“International relations in the 16th-18th centuries. Test The Thirty Years' War (16181648) The Thirty Years' War. causes

04.01.2021

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) is the first military conflict in the history of Europe, which to one degree or another affected almost all European countries (including Russia), with the exception of Switzerland. The war began as a religious clash between Protestants and Catholics in Germany, but then escalated into a struggle against Habsburg hegemony in Europe. The last significant religious war in Europe, giving rise to the Westphalian system of international relations.
Since the time of Charles V, the leading role in Europe belonged to the House of Austria - the Habsburg dynasty. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Spanish branch of the house owned, in addition to Spain, also Portugal, the Southern Netherlands, the states of Southern Italy and, in addition to these lands, had at its disposal a huge Spanish-Portuguese colonial empire. The German branch - the Austrian Habsburgs - secured the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor and were kings of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Croatia. Other major European powers tried in every possible way to weaken the Habsburg hegemony. Among the latter, the leading position was occupied by France, which was the largest of the national states.
There were several explosive regions in Europe where the interests of warring parties intersected. The greatest number of contradictions accumulated in the Holy Roman Empire, which, in addition to the traditional struggle between the emperor and the German princes, was split along religious lines. Another knot of contradictions was also directly related to the Empire - the Baltic Sea. Protestant Sweden (and also, to some extent, Denmark) sought to turn it into its inland lake and fortify itself on its southern coast, while Catholic Poland actively resisted Swedish-Danish expansion. Other European countries advocated free Baltic trade.
The third disputed region was the fragmented Italy, over which France and Spain fought. Spain had its opponents - the Republic of the United Provinces (Holland), which defended its independence in the war of 1568-1648, and England, which challenged Spanish dominance at sea and encroached on the colonial possessions of the Habsburgs.

The Peace of Augsburg (1555) temporarily ended the open rivalry between Lutherans and Catholics in Germany. Under the terms of the peace, the German princes could choose the religion (Lutheranism or Catholicism) for their principalities at their own discretion, according to the principle of cujus regio, ejus religio.
At the same time, the Catholic Church wanted to regain lost influence. Censorship and the Inquisition intensified, and the Jesuit order strengthened. The Vatican in every possible way pushed the remaining Catholic rulers to eradicate Protestantism in their domains. The Habsburgs were ardent Catholics, but their imperial status obliged them to adhere to the principles of religious tolerance. Therefore, they ceded the main place in the Counter-Reformation to the Bavarian rulers. Religious tensions grew.
To organize an organized resistance to the growing pressure, the Protestant princes of southern and western Germany united in the Evangelical Union, created in 1608. In response, Catholics united in the Catholic League (1609). Both unions were immediately supported by foreign countries. Under these conditions, the activities of all-empire bodies - the Reichstag and the Trial Chamber - were paralyzed.
In 1617, both branches of the Habsburg dynasty entered into a secret agreement - the Treaty of Oñate, which resolved existing differences. Under its terms, Spain was promised lands in Alsace and Northern Italy, which would provide a land connection between the Spanish Netherlands and the Italian possessions of the Habsburgs. In exchange, the Spanish king Philip III renounced his claims to the crown of the empire and agreed to support the candidacy of Ferdinand of Styria. The reigning Holy Roman Emperor and King Matthias of the Czech Republic had no direct heirs, and in 1617 he forced the Czech Diet to recognize his nephew Ferdinand of Styria, an ardent Catholic and student of the Jesuits, as his successor. He was extremely unpopular in the predominantly Protestant Czech Republic, which was the reason for the uprising, which developed into a long conflict.

The Thirty Years' War is traditionally divided into four periods: Czech, Danish, Swedish and Franco-Swedish. There were several separate conflicts outside of Germany: the Spanish-Dutch War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Russo-Polish War, the Polish-Swedish War, etc.
On the side of the Habsburgs were: Austria, most of the Catholic principalities of Germany, Spain united with Portugal, the Papal Throne, and Poland. On the side of the anti-Habsburg coalition were France, Sweden, Denmark, the Protestant principalities of Germany, the Czech Republic, Transylvania, Venice, Savoy, the Republic of the United Provinces, and England, Scotland and Russia provided support. Overall, the war turned out to be a clash between traditional conservative forces and the strengthening of national states.
The Habsburg bloc was more monolithic; the Austrian and Spanish houses maintained contact with each other, often conducting joint military operations. Richer Spain provided financial support to the emperor. There were major contradictions in the camp of their opponents, but they all retreated into the background before the threat of a common enemy.
The Ottoman Empire (the traditional enemy of the Habsburgs) in the first half of the 17th century was busy with wars with Persia, in which the Turks suffered several serious defeats. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was not affected by the Thirty Years' War, but the Polish king Sigismund III sent an elite and brutal detachment of fox mercenaries to help the allied Habsburgs. In 1619, they defeated the army of the Transylvanian prince Gyorgy I Rakoczi at the Battle of Humenny, after which Transylvania turned to Ottoman Sultan for military assistance. The Turks in the Battle of Khotyn were stopped by the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with considerable help from the Zaporozhye Cossacks. The subsequent peace treaty did not bring any changes to the borders.

Czech period 1618-1625
On May 23, 1618, opposition nobles led by Count Thurn threw the royal governors William Slavata, Martinitsa and their secretary Fabricius into the ditch from the windows of the Czech Chancellery (“Second Prague Defenestration”). After the death of Emperor Matthias, the leader of the Evangelical Union, Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, was elected king of Bohemia.
In the autumn of the same year, 15,000 imperial soldiers led by Count Buquoy and Dampierre entered the Czech Republic. The Czech Directory formed an army led by Count Thurn; in response to requests from the Czechs, the Evangelical Union sent 20,000 soldiers under the command of Mansfeld. Dampier was defeated, and Buqua had to retreat to Ceske Budejovice.
Thanks to the support of the Protestant part of the Austrian nobility, Count Thurn approached Vienna in 1619, but met stubborn resistance. At this time, Buqua defeated Mansfeld near Ceske Budejovice (Battle of Sablat on June 10, 1619), and Thurn had to retreat to the rescue. At the end of 1619, the Transylvanian prince Bethlen Gabor with strong army also moved against Vienna, but the Hungarian magnate Druget Gomonai hit him in the rear and forced him to retreat from Vienna. Protracted battles were fought on the territory of the Czech Republic with varying degrees of success.
Meanwhile, the Habsburgs achieved certain diplomatic successes. On August 28, 1619, Ferdinand was elected emperor. After this, he managed to obtain military support from Bavaria and Saxony. For this, the Saxon Elector was promised Silesia and Lusatia, and the Duke of Bavaria was promised the possessions of the Elector of the Palatinate and his electorate. In 1620, Spain sent a 25,000-strong army under the command of Ambrosio Spinola to help the emperor.
Under the command of Field Marshal Count von Tilly, the Catholic League army pacified upper Austria while Imperial troops restored order in lower Austria. Then, united, they moved to the Czech Republic, bypassing the army of Frederick V, who was trying to fight a defensive battle on the distant frontiers. The battle took place near Prague (Battle of the White Mountain) on November 8, 1620. The Protestant army suffered a crushing defeat. As a result, the Czech Republic remained in the hands of the Habsburgs for another 300 years.
The defeat caused the collapse of the Evangelical Union and the loss of all his possessions and titles by Frederick V. Frederick V was expelled from the Holy Roman Empire. He tried to gain support from the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. The Czech Republic fell, Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate, and Spain captured the Elder Palatinate, providing a springboard for another war with the Netherlands. The first phase of the war in eastern Europe finally ended when Gábor Bethlen signed peace with the emperor in January 1622, gaining himself vast territories in eastern Hungary.
Some historians distinguish a separate period of the Thirty Years' War 1621-1625 as the Palatinate period. The end of action in the east meant the release of the imperial armies for action in the west, namely in the Palatinate. The Protestants received small reinforcements in the person of Duke Christian of Brunswick and Margrave Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach. On April 27, 1622, Mansfeld defeated Tilly at Wiesloch. On May 6, 1622, Tilly and Gonzalez de Cordoba, who came from the Netherlands with Spanish troops, defeated George Frederick at Wimpfen. Mannheim and Heidelberg fell in 1622, and Frankenthal in 1623. The Palatinate was in the hands of the emperor. At the Battle of Stadtlohn on August 6, 1623, the last Protestant forces were defeated. On August 27, 1623, George Frederick concluded a peace treaty with Ferdinand.
The first period of the war ended with a convincing victory for the Habsburgs. This served as an impetus for closer unity of the anti-Habsburg coalition. On June 10, 1624, France and Holland concluded the Treaty of Compiegne. It was joined by England (June 15), Sweden and Denmark (July 9), Savoy and Venice (July 11).
Danish period 1625-1629
Christian IV, King of Denmark (1577-1648), a Lutheran, fearing for his own sovereignty if the Protestants were defeated, sent his army to their aid. Christian led a mercenary army of 20,000 soldiers.

To fight him, Ferdinand II invited the Czech nobleman Albrecht von Wallenstein. Wallenstein suggested that the emperor recruit a large army and not spend money on its maintenance, but feed it by plundering the occupied territories. Wallenstein's army became a formidable force, and in different time its strength ranged from 30,000 to 100,000 soldiers. Christian, who had previously had no idea about the existence of Wallenstein, was now forced to hastily retreat before the combined forces of Tilly and Wallenstein. Denmark's allies were unable to come to the rescue. Was in France Civil War, a political crisis was growing in England, Sweden was at war with Poland, the Netherlands was fighting off the Spaniards, and Brandenburg and Saxony were trying to maintain a fragile peace at any cost. Wallenstein defeated Mansfeld at Dessau (1626), and Tilly defeated the Danes at the Battle of Lutter (1626).
Wallenstein's army occupied Mecklenburg and Pomerania. The commander received the title of admiral, which indicated the emperor’s big plans for the Baltic. However, without a fleet, Wallenstein could not capture the Danish capital on the island of Zealand. Wallenstein organized a siege of Stralsund, a large free port with military shipyards, but failed.
This led to the signing of the peace treaty in Lübeck in 1629.
Another period of war ended, but the Catholic League sought to regain the Catholic possessions lost in the Peace of Augsburg. Under her pressure, the emperor issued the Edict of Restitution (1629). According to it, 2 archbishoprics, 12 bishoprics and hundreds of monasteries were to be returned to the Catholics. Mansfeld and Bethlen Gabor, the first of the Protestant military commanders, died the same year. Only the port of Stralsund, abandoned by all allies (except Sweden), held out against Wallenstein and the emperor.
Swedish period 1630-1635
Both Catholic and Protestant princes, as well as many from the emperor’s entourage, believed that Wallenstein himself wanted to seize power in Germany. Perhaps that is why in 1630 it was decided to refuse the services of Wallenstein.
At that time, Sweden remained the last major state capable of changing the balance of power. Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, like Christian IV, sought to stop Catholic expansion as well as to establish his control over the Baltic coast of northern Germany. Like Christian IV, he was generously subsidized by Cardinal Richelieu, first minister of Louis XIII, King of France.
Before this, Sweden was kept from war by the war with Poland in the struggle for the Baltic coast. By 1630, Sweden ended the war and gained Russian support (Smolensk War).
The Swedish army was armed with advanced small arms and artillery. There were no mercenaries in it, and at first it did not rob the population. This fact had a positive effect. In 1629, Sweden sent 6 thousand soldiers under the command of Alexander Leslie to help Stralsund. At the beginning of 1630, Leslie captured the island of Rügen, which resulted in control of the Stralsund Strait. And on July 4, 1630, Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, landed on the continent, at the mouth of the Oder.
Ferdinand II had been dependent on the Catholic League since he disbanded Wallenstein's army. At the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631), Gustavus Adolphus defeated the army of the Catholic League under the command of Tilly. A year later they met again, and again the Swedes won, and Tilly died (1632). With Tilly's death, Ferdinand II again turned his attention to Wallenstein.
Wallenstein and Gustav Adolf fought in a fierce battle at Lützen (1632), where the Swedes barely won, but Gustav Adolf died. In March 1633, Sweden and the German Protestant principalities formed the League of Heilbronn; all military and political power in Germany passed to an elected council headed by Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. But the absence of a single authoritative military leader began to affect the Protestant troops, and in 1634 the previously invincible Swedes suffered a serious defeat in the Battle of Nördlingen (1634).
Ferdinand II's suspicions again gained the upper hand when Wallenstein began his own negotiations with the Protestant princes, the leaders of the Catholic League and the Swedes (1633). In addition, he forced his officers to take a personal oath to him. On suspicion of treason, Wallenstein was removed from command, and a decree was issued to confiscate all his estates. On February 25, 1634, Wallenstein was killed by officers of his own guard at Eger Castle.
After this, the princes and the emperor began negotiations, which ended the Swedish period of the war with the Peace of Prague (1635). Its terms provided:

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Questions at the beginning of a paragraph

Question 1. What were the reasons for the conflicts between Spain and England, Spain and the Netherlands?

Conflicts between Spain and England, Spain and the Netherlands were caused by religious reasons (confrontation between Catholics and Protestants), as well as political ones (Spain's desire to dominate Europe).

Question 2. What concessions to the fighters for the reformation of the church in Germany was Emperor Charles V forced to make?

Charles V was forced to conclude the Peace of Augsburg, which established Lutheranism as the official religion and established the right of princes to choose a religion for their principalities.

Questions at the end of the paragraph

Question 1. Name different points of view on political system Europe that existed in the 17th century. Which one was more appropriate for the modern era?

From the beginning of the 16th century. In the international life of Europe, there were two different points of view on what its political structure should be. The first point of view belonged to the Austrian Habsburgs who ruled the Holy Roman Empire, who believed that there should be united empire, uniting the majority European countries, and in the future the whole of Western Europe. At the head of such an empire there should be a Catholic emperor supported by the Pope (no doubt from the Habsburg dynasty), and all member states of the empire are his vassals. The second point of view is that of England and France: there should be independent national states in Europe.

Question 2. The Thirty Years' War is called the first pan-European war. Explain why.

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) is called a pan-European war by historians because it was a war not of two or three powers, but of almost all European countries united in two powerful coalitions

Question 3. Tell us about those changes in the organization of troops and weapons, thanks to which swedish army became powerful.

The Swedish king, the talented commander Gustav II Adolf, brought to Germany a small but well-organized, regular and professional army, consisting of three branches of troops commanded by career officers. The king's main fighting force was the swift attacks of his cavalry; in addition, he skillfully used light and mobile field artillery. Gustav II Adolf improved the tactics of infantry combat: his soldiers fired three shots while the enemy fired one. He was the first in Europe to bring an army to the battlefields, more than half of which consisted of peasants drafted into the army on the basis of conscription (the rest of the soldiers were mercenaries). The training of personnel in the army was continuous, exercises were held frequently, violations of military regulations were strictly punished, and Swedish soldiers were famous for their exemplary behavior, which was not typical for the troops of that time.

Question 4. In your notebook, make a plan for your answer on the topic “The Peace of Westphalia.”

The Peace of Westphalia ended the feud between Catholics and Protestants.

The Catholic and Protestant churches are recognized as equal

The principle: “Whose land is his faith” has been abolished.

The seizure of church property was prohibited.

The political fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire was consolidated. The German princes became independent rulers.

Question 5. List the wars in Europe in the 18th century. In which of these wars did Russia take part? What were the results of these wars for the Russian state?

Northern War (1700-1721), War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735), War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), Seven Years' War (1756-1763), Russian-Swedish war (1741-1743, 1788-1790), Russian-Turkish wars(1768-1774, 1787-1792). Russia participated in almost all wars (except for the Spanish and Succession wars).

The result of participation in these wars was not only territorial growth (the mouth of the Neva and the Baltic states, Little Russia and Crimea), but also the growth of Russia’s international authority and the degree of its influence on European affairs. Russia in the 18th century was one of the great powers.

Question 6. Explain the concept of “Eastern Question”.

The Eastern Question is the rivalry of the great powers (Russia, Austria, Great Britain, France) for the division of the territories of the weakening Ottoman Empire.5.

Assignments for the paragraph

Question 1: Prepare an oral presentation on the topic “The Thirty Years’ War.” Divide into five groups and complete the following tasks: describe the goals of all countries that participated in the war, show these countries on the map (1st group); describe the reason for war (2nd group); give an assessment of the activities of A. von Wallenstein in the war (3rd group); evaluate the activities of Gustav II Adolf in the war (4th group); characterize the actions of the parties in the final period of the war (5th group). Discuss which states were victorious in the war and why.

1st group: Holy Roman Empire (eradicate Protestantism and establish Habsburg control over as much European territory as possible), Czech Republic (leave the Catholic Empire), Protestant countries seek to prevent the dominance of the Catholic Habsburgs, as well as Denmark (protect possessions in Northern Germany, secure a dominant position in the Baltic Sea), Sweden (seize the entire Baltic Sea, collect trade duties in their favor, turn the kingdom into a strong Baltic empire) and France (undermine the power of the Habsburgs), Russia (return Smolensk, captured by Poland).

2nd group: The reason for the war was the events in Prague in 1618 - Czech nobles, outraged by religious persecution, threw the royal governors out of the windows of the Czech Chancellery in Prague, who miraculously remained alive. The Emperor perceived this as a desire of the Protestants to disrupt the peace and divide the Holy Roman Empire.

3rd group: Albrecht von Wallenstein - the most famous of the military leaders who turned war into a pursuit of booty. He proposed creating an army of 50 thousand people from mercenaries, since landless peasants and unemployed artisans were forced to hire military service. Wallenstein's military system was that the army must support itself by robbing the population of the area where it is located. Such huge indemnities were taken from the peasants and townspeople of these places that they were enough not only to cover military expenses, but also to enrich Wallenstein and his officers. Wallenstein had far-reaching plans: he wanted to restore the Hansa, seize all Baltic trade and oust the Dutch and English. At the same time, the commander supported Ferdinand II’s desire to establish absolute power. Wallenstein thus waged the war in a predatory manner, ravaging Germany and slaughtering the Protestant population in the name of the absolute power of the Catholic Emperor.

4th group: Gustav II Adolf was a talented commander. He also pursued aggressive goals in the war, however, unlike Wallenstein, he brought to Germany a small but well-organized, regular and professional army, commanded by career officers. In this army, unlike the completely mercenary imperial army of Wallenstein, violations of military regulations were strictly punished, and Swedish soldiers were famous for their exemplary behavior, which was not typical for the troops of that time. Thus, Gustav II Adolf conducted the war in a more just way.

5th group: In 1635, Louis XIII declares war on Spain. Catholic France thus helped Protestants in the fight against Catholics. To completely undermine the power of the Habsburgs, Cardinal Richelieu sent to Germany French troops. Germany was devastated, many cities and villages were burned, and in some areas the population almost disappeared. By 1648, French troops had won a number of significant victories, which forced the new Emperor Ferdinand III to make peace.

The winners of the war were Protestant countries that were able to stop the Catholics and achieve recognition of their religion.

Question 2. Think about what the European balance was based on after the Peace of Westphalia.

The balance of power in Europe rested on the strengthening of Louis XIV's France and the weakening of the Habsburgs.

Question 3. What are the consequences of the European wars of the 18th century? for Great Britain, Austria, Holland and France?

Following the wars of the 18th century. England and France became the largest powers in Europe and fought for trade and colonial dominance. Austria and Holland lost their former power and influence.

Question 4. Express your opinion about war as a way of resolving contradictions between states.

War is the most extreme means of resolving contradictions between states, which is used only when diplomacy does not yield results. It is necessary to resolve all conflicts diplomatically, without resorting to war.

Questions about the document

Question. How can you explain that the robberies and cruel attitude were not stopped by the military command from the civilian population?

Why did peasant property become easy prey for soldiers - our own and others?

Do you think there was a connection between war, famine and epidemics?

Robberies and cruel treatment of civilians were not stopped by the military command because Wallenstein’s army was supplied in this way, and military operations were carried out on the territory of Protestant principalities, so Catholics turned a blind eye to the murder of heretics.

Because the peasants did not have the right to carry weapons and could not defend themselves against the soldiers.

Yes, there was a war that destroyed crops, killed workers, soldiers took food, dooming peasant families to starvation. Hunger weakened the body, which contributed to the spread of epidemics.

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