History 321: State and Society in Early Modern Europe:

The Thirty Years War

Maps

Central Europe, 1618

Bishopric of Hildesheim, Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Question

Why did peace remain elusvie in 1635 and afterwards?

Background: finance France

increase in revenue: 32.5 M livres (1610) – 57.5 M livres (1635) –

79 m livres (1643) increases in military spending:

16 M livres (1620s) – 33 M livres (1635) – 38 M livres (after 1640)

overspending, borrowing “Revenue was not only spent before it was

collected, but large parts of the fiscal system were transferred into private hands, largely beyond government control” (p. 558)

Background: finance Saxony

debt 7 M fl. (1628) – 25.2 M fl. (1657)

Empire 1635: at most 8 M fl. to fund Imperial army problems

no funds from northern territories held by Sweden

competition between taxes for Imperial army and money raised to fund regional armies (Bavaria, Saxony)

decline in size of armies “it was now difficult to launch major operations

in more than one region at a time” (p. 619)

Positions: Spain war with the Dutch

Olivares’ objectives: achieve military superiority in Flanders force Dutch “to accept an honourable

peace” (p. 555) 2 February 1635: Spanish Council of State

made the war with the Dutch a priority 31 October 1634: Treaty of Ebersdorf: Imperial

assistance for war against the Dutch

Positions: Spain conflict with France?

13 April 1634: Spanish Council of State against war

12 May 1634: secret agreement with Gaston d’Orléans: troops and money for an invasion of France

26 March 1635: arrest of Philipp Christoph von Sötern, Archbishop Elector or Trier

April 1635: capture of Koblenz

Positions: France attitudes to conflict

between Spain-Dutch Republic, HRE-Sweden

“Both Protestant powers remained counterweights to perceived Spanish dominance” (p. 555).

8 February 1635: offensive alliance with the Dutch Republic to invade Spanish Netherlands

declaration of war on Spain: 26 May 1635

Conflict, 1635-1636 Franco-Dutch invasion of

Spanish Netherlands…repulsed

France co-opted Bernhard of Weimar

southern front: Lorraine, Alsace, Franche-Comté

fall of Mainz to Imperial forces: January 1636

Spanish invasion of France Corbie:

Spain: 15 August 1636 France: 14 November 1636

The Peace of Prague, 1635 Read Sourcebook, document 103. Be prepared to

answer the questions below in class.

1. What are the most important articles of the Peace of Prague? Identify them by number. Why do you think they are important?

2. Do the provisions of the Peace of Prague suggest that the conflict it aimed to end was religious?

3. Does it make sense to describe the Peace of Prague as a “Peace without peace”? Why or why not?

Holy Roman Empire objectives 1. unity of imperial estates2. military superiority3. expulsion of foreigners Peace of Prague (30 May 1635)

“The Peace did not make Ferdinand an absolute monarch, and his intention was to restore what he regarded as the proper constitutional order” (p. 566).

“a monarchical solution” (p. 566) “a degree of imperial authority unacceptable

to Sweden and France” (p. 566) defeat of militant Catholics

Peace of Prague: essential features dissolution of all alliances, including

Catholic League a new Imperial army

separate corps for Bavaria, Saxony transfer of Lusatia to Saxony no recognition of Calvinism 1627: a “new normative year” after which

Protestant control of Catholic church property was invalid details left to biconfessional committee

agreement between Emperor and Saxony invitation of other states

Peace of Prague: stumbling block exclusion of many members of the Heilbronn

League Palatine, Hessen-Kassel, Württemberg, Hohenlohe

counts “amnesty question”

“ultimately wrecked the Peace” (p. 571) “Ferdinand made it much harder to resolve the

amnesty question by enlarging the numbers of those with a vested interest in opposing a pardon. Yet, by excluding so many, he undermined the desired character of Prague as a general peace” (p. 572)

Imperial ban for Landgrave Wilhelm V of Hessen-Kassel (October 1635)

Positions: Sweden Read Sourcebook, documents 104, 106,

107, 108. Be prepared to answer the questions below in class.

1. What were Sweden’s objectives in 1635?

2. Why did it pursue these objectives?3. How would you characterize the

outlook of Sweden’s decision makers?

Sweden Powder Barrel Convention, 21 August

1635 disgruntled German officers and Oxenstierna

Stuhmsdorf Truce, 12 September 1635 extension of Truce of Altmark (Poland and

Sweden) Saxony’s relative failure to appeal to

German patriotism Treaty of Wismar, 1636

French subsidies used for raising fresh troops Sweden obliged not to make peace without

France unratified

Battle of Wittstock, 1636

Sweden: Johan Banér Imperial Army:

Melchior Hatzfeldt “one of the most

important battles of the war” (p. 583)

Positions, 1636-1640 Ferdinand III (1637-1657)

electoral congress in Regensburg, 1636-1637 money from Spain election of Ferdinand co-operation from

Brandenburg inadequate confessional

co-operation to deal with Sweden

continued reluctance to support Spain against the Dutch

desire to solve amnesty question thwarted (p. 612)

Positions, 1636-1640

Wilhelm V of Hessen-Kassel (d. 1 October 1637) alliance with France

(1636) Imperial invasion (April

1637) truce with Emperor

under Amalie Elizabeth (1638)

Positions, 1636-1640 Treaty of Hamburg (15

March 1638) renewal of Franco-Swedish

alliance extension of French

subsidies Sweden remained

outside of war between France and Spain.

Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate failed attempt to take the

Rhenish Palatinate (1638) defeated by Imperial army

(p. 594)

Fighting Partisans (p. 601)

Konrad Widerhold (1598?-1667)

humble origins significance

Fighting: Theatres of Conflict Rhineland

French surrender of Ehrenbreitstein (June 1637)

Fighting: Theatres of Conflict

Rhineland Battles of Rheinfelden

28 February 1638: Imperialist victory 3 March 1638: French victory under Bernhard

von Weimar Battle of Wittenweier (8 August 1638)

French victory under Bernhard von Weimar Fall of Breisach (19 December 1638)

French victory under Bernhard von Weimar control of Alsace “The war had shifted deeper into the Empire”

(p. 611)

Fighting: Theatres of Conflict

The North Swedish retreat, summer

1637 under Johan Banér loss of poorly defended

fortresses secure in Baltic

bridgehead: Stettin, 1638

Treaty of Hamburg, 15 March 1638

Mecklenburg recaptured

Fighting: Theatres of Conflict The North

Banér’s foray into Saxony, Bohemia (1639)

Guelphs, Hessen-Kassel send troops to Banér

Banér blockaded Wolfenbüttel (1639)

imperial garrison here as leverage for bishopric of Hildesheim

Review of significant battles

Year Battle

1620 White Mountain

1631 Magdeburg

1631 Breitenfeld

1632 Lützen

1634 Nördlingen

1636 Wittstock

Interpreting the War Read Sourcebook, documents 109, 112.

Be prepared to answer the questions below in class.

1. What do the retrospectives of Cardinal Richelieu and Maximilian of Bavaria tell us of their interpretations of the Thirty Years War? Pay attention to what they say, how they say it, and what they do not say.