- 26 Nov 2004 05:47
#518439
The Thirty Years War has two basic sources, religious tension between catholics and protestants in Germany and the Holy Roman Emperor's efforts to consolidate control of all of Germany.
Before the war, despite numerous tensions a few of the Holy Roman Emperors were more pragmatic and interested in extending their power in Germany rather than in forwarding the Catholic church against the Protestants. This changed when Ferdinand of Styria, a staunch Catholic who was determined to restore Catholicism throughout the Empire, became Emperor.
The immediate cause of the war (The Bohemian Phase) occured athe Second Defenestration of Prague, when Bohemian Calvinists tossed Ferdinand's catholic envoys out of Hradčany castle onto a pile of manure below (which saved their lives). This triggered the beginning of the Bohemian Revolt and war soon spread throughout Germany.
What is more important though, in my opinion, are the effects of the 30 Years War. Not only did the war devastate Germany (depopulating huge sections of the country) it impacted virtually every state in Europe from Portugal to Russia, left France as the dominant power on the continent, and most importantly changed the entire political order of Europe from the old medieval concepts of loyalty and the universality of the christian church to the modern notions of state sovereignty, raison d'etat, and national interests (first employed during The 30 Years War by Cardinal Richelieu of France who despite being a Catholic Cardinal in a Catholic Country sided with the Protestants against the Emperor solely because a united Germany would be a major threat to France's power). By stating that the subjects of a principality were subject first and foremost to their ruler rather than any outside power as in the previous medieval concepts of overlapping loyalties and heteronomy, the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the war laid the foundation for both Europe's Balance of Power and the modern system of sovereign states which now encompasses the entire world.
The war lasted from 1618 to 1648, so it was 30 years of warfare, though it is divided into four distinct phases by historians and new players would emerge as it continued.
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