Progress of War: The Length of the Thirty Year’s War

Thirty Years’ War

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New Haven and London, Majestic biography of the leading Spanish statesman of the age. The Dutch Republic and the Hispanic World — Important work by one of the leading experts on Dutch early modern history. The Thirty Years' War. New York , Good on the social history of warfare. Parker, Geoffrey, et al. London and New York , Standard account in English, in which a number of scholars have cooperated; sees the war very much as an all-European conflict.

War, Government and Society in France, — Detailed study of French military organization which shows how ill prepared France was for the confrontation with Spain. Wiesbaden, — Unrivaled account of the social and economic aspects of warfare and of recruitment in this period. Stier, Bernhard, and Wolfgang von Hippel. A New Social and Economic History.

Good survey of the impact of the war and the slow recovery after , incorporating a great deal of recent research. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. Retrieved December 18, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.

Thirty Years War, —48, general European war fought mainly in Germany. General Character of the War There were many territorial, dynastic, and religious issues that figured in the outbreak and conduct of the war. The extent of religious motives is debated, but cannot be dismissed, particularly in explaining individual behavior. Throughout the war there were shifting alliances and local peace treaties. The war as a whole may be considered a struggle of German Protestant princes and foreign powers France, Sweden, Denmark, England, the United Provinces against the unity and power of the Holy Roman Empire as represented by the Hapsburgs , allied with the Catholic princes, and against the Hapsburgs themselves.

It spread through Europe because of the constitutional frailty of the Holy Roman Empire , the inability of the German states to act in concert, and the ambitions of other European powers. The Bohemian Period The revolt began in Prague, where two royal officers were hurled from a window by Protestant members of the Bohemian diet—the so-called Defenestration of Prague May, Ferdinand was declared deposed and the Bohemian throne was offered to Frederick V , the elector palatine.

Revolt also appeared in other Hapsburg dominions, especially under Gabriel Bethlen in Transylvania. Frederick, ever afterward called the Winter King, had lost his brief hold on Bohemia. The war continued in the Palatinate, and severe repression began in Bohemia. Frederick expected aid from his father-in-law, James I of England, but got no effectual help. Frederick's lands were confiscated by the emperor, and the Upper Palatinate and the electorate were conferred on Maximilian of Bavaria.

The imperialist victory at Stadtlohn practically ended one phase of the war. The Danish Period The new phase saw the German war expanded into an international conflict. Christian IV of Denmark came into the fighting, principally because of his fear of the rise of Hapsburg power in N Germany; he openly avowed religious motives but hoped also to enlarge his German possessions. England and the United Provinces gave a subsidy to aid the opponents of the Hapsburgs, and England sent a few thousand soldiers. Christian IV advanced into Germany. The emperor's cause was advanced by the work of Wallenstein , who gathered an effective army and defeated Mansfeld at Dessau A little later the Danish king was soundly defeated by Tilly at Lutter.

The imperial armies swept through most of Germany. Wallenstein went into Jutland and vanquished the Danes but failed before Stralsund The Edict of Restitution , issued by Ferdinand II, attempted to enforce the ecclesiastical reservation of the Peace of Augsburg and declared void Protestant titles to lands secularized after ; its full application would have had a disastrous effect on German Protestantism and naturally aroused the Protestant states to determined, if at first latent, hostility.

His territorial ambitions had embroiled him in wars with Poland, and he feared that Ferdinand's maritime designs might threaten Sweden's mastery of the Baltic. Moved also by his Protestantism, he declared against the emperor and was supported by an understanding with Catholic France, then under the leadership of Cardinal Richelieu. Swedish troops marched into Germany. Meanwhile, Ferdinand had been prevailed upon to dismiss Wallenstein, who had powerful enemies in the empire. Tilly now headed the imperial forces.

He was able to take the city of Magdeburg while the Protestant princes hesitated to join the Swedes. Only John George of Saxony, vacillating in his support between Tilly and the Swedish king, joined Gustavus Adolphus, who offered him better terms. The combined forces crushed Tilly at Breitenfeld , thus winning N Germany. Gustavus Adolphus triumphantly advanced and Tilly was defeated and fatally wounded in the battle of the Lech Wallenstein, recalled with some pleading by the emperor, took the field.

Wallenstein after his great defeat remained inactive and entered into long negotiations with the enemy. Meanwhile, the able anti-imperialist general, Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar , stormed Regensburg Wallenstein was murdered in by imperialist conspirators. Germany was in economic ruin, her fields devastated and blood-soaked. There was strong feeling in Germany against the foreign soldiers that overran the land.

A general desire for peace led to the Peace of Prague This agreement drastically modified the Edict of Restitution, thus helping to reconcile Catholics and Protestants. It was accepted by almost all the German princes and free cities. A united imperial army was to move against the Swedish troops in Germany. A general peace seemed to be forthcoming, but Richelieu was unwilling to see the Hapsburgs retain power.

The Franco-Swedish Period France entered openly into the war in Oxenstierna , the Swedish chancellor, anxious to preserve Sweden's hold in Germany, supported Richelieu. The final stage of the Thirty Years War began. The war now occupied most of Europe, with fighting in the Low Countries , where the United Provinces and France opposed Spain; in Italy, where France and Spain struggled for power; in France; in Germany; in the Iberian peninsula, where Portugal revolted against, and France attacked, Spain; and in the North, where Denmark opposed Sweden.

The Austrian forces went into France and achieved some success, but this was temporary.

The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy

For the most part this period of the war was disastrous for the empire. In Baner won a notable victory at Wittstock. Bernhard conducted a series of brilliant campaigns, culminating in the capture of Breisach Bernhard died in , Baner in In Richelieu died; his successor, Cardinal Mazarin , continued the established French policy. Peace negotiations were begun before , but the intricate diplomacy proceeded slowly and haltingly.

Torstensson defeated the imperialists at Breitenfeld , defeated Gallas after going north to subdue Danish opposition, then won a climactic victory over Hatzfeldt at Jankau Austria had been stripped of all conquests and her enemies were at the very door of Vienna. Austria's strongest ally, Bavaria, was overrun. The Swede Wrangel and the Frenchman Turenne were carrying on a successful campaign when the long-delayed peace was obtained see Westphalia, Peace of.

The Aftermath The general results of the war may be said to have been a tremendous decrease in German population; devastation of German agriculture; ruin of German commerce and industry; the breakup of the Holy Roman Empire , which was a mere shell in the succeeding centuries; and the decline of Hapsburg greatness. The war ended the era of conflicts inspired by religious passion, and the Peace of Westphalia was an important step toward religious toleration.

The incredible sufferings of the German peasantry were remembered for centuries. The political settlements of the peace were to the disadvantage of Germany as well as the Hapsburgs. The estrangement of N Germany from Austria, then begun, was to continue for more than two centuries. Bibliography See studies by S. Steinberg , G. Parker , and P. Many of the songs and writings of the Thirty Years War have been collected. An international conflict taking place in northern Europe from to The war was fought between Catholics and Protestants and also drew in the national armies of France , Sweden , Spain , Denmark , and the Habsburg dynasty that ruled the Holy Roman Empire.

The roots of the conflict lay in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Reformation, strongly opposed by the Catholic Habsburgs, brought religious persecution and civil war to Germany. By the Peace of Augsburg , concluded in , each German prince was free to choose the religious faith — either Lutheranism or Catholicism — to be followed in his own realm. Religious conflict continued despite the Peace of Augsburg , complicated by the territorial ambitions of the nations surrounding Germany, then a patchwork of small and autonomous duchies, kingdoms, counties, margravates, and city-states.

Sweden and Denmark, kingdoms to the north, were seeking new territory in northern Germany, while France was opposing Habsburg power in Germany and the Low Countries. Open warfare between Catholics and Protestants broke out in Swabia , a region of southwestern Germany, in the early s. His dedication to Catholicism and determination to stamp out Protestantism prompted a revolt in Prague , the capital of Bohemia. Two of the emperor's representatives were attacked and thrown out of a window after a trial, an act that sparked a general revolt against Ferdinand's authority in Bohemia and Hungary.

Although Vienna , the Habsburg capital, came under siege by a Protestant army, Ferdinand won a victory against the Protestant Union at the Battle of Sablat in The Protestants of Bohemia responded by declaring Ferdinand deposed as their king and replacing him with Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate. Spain then sent armies from Flanders to come to the emperor's assistance. Spanish armies marauded through the Protestant cities of western Germany, then joined up with the emperor to put down the rebellion in Austria.

Spanish armies then captured Mannheim, Heidelberg , and many other cities, executing or driving out their Protestant leaders. The king of Denmark then came to the rescue of the Protestants by gathering a mercenary army, allying himself with England and France, and invading Germany. By the Treaty of Lubeck in , the Danes gave up their alliance with the Protestants and the Danish king was allowed to keep his throne. The Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus then intervened, fearing the growing Habsburg power in northern Germany. A brilliant military tactician, this king won several important battles, including the Battle of Breitenfeld in The Peace of Prague of temporarily ended the fighting and granted a truce to the Protestant opponents of the emperor.

After this, France entered the war on the Protestant side against the Habsburgs. Catholic Spain invaded France in retaliation. The war caused massive damage and heavy casualties on both sides, and after more battles in Bohemia and southern Germany the Truce of Ulm was signed in The Peace of Westphalia followed in the next year.

Over the three decades of war, Germany was ravaged by fighting, pillaging, and widespread disease and famine. The nation would remain fragmented and weak for more than two centuries. Spain began a long decline that left it one of the weakest nations in Europe, and the republics of the Low Countries permanently broke away from Spanish control. Habsburg authority was also weakened in central Europe, while France, which saw little fighting, emerged as Europe's dominant power.

Habsburg dynasty ; Reformation, Protestant. The war, from to , was primarily a conflict between the Habsburgs and their Spanish allies against France , Sweden , and the Dutch. There were two reasons why England might be drawn into it. The casus belli was the decision by the Bohemians to defy the Habsburgs and offer their throne to Frederick of the Palatinate, who was married to Elizabeth , daughter of James I. Secondly, there was a religious element to the war which, despite France's opposition to the Habsburgs, was seen by many protestants as a catholic crusade.

England took little part in the conflict and for the last ten years was preoccupied with her own troubles. James resisted pressure to intervene, partly because Parliament's enthusiasm for war was not matched by enthusiasm for supply, partly because he was seeking a Spanish marriage for his son Charles. After the breakdown of the negotiations, Charles demanded war with Spain: He then compounded his difficulties by becoming involved in war with France as well, a masterpiece of incompetence, which meant that he was now fighting both sides.

The expedition in to relieve La Rochelle was no more successful than that of Luckily, Charles's relations with Parliament were so bad that he was obliged to make peace with both countries and leave them to fight it out without English assistance. The conflict was concluded by the treaty of Westphalia in , by which time Charles was a prisoner awaiting trial. Thirty Years' War —48 Conflict fought mainly in Germany , arising out of religious differences and developing into a struggle for power in Europe.

Both sides sought allies and the war spread to much of Europe. The Habsburg generals Tilly and Wallenstein registered early victories and drove the Protestant champion, Christian IV of Denmark , out of the war A greater champion appeared in Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden , who waged a series of victorious campaigns before being killed in In , France , fearing Habsburg dominance, declared war on Habsburg Spain.

Negotiations for peace were not successful until the Peace of Westphalia was concluded in War between France and Spain continued until the Peace of the Pyrenees , and other associated conflicts continued for several years. Sweden was established as the dominant state in n Europe, while France replaced Spain as the greatest power in Europe. The series of protracted religious-dynastic wars that afflicted the Holy Roman Empire and most western European states from to The Thirty Years' War had complex and diverse origins but religion was perhaps the most important, and religious motivation was an integral part of the political, economic, and dynastic policies that formed and reshaped the course of Europe in the 17th century.

Frederick V , Ferdinand II, and Gustavus II Adolphus were political leaders with dynastic ambitions, but religious principles also played a decisive part in the role that these men filled during the wars. This confluence and concurrence of many motivations persisted throughout the conflict, and if the conclusion of the struggle primarily reflected political and dynastic interests, religion and its consequences were everpresent and influential at the Peace of westphalia in The years following the Peace of augsburg , which had established the principle of "cujus regio, ejus religio," guaranteeing the Lutheran and Catholic confessions throughout the Empire, also witnessed the rise of Calvinist influence and strength, especially in the Palatinate and Brandenburg.

Seeking privileges and rights enjoyed by Catholics and Lutherans, the Calvinists clashed with a rising tide of Catholic reaction. The Austrian Hapsburgs, encouraged by Jesuits, Capuchins, and Spanish zeal, fostered a militant policy of religious conquest and conversion. Alarmed by growing Calvinist strength, Maximilian tried to rally the Catholic princes and to inspire the weak, ineffectual Emperor Rudolph II — to oppose the designs of the Protestant Union organized by Christian of Anhalt and Frederick IV of the Palatinate in The decade from to provided a crystallization of attitudes that ended in war.

The Bohemian War — The death of Rudolph and the inability of his brother and successor, Matthias, raised the question of succession in the imperial lands. The childless Emperors had chosen their zealous and militant cousin Ferdinand of Styria as their heir.

An ardent Catholic, Ferdinand was unacceptable to many Protestants, especially those of Bohemia. Despite their lukewarm pledge in recognizing Ferdinand's right of succession, the Bohemians searched for a new candidate, and discovered him in the ruler of the Palatinate, Frederick V — 32 , son-in-law of James I of England, and a leader of the Protestant Union.

In , when the Bohemian estates accused the imperial government of violating their sovereign rights and privileges, they forcibly ejected the imperial emissaries by the defenestration of Prague, thereby proclaiming their rebellion against Hapsburg rule. Frederick was offered the crown of Bohemia by the provisional government. Ambition and religious commitment led Frederick to accept election and along with Count Matthew of Thurn and Ernst von Mansfeld, the new King took command of the Bohemian armies.

The dying Matthias — 19 permitted Maximilian of Bavaria and the Catholic League to defend the cause of monarchical legitimacy and Catholic orthodoxy. In , Ferdinand II — 37 ascended the imperial throne and joined the League in an all-out war against the Bohemians. The Protestant Union, annoyed at Frederick's illegal acceptance of the Bohemian crown and divided between Lutheran and Calvinist factions, did not aid the Bohemian rebels.

Frederick, left only with poorly paid, disorderly troops, saw his army and ambitions crushed by an army led by Count Johann Tilly and Duke Maximilian at White Mountain, Nov. The brief reign of "the winter king" came to an end. While Frederick vainly sought aid at European courts, Bohemia underwent sweeping changes and reforms. Death sentences, imprisonment, and confiscation of land eradicated rebel opposition and weakened Protestant strength.

The Jesuits were given charge of the education of the Bohemian nobility and of the task of converting Bohemia to Rome. The Palatinate fared little better. The electoral dignity and the Upper Palatinate were granted to Maximilian of Bavaria Personal aggrandizement became a fixed part of the religious and constitutional struggle which had spread to adjoining territories with the renewal of the war between the United Provinces and Spain.

The Danish War — The Twelve Years' Truce , which had brought a halt to Dutch-Spanish hostilities, expired in Colonial rivalry in the East Indies , added to religious and national differences, contributed to the war's renewal and continuance until Since the similar religious and dynastic interests of the Austrian and Spanish Hapsburgs encouraged cooperation and coordination between the two powers, the Dutch naturally turned to Protestant Germany for support in an effort to resist the Hapsburg offensive.

Gustavus, engaged in a Polish war, could do little, but Christian, a prince of the Empire by virtue of his ducal title to Holstein, did intervene. Politically inspired but backed by the religious sentiments of his people, Christian accused the Emperor of unconstitutional acts against the Elector-Palatine.

Using this as a pretext, Danish armies entered the Empire. Opposing them were Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, an imperial general who led a personal army of 24, men, and Count Tilly, the League general. Wallenstein proceeded to occupy most of Denmark thereby forcing Christian to sue for peace. The terms, arranged by Wallenstein and approved by Ferdinand II, were mild and considerate largely because there was a new threat to Hapsburg hegemony.

Gustavus Adolphus, "the lion from the north," was looking toward the Empire, and his appearance was to change the course of the war. Swedish Intervention — This comprehensive religious settlement not only represented the height of Catholic reaction but it also inspired further Protestant resistance to Vienna. Many Protestant princes joined the struggle and appealed to Sweden for help. Fearing imperial designs on the Baltic and its trade, Gustavus Adolphus, a remarkable monarch and brilliant soldier, concluded a treaty with Poland at Altmark in and the following year led his army into Germany.

Aided by the able statesmanship of his chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, Gustavus rallied the Protestant princes and inspired a counteroffensive against the imperialists. In this he was aided by the Emperor's dismissal of Wallenstein from the imperial service. Fearful of his general's growing power and personal ambitions, Ferdinand relieved the duke of his command.

With Wallenstein's removal, Ferdinand was left with an army inferior to that of the Swedes in leadership and morale. Within a year, the Swedish forces conquered Pomerania, won cooperation from George William , the previously aloof Elector of Brandenburg, and overcame the suspicions of some of the Protestant leaders who saw little difference between a Swedish absolutist and an Austrian one. Gustavus's motives are not completely clear.

His personal ambitions were strong; his religious convictions, sincere; and his political aspiration, genuine. The King's tactical deployment of cavalry, light artillery, and superior infantry gave him a spectacular victory. At the same time, Gustavus advanced his political plan for a general union of the Protestant states with Sweden. The proposal was not well received. The princes feared the political consequences of such a union for their autonomy.

Moreover, Richelieu looked with disfavor on a strong Protestant confederation across the Rhine. Gustavus also announced his peace terms asking for Swedish Pomerania, an imperial title, revocation of the Edict of Restitution, and a general redistribution of Hapsburg territory. Wallenstein, who had been restored by Ferdinand in an effort to halt the Swedish advance, rejected the terms, and instead, invaded Saxony in the hope of weakening the Protestant alliance.

The imperialists were routed again but Gustavus lay dead on the battlefield. His chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, continued the war but with little success. Even the murder of the scheming Wallenstein, apparently with imperial approval , failed to turn the war to the Swedish advantage. For them, a nominally friendly army is as dangerous as a hostile one, as the underdeveloped military-financial system of Europe compels armies to make war at the enemy's expense; plundering cities and villages for supplies, billeting in private homes, extorting money and information from the local people, and generally making life miserable for the European peasantry.

Armies become criminal gangs, as rape, murder, arson, and highway robbery become a ways of life for the still semi-mercenary European soldiery.

Peasants take matters into their own hands, resisting armies on all sides in the pursuit of perhaps the most noble cause of the war: Isolated soldiers are ambushed, robbed, and killed by peasant guerillas. Armies carry not only weapons with which to murder and terrorize, but infectious diseases which decimate populations. Having plundered the countryside and run out of food, none of the belligerents in Germany are able to field large armies for the final decade of the war.

Most of the fighting is between small, mobile forces of cavalry which are unable to conduct seiges or garrison captured fortifications without adequate infantry contingents. He mystifies Ferdinand II by refusing to press his advantage against the now leaderless Swedes. He conducts unilateral negotiations with the Pro-Swedish princes, in direct defiance of the Emperor. With his loyalty to the Habsburgs cast into doubt, the emperor quietly issues a statement stripping him of command. On February 25, , a group of Irish and Scottish!

The war becomes increasingly internationalized as the Swedish presence weakens in Germany. France and Spain become proactive belligerents, in pursuit of their wider European objectives. Spain, under the Count-Duke Olivares, seeks Habsburg support against the ongoing Dutch Revolt, as its ongoing war in the Spanish Netherlands modern Belgium is the theatre of massive, grinding engagements that would later become typical of the First World War.

Spain's problems are further exacerbated by open war with France, and revolts in Portugal and Catalonia in Olivares hopes to stabilize the Empire by helping the Emperor win the war; thereby freeing Imperial troops to join the battle against France and the Dutch. Despite the Catholicism of the French monarchy, Richelieu supports the Dutch Revolt to drive the Spanish off France's northern border, stirs up trouble in Italy to threaten Spain's duchy in Milan, and finally sends military expeditions into Germany to support the anti-Habsburg forces, hoping to create a neutral protestant power bloc that will neutralize the Austrian wing of the Habsburg monarchy.

By the mid s, it is apparent that the disaster is only going to end through a widespread negotiated settlement. After confusion and controversy on all sides during the Congress of Westphalia from , the catastrophe finally ends in , as Spain makes peace with the Dutch with the treaty of Munster, and the Empire is pacified by the Peace of Westphalia. Though stemming from the pragmatic needs of the belligerents, Westphalia was a milestone in the history of European statecraft.

It created a paradigm in European politics in which interventions in the sovereign territory of another state or principality were stripped of much of their legitimacy. It was also among the first truly secular political conferences in European history; although the stated goal of the Congress was to forge a lasting "Christian peace". The Emperor's power was significantly weakened, inaugurating a new era in which Austria largely disengaged from German affairs, instead expanding the Austrian state through conquests in Eastern Europe and the Balkans until challenged by Frederick II in , and eventually ejected from Germany by Bismarck in Religious and political toleration was extended to Calvinists in the Empire.

The Peace was a foundational event for modern internationalism, as the representatives of the various European powers present at the Congress were addressed largely on equal terms, undermining the traditionally hierarchical structure of European politics in which the Emperor was taken to be higher in status than the mere kings who ruled the rest of Europe. Having one's home plundered and family murdered on multiple occasions by multiple armies under leaders of different, yet equally heartfelt, religious persuasions must have caused a great deal of cynicism.

Why would God allow such a thing to happen? Wilson points out a common refrain from all sides of the war: The Turks could never dream of doing as much damage to Christendom as Christians themselves did during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The paradox surrounding the ferocity of conflicts within Christianity, among zealous followers of a faith which implores us to turn the other cheek, remains to me one of the great enigmas of the Christian faith. It seems to me that what happened politically in the Thirty Years War is somewhat analogous to the crisis in Syria over the last few years - just on a much larger scale.

In both cases, the governing regime suffered a partial breakdown, as dissenting factions took up arms. Then ambitious foreign powers began to project their idological projects onto the internal war. In Syria, the Americans saw a chance to support freedom fighters rebelling against a tyrannical government, while Russia saw a conservative, sovereign state under attack from an international gang of radicals.

Weakness within a state is a siren's song which invites aggression from other, stronger powers. The Thirty Years War was a much deadlier conflagration than that in Syria simply because the Holy Roman Empire was, comparatively speaking, a much larger, more populous, and more strategically important entity encompassing the heart of Europe.

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It was this slippery-sloped logic of intervention that drove the Thirty Years War from a revolt in Bohemia to a major European war which deprived Germany of perhaps one quarter of its population and permanently set back its political development. For my part, I remain intimidated that in many quarters, the most important lessons of the war have still not been learned. Against all who would take up arms to fulfill their ambitions through the fires of war, let our refrain be thus: View all 3 comments. This work is a very good read on the Thirty Years' War.

It details all of the conflict very well and contextualizes it in early Modern Europe. The author has a great knowledge of his matters and gives examples when he claims something, making his argumentation very strong. He just has some small issues with early modern history outside of Central Europe like describing the Ottoman court as very similar to the medieval Roman one, despite all the obvious influences, or confusing between principal This work is a very good read on the Thirty Years' War. He just has some small issues with early modern history outside of Central Europe like describing the Ottoman court as very similar to the medieval Roman one, despite all the obvious influences, or confusing between principality, earldom and Kingdom regarding Catalonia , but from what I realize this is mostly due to his highly specialized studies on early modern Central Europe and his narrowing of historical perspective although he covers in an aproppriate way many of the other related conflicts on his work , but that's compensated by his almost encyclopedic knowledge about the inner workings of the Holy Roman Empire it's needed a huge study to master such a complex topic.

He also arguments against seeing the Thirty Years' War as the last conflict driven by religion and focuses instead on dynastic, geopolitical, ambition both by the rulers who participated and the Bohemian rebels and constitucional issues inside the Empire, while not completely denying the influence of the fundamentalists mainly in the Palatinate or in Ferdinand II which were factors which delayed the war's end and sees the conflict not as the founder of the modern state, but as a catalyst of that institution. This author's style of writing, while giving much information and suiting me very well, isn't the best one for most people.

Wilson has a dense academic text full of statistical examples, which is the cause of many critiques here, but I discount that in my evaluation because that's what is expected of a major account. Popular History is fine and I might give it the maximum grade if it's very well done, but people can't punish this work because they are used to reading easier books and stumbled on reading a more scholarly work.

As this work despite the flaws above is an excellent work, I give it the maximum grade especially considering it has almost pages, which forces any evaluation to be careful with the huge scope presented here. Mar 02, Heikki rated it really liked it. This 30 year period of European History is sadly neglected, but it seems I have found the right book for unraveling the turbulent times of This war, incidentally, was the one that launched the Finns onto the world scene: Now that I have finished it, I must say, Prof.

Wilson has produced a massive, yet approachable tome, w This 30 year period of European History is sadly neglected, but it seems I have found the right book for unraveling the turbulent times of Wilson has produced a massive, yet approachable tome, which fully covers all the facets of this thorniest of wars.

This is a book I can recommend to any serious fan of military and social history, but it will not appeal to the casual reader. There's simply too much of everything here, so if you want the Idiot's Guide to the 30 Years War, this is not it. This will drag you in, take you through villages on campaign and over winter billeting, and tell you everything you ever want to know of this famous war or set of wars, actually. A subject that I knew little about. The book is set out into three parts, The Beginning, Conflict and finally Aftermath.

I initially got through the 1st part of the book and realised that I knew little of the reformation. This made life a little easier in understanding the religious tensions that were present in the Holy Roman Empire in the time leading up to the outbreak of the war in In the end Peter A subject that I knew little about. In the end Peter H Wilson's broad and complicated tome has been a fine read indeed. It has shown a time of complicated religious and political violence that had a remarkable effect on the Germanic people's both culturally and as to their thinking well into the future.

For the beginner a slight knowledge of the Reformation is a must in my opinion but be that as it may once understood it makes this book fascinating. Dec 05, Mark rated it it was amazing. Peter Wilson's book is about more than the war that consumed central Europe in the 17th century. To adequately explain the factors that led up to it and influenced its outcome, he describes the context of politics and government in the Holy Roman Empire.

This vast, unwieldy, and yet surprisingly effective institution was at the center of the struggle, as Protestants and Catholics struggle to coexist within it in the years following the Peace of Augsburg in Fragile as it was, this peace was Peter Wilson's book is about more than the war that consumed central Europe in the 17th century. Fragile as it was, this peace was strained by the efforts of successive Habsburg emperors to strengthen their power within the empire, an effort that fueled Protestant anxieties that the Habsburgs would use this power to advance the Catholic faith at their expense.

Yet Wilson makes a persuasive argument that the war was more about politics than religion. Though confessional issues sparked the initial outbreak, the war often led to cross-confessional alliances that set co-religionists against each other. Here Wilson builds upon his extensive discussion of prewar politics to highlight the dynastic ambitions of people like Frederick V of Palatine and Maximilian of Bavaria and their efforts to use the war to advance their interests. Nobody exemplified this better than Gustavus Adolphus, the Swedish king whose intervention reversed the string of Imperial victories.

Though his death deprived the rebels of their greatest leader, the war dragged on thanks to the support provided by the French, whose rise to European dominance coincided with the conflict. All of this is described in an elaborate narrative designed to give the reader an understanding of the factors at work in the conflict and how the war turned out the way it did. The text is dense with the names of people and locations, yet this helps convey the considerable complexity of events. Simply put, this is the best history of the war available, and with remain the definitive source for anyone interested in the conflict for years to come.

Nov 25, Mitch rated it liked it. This is a comprehensive and authoritative history of the 30 Years War. No stone goes unturned, but few are picked up and examined with a storyteller's eye. Rather, it is dense and difficult to read because the stories require the author to compress weeks into a sentence.

I know more about this seminal event in European history after reading Wilson's 1,page book, however I still couldn't tell you the story of the war. This feels like a book that can benefit from the author's excerpting and el This is a comprehensive and authoritative history of the 30 Years War. This feels like a book that can benefit from the author's excerpting and elaborating on key themes, as Norman Cantor's medieval and Crusades history did when he revisited and popularized his work.

Apr 05, Robert rated it it was amazing Shelves: Outstanding dissection of the causes and course of the 30 years War. Wilson spends something like a quarter of the book exploring the 16th century origins of the conditions that set the stage for the war starting in Wilson's take on the Swedish motives for intervention is the first I've ever seen where the more mercenary aspects of Sweden's grasp at empire are plainly explained.

There is much new informatio Outstanding dissection of the causes and course of the 30 years War. There is much new information here to digest.

Nov 05, Liviu rated it really liked it Shelves: This book's erudition and scope are both its strength and weakness: This seemed to be the best single volume on it, and although I was daunted by its page count I decided to get stuck in regardless. This is a hugely complex conflict, and although it is told with huge skill, it will still require you to pay close attention.

I particularly enjoy the way in which the author consistently debunks received ideas about the war, its causes and effects and the reasons why people did the things they did. This war may have happened a long time ago but it can teach us a lot about international and sectarian conflicts still. Serious students of military history will find much to treasure in this comprehensive examination of one of Europe's most impactful wars. Filled with detail on battles, main players, and resulting changes to the countries involved, it requires careful attention to keep track of the shifting narrative, but is time well spent to fully understand the intricacies of this world-changing war.

Jul 25, Shane rated it it was amazing. The Thirty Years Wars: Wilson Sometimes a work simply becomes the classic and definitive work on its subject. Such is the case of Peter H. Wilson, the now Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls College at Oxford, attempted to construct a general history of one of the longest and most complex conflicts in European history. He was successful, Wilson has produced nothing short of a masterpiece, providing fresh looks and challen The Thirty Years Wars: He was successful, Wilson has produced nothing short of a masterpiece, providing fresh looks and challenging old views.

Despite the importance of the Thirty Years War in history and the collective memory of the conflict in the minds of Europeans, comprehensive histories of the war detailing the interactions of all players, directly and indirectly, involved, has had difficulty emerging. Wilson discusses these challenges in his preface: Despite these challenges, a comprehensive book was created focusing on the unique and complex position Central Europe and the Holy Roman Empire in the sixteenth century and transforming the war from an event into an era.

The book is divided into three parts. The first focuses on the prelude and causes of the war, a special emphasis is placed on the nature of politics in the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the relationship between the German and Spanish Hapsburgs and the ever-present threat of Ottoman Empire. Added to this Wilson discusses the status, strengths, and motivations of each of the major players in the war. While these introductions take up about a third of the book, they are necessary for the reader, especially one new to the topic, to gain a deeper understanding of the conflict.

The second part, taking up most of the book, deals with the war itself. On top of the painstaking detail Wilson places on the shifting politics, famed battles, and intriguing characters, he also looks at the conflicts raging around Europe at this time and how they affected the outcome of the war. The final part concludes with the aftermath and the Peace of Westphalia.

Here the importance of the peace of Westphalia and the war are examined. Wilson completes this by examining the effect of the war on Central European life and culture. All that has been described and the fact that the book itself comes close to pages of text with another couple hundred pages of notes, one would think that the book would be a dense suffocating read, the opposite is the truth, however.

The writing is light and airy, allowing the reader to become immersed in the topic and take in vast amounts of detail without having to stop and digest the narrative.

What Wilson has brought to the table is through, balanced book on the Thirty Years War. In it, he presents the war as it was, not how it has been seen. Where some have attempted to make it a Europe wide or even a global conflict, he has placed it firmly in Central Europe. In military matters, the Thirty Years War has been touted as the beginning of the military revolution and the playground of some of the greatest of military minds. Wilson tempers this with in-depth looks at the relationships between the generals, soldiers, and tactics, as they were seen in their own place and time and removing the gilding previous historians have placed on these characters.

While Wilson does attribute the war in some part to religious fervor from both Catholics and Protestants, he does well in examining the secular motives and interreligious rivalries that ultimately proved a more driving force in the war. It is difficult to say a negative thing about this book, but there are small things readers should be aware of. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone provided they were interested in the subject. I could not see this book being used in any textbook sense, at least at an undergrad level.

Elsewise, it was the best book I read in , simply a well-crafted masterpiece. The complexity of the war, and Wilson's glee at punching holes in old orthodoxies, almost weighs it down. Still, it worked well enough and I have better grasp of the overall conflict and its issues, if not a firm one. Aug 10, Myke Cole rated it liked it. Encyclopedic and dry, Wilson's much needed text is the most comprehensive I've read on the topic. The author alternates between expertly capturing the human drama of this incredible epoch, and falling down rabbit holes of specific numbers and metrics that showcase incredible command of primary sources, but an incomplete understanding of how to make a readable, narrative history.

In the end, this book's major failing is that it tries to do too much.

There is enough well-organized and in-depth unde Encyclopedic and dry, Wilson's much needed text is the most comprehensive I've read on the topic. It isn't clear what story he's trying to tell, and readers may find themselves alternately bored and thrilled depending on what their specific interests are.

Causes of the war

I prefer my histories to be compelling start to finish, and so, was left unsatisfied. Reading the Wedgwood now, and at 60 pages in it is already a much stronger book. The author assumes that the reader has an enormous command of political, religious and economic history, and goes to no lengths to explain anything. Those without at least a '' level graduate education in European history will be lost. This isn't a review, more of a confession.

I've been trying to read this book since and thought that maybe posting it would encourage me to get on with it. If only I was strong enough to pick it up! I've wanted to know more about the Thirty Years War since We studied it at university and had a tutorial devoted to it. We were all given a country and asked to recount their role in the conflict. I was given France - sadly I'd forgotten they were in it! Not my finest moment. Fortunately o This isn't a review, more of a confession.

Fortunately one of my friends kept Dr Bridge talking so my humiliation was brief. Lesson learned - prepare for tutorials properly! Thank you John O and sorry Dr Bridge! I've made some progress but not sure I'll get it finished by the end of the year. Too heavy to take on the train you see! Because it's taken me so long to read, I almost feel like I should start it again to remind myself of the beginning of the period.

Anyway I now much more about the 30 years war than I did when I started it. A very readable and complete account I think. If only it wasn't so heavy to hold! My only quibble was the way it ended as it seemed to lack an overall conclusion. Perhaps the chapter order needed some revision. I'm tempted to read the same author's book on the Holy Roman Empire, to fill in other gaps in my knowledge but not sure I'll live long enough to finish it!

Oct 01, Daniel Koch rated it really liked it. Europe's Tragedy is a wonderful analysis of a largely forgotten major European war. The sheer density of the book can be often overwhelming and confusing. I will admit there are times where the sameness of the battles began to bore me and I wanted to learn about another facet of the war but overall I was engrossed and immersed in a truly complicated and fascinating story.

I am an 18th century history nerd so this was my first foray into the 17th century. I knew where Bohemia, Bavaria, Lorraine, and Saxony were within the HRE but all of the small towns mentioned required frequent trips to Wikipedia to get a better sense as to where the conflicts were occurring. Wilson included maps not only of the troop movements during the battles which were great but geographical overviews of the HRE and the location of the towns within each of the major principalities and Elector States I would have had a much easier time following the events as they unfolded.

With that said this is a truly great work of history and should be read by anyone interested in 17th century geopolitics and German history. Feb 15, Alex rated it really liked it. My only issues with this book derive from the same reasons that cause the Thirty Years War to be barely studied in the US: It's complicated as all hell. Keeping mental track of the rise and fall of the multitude of colonels and generals, particularly once Sweden and France recruit Germans into their armies, is a feat in itself. I lost track for 30 pages once hit of who was working for whom, besides the major players.

Additional maps besides the battle maps, showing affiliations or neutralit My only issues with this book derive from the same reasons that cause the Thirty Years War to be barely studied in the US: Additional maps besides the battle maps, showing affiliations or neutrality, would have been very helpful, particularly in showing the spread of enemy garrisons deep inside HRE territory.

The writing is clear, and I found Wilson's authorial voice to be helpful, with some commentary on the state of affairs, while reflecting a sense of there not being an 'arc of history', but a series of events tied together by wholly fallible humans see edict of restitution. One of the best "chores" I have ever done. Those who give it less than stars dont understand what a complex war is.

A major mistake in my opinion, as the consequences and peace that came out of this war shaped the modern world, at least diplomatically. Dec 23, Nick Sorensen rated it really liked it. Wow, what a project. This has to be the definitive history of a war and era most Americans know little about.

But not as compulsively readable as and much longer than C. Wedgwood's classic account, now about 70 years old. If Wedgwood leaves you wanting more, here's where it is. Marvelous cast of characters, the Defenestrations of Prague, the doomed Protestant hero Gustavus Adolphus, the crafty Hapsburg commander Wallenstein. In some ways, central Europe is still recovering f Wow, what a project.

In some ways, central Europe is still recovering from all this. Dec 10, Jonathan rated it it was amazing. Confident and compelling argument about the context, origins, experience, and consequences of the conflict. Somewhat meandering and unenthusiastic recounting of the thirty years' worth of troop movements and sieges. Not so much on the battlefield tactics and genius of Gustavus Adolphus. Fortunately more of the boo Confident and compelling argument about the context, origins, experience, and consequences of the conflict.

Fortunately more of the book focuses on the former than might be expected, given the title. Jun 12, Robert rated it really liked it. Finally a history of one of the largest and most devastating wars that came before the World Wars. There have been others but, in my opinion, lacked the breadth and the ability to provide an entire account of what was a long and complex war. At least in English and that I know of. It is not easy to read of course. There are a lot of people who come in and without wanting to scare anyone off, it does get hard to keep track.

But this is history, so read carefully and slowly if needs be. Oct 04, Mal Watlington rated it it was amazing. This book is a real doorstop nearly 1K pages but an absolutely fascinating read. My understanding of the events that shaped modern Europe was about 1 inch deep before I dug into Wilson's incredibly well-documented book. His analysis blows away the conventional wisdom on this era. Feb 08, Jack rated it really liked it Shelves: This was a long, long read, however necessary. Thirty years of war, the events leading up to it, and the conclusion combined with other wars on the periphery lead to a large book.

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