories on its borders in Flanders, Franche-Comté, and the Pyrenees. PomeraniaA region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Christian and Gustavus were able to arrange a treaty, which they signed in 1628, it was clear that Denmark would not fight Germany, as they had already been whipped by them. One question that historians still debate is Gustavus’ motives for engaging in the war. [87] Richelieu died in December 1642, followed by Louis XIII on 14 May 1643, leaving the five-year-old Louis XIV as king. In addition, Lutherans could keep lands or property taken from the Catholic Church since the 1552 Peace of Passau. [67], However, once again Richelieu provided the requisite support; in the 1631 Treaty of Bärwalde, he provided funds for the Heilbronn League, a Swedish-led coalition of German Protestant states, including Saxony and Brandenburg. Gustavus wrote to Oxenstiern, his chancellor: You say that we haven’t money to pay troops for more than four months: granted; but once let us plant our foothold sure, and God and the hour will teach us how to strengthen ourselves further. [118], Historians often refer to the 'General Crisis' of the mid-17th century, a period of sustained conflict in states such as China, the British Isles, Tsarist Russia and the Holy Roman Empire. He said it again in a farewell speech to the Swedish estates: This is a war for the defence of our Fatherland. This made it easier to levy national armies of significant size, loyal to their state and its leader; one lesson learned from Wallenstein and the Swedish invasion was the need for their own permanent armies, and Germany as a whole became a far more militarised society. More common were disputes such as the 1606 'Battle of the Flags' in Donauwörth, when the Lutheran majority blocked a Catholic religious procession. After two years he again turned his attention to Germany. These trials lasted five years and claimed over one thousand lives, including long-time Bürgermeister, or Mayor, Johannes Junius, and Dorothea Flock, second wife of Georg Heinrich Flock, whose first wife had also been executed for witchcraft in May 1628. Although opposition to this act united all German princes regardless of religion, Maximilian of Bavaria was compromised by his acquisition of the Palatinate; while Protestants wanted Frederick restored and the position returned to that of 1618, the Catholic League argued only for pre-1627. Cardinal Richelieu, France’s main minister, arranged to give a large amount of money to Gustavus, paying him to fight the German Hapsburg Catholics. Gustavus Adolphus – Thirty Years War. [131] The death toll may have improved living standards for the survivors; one study shows wages in Germany increased by 40% in real terms between 1603 and 1652. [123], Based on local records, military action accounted for less than 3% of civilian deaths; the major causes were starvation (12%), bubonic plague (64%), typhus (4%), and dysentery (5%). [80] Cutting the Spanish Road had forced Madrid to resupply their armies in Flanders by sea and in October 1639 a large Spanish convoy was destroyed at the Battle of the Downs. [19], After 1560, the Protestant cause was divided by the growth of Calvinism, a Reformed faith not recognised by Augsburg; Lutheran states like Saxony viewed Calvinists in the Palatinate and Brandenburg with mistrust, paralysing Imperial institutions. He concluded "about 40% of the rural population fell victim to the war and epidemics; in the cities,...33%". Gustavus instead turned his eyes back to Poland. [27] Some historians who see the war as primarily a European conflict argue Jülich marks its beginning, with Spain and Austria backing the Catholic candidate, France and the Dutch Republic the Protestant. This seemed confirmed when Tilly's Catholic League army occupied Halberstadt in early 1625. 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