The Thirty Years’ War

In short: The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) was a series of wars fought mainly on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire. It began as a conflict between Catholic and Protestant estates and turned into a European struggle for power.

In more detail: Besides religious divisions, it was about the emperor’s power over the princes and about dominance in Europe. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ended the war and reshaped Central Europe.

In detail

• Trigger: In the Defenestration of Prague in 1618, Protestant Bohemian nobles threw imperial governors out of a window of Prague Castle. This developed into an uprising against the Habsburgs.
• Background: Since the Reformation, the Empire had been divided by religion. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had not settled many disputes for good.
• Phases: Historians usually distinguish several stages: the Bohemian-Palatine, the Danish, the Swedish and the Swedish-French phases.
• Key figures: The imperial commander Wallenstein and the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus shaped the war. Gustavus Adolphus was killed at Lützen in 1632, and Wallenstein was murdered in 1634.
• Power politics: Catholic France supported the Protestant side against the Habsburgs. This shows that interests of power often mattered more than religion.
• Suffering of the population: Looting, famine and epidemics hit civilians hard. The destruction of Magdeburg in 1631 became a symbol of the war’s cruelty.
• Population losses: In some regions of Germany a large share of the people died, while other areas were largely spared. Exact figures are uncertain.
• Peace of Westphalia: The treaties of Münster and Osnabrück in 1648 recognised the Reformed (Calvinist) church alongside Catholics and Lutherans and strengthened the territorial princes.
• Consequences: The independence of the Netherlands and the Swiss Confederation was confirmed. The peace is seen as an important step towards an order of sovereign states in Europe (buchdruck-und-reformation, renaissance-und-humanismus).