Thirty years war 1618-48 pt 2

[nevermore]

Thirty years war 1618-48 pt 2

The Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) began when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking rebellion among Protestants. The war came to involve the major powers of Europe, with Sweden, France, Spain and Austria all waging campaigns primarily on German soil. Known in part for the atrocities committed by mercenary soldiers, the war ended with a series of treaties that made up the Peace of Westphalia. The fallout reshaped the religious and political map of central Europe, setting the stage for the old centralized Roman Catholic empire to give way to a community of sovereign states.






This conflict, which redrew the religious and political map of central Europe, began in the Holy Roman Empire, a vast complex of some one thousand separate, semiautonomous political units under the loose suzerainty of the Austrian Hapsburgs. Over the previous two centuries, a balance of power had emerged among the leading states, but during the sixteenth century, the Reformation and the Counter Reformation had divided Germany into hostile Protestant and Catholic camps, each prepared to seek foreign support to guarantee its integrity if need arose.




Thus in 1618, when Ferdinand II, heir apparent to the throne of Bohemia, began to curtail certain religious privileges enjoyed by his subjects there, they immediately appealed for aid to the Protestants in the rest of the empire and to the leading foreign Protestant states: Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Denmark. Ferdinand, in turn, called upon the German Catholics (led by Bavaria), Spain, and the papacy. In the ensuing struggle, Ferdinand (elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1619) and his allies won a major victory at White Mountain (1620) outside Prague that allowed the extirpation of Protestantism in most of the Hapsburg lands. Encouraged by this success, Ferdinand turned in 1621 against Bohemia’s Protestant supporters in Germany. Despite aid from Britain, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic, they too lost, and by 1629 imperial armies commanded by Albrecht von Wallenstein overran most of Protestant Germany and much of Denmark. Ferdinand then issued the Edict of Restitution, reclaiming lands in the empire belonging to the Catholic Church that had been acquired and secularized by Protestant rulers.



Only Swedish military aid saved the Protestant cause. In 1630 an army led by King Gustavus Adolphus landed in Germany and, with a subsidy from the French government and assistance from many German Protestant states, routed the Imperialists at Breitenfeld (1631) and drove them from much of Germany. The Protestant revival continued until in 1634 a Spanish army intervened and at Nordlingen defeated the main Swedish field army and forced the Protestants out of southern Germany. This new Hapsburg success, however, provoked France-which feared encirclement-to declare war first on Spain (1635) and then on the emperor (1636).



The war, which in the 1620s had been fought principally by German states with foreign assistance, now became a struggle among the great powers (Sweden, France, Spain, and Austria) fought largely on German soil, and for twelve more years armies maneuvered while garrisons-over five hundred in all-carried out a “dirty war” designed both to support themselves and to destroy anything of possible use to the enemy. Atrocities (such as those recorded in the novel Simplicissimus by Hans von Grimmelshausen) abounded as troops struggled to locate and appropriate resources. Eventually, France’s victory over the Spaniards at Rocroi (1643) and Sweden’s defeat of the Imperialists at Jankau (1645) forced the Hapsburgs to make concessions that led, in 1648, to the Peace of Westphalia, which settled most of the outstanding issues.



The cost, however, had proved enormous. Perhaps 20 percent of Germany’s total population perished during the war, with losses of up to 50 percent along a corridor running from Pomerania in the Baltic to the Black Forest. Villages suffered worse than towns, but many towns and cities also saw their populations, manufacture, and trade decline substantially. It constituted the worst catastrophe to afflict Germany until World War II. On the other hand, the conflict helped to end the age of religious wars. Although religious issues retained political importance after 1648 (for instance, in creating an alliance in the 1680s against Louis XIV), they no longer dominated international alignments. Those German princes, mostly Calvinists, who fought against Ferdinand II in the 1620s were strongly influenced by confessional considerations, and as long as they dominated the anti-Hapsburg cause, so too did the issue of religion. But because they failed to secure a lasting settlement, the task of defending the “Protestant cause” gradually fell into the hands of Lutherans, who proved willing to ally (if necessary) with Catholic France and Orthodox Russia in order to create a coalition capable of defeating the Hapsburgs. After 1630 the role of religion in European politics receded. This was, perhaps, the greatest achievement of the Thirty Years’ War, for it thus eliminated a major destabilizing influence in European politics, which had both undermined the internal cohesion of many states and overturned the diplomatic balance of power created during the Renaissance.

More photos in the gallery at http://www.victorian-steel.com

[vtsaogames]

Excellent short description of the war and lovely photos. Thank you.

[nevermore]

Very welcome thanks for the comment

[Battle Brush Sigur]

I've been greatly into the Thirty Years War for many years (and been wargaming it for 5 years now) and this is a great, concise summary of the war. The Thirty Years war is immensely important to the history of Europe, but a complicated one. Also, there was no direct involvement of Britain (for a change ), so many wargamers don't view it with the attention it probably deserves. Also of course it led to many important military developments as worked out by Maurice of Nassau and others (then made popular by Gustavus Adolphus ).

I have to admit that I can't do too much reading on the subject at once and always have to take pauses doing other research in between simply because the war is such a horrible affair and it went on for ages. I'm glad you included the statistics about civilian casualties and expulsion of people to help illustrate the immense suffering the hordes of mercenaries and the endless war led to and of course the later Kabinettskriege and the way they were fought and resolved are a direct result from the devastation suffered by everybody (mostly German states of course, but also today's Czech Republic, Austria, France and so on. Even countries/realms who never saw enemy armies in their own territory of course suffered the loss of family and friends in armies abroad.) during the Thirty Years War.

In this regard, we don't have to look far into the past to see what ongoing wars funded from abroad, war entrepreneurship and using religious fervor as a cover-up pure old greed lead to in people and peoples.


On a lighter note, it's a fascinating period to wargame and very pretty to look at on the table, as illustrated by your photos. And indeed there was a whole bunch of colourful personalities during the period. And the more I read their biographies the more I got the impression that they all read like characters from hollywood gangster films. Usually with the usual arc of big success at relatively young age due to luck and cojones, intrigue, betrayal and an untimely death alone at roadside. This if course is exaggerated, but true for some officers and nobles of the time.

Do you have any preferred sets of rules you're using?

[d_guy]

Indeed, one of the best short summaries I've read. The winter scenes are wonderfully done and really accent the figures. As was said no direct involvement from British but served to train the officer corps of all three kingdoms for the coming civil wars - so much necessary background information for ECW gamers.

I'm curious about the rules you use also.

[dhtandco]

They are a home brewed set send never more your email and I will send them as a word file

There was conflict in the East as well so coming soon Swedes v Muscovites with the false admitting using the same rules with a few tweaks

[von Cyrillus]

@nevermore,
thank you for sharing this excellent summary of the Thirty years war and beautiful models. What figures are you using? I started buying some TAG Swedes a few years ago and also wanted to do Scots in Swedish service but the project got side tracked. What other companies would you recommend for the period?
Cyrille

[dhtandco]

Warlord plastics, renegade and old minifigs mainly plus one 1st corps

[Arthur]

Cyrille

The TAG Swedes are unfortunately pretty inaccurate uniform-wise : they are all wearing a type of cassock with was only used by Gustavus' Life Guards. For Scots in Swedish or Danish service, standard infantry figures will fit the bill as they were indistinguishable from other troops once issued with suits of clothing after entering foreign service.

For my money, the 28mm metal figures for the TYW are Emil Horky's Bohemian Troops range and most TAG miniatures except the Swedes and 'protestant' pikemen, the latter suffering from elongated necks and weird oversized heads which don't look right to me.    

[von Cyrillus]

Arthur,
Thanks, I have seen Emil Horky's range and they look great but he does not do Swedes. I am aware of TAG Swedes "shortcomings" that is sort of why I have been waiting for the right figures to come along (Perrys in their spare time on a mad Lützen trip maybe)
Merci ;o)
Cyrille

[nevermore]

Sorry for late reply, thanks for the comments guys very much appreciated

[bluechi]

"Daß man ohne Sorgen lebe sorgt man stets um Gut und Geld, das man doch den, der es entsorgt immer den in Sorgen hält."

"Damit dir etwas vergeben werden kann , mußt du zuerst kraftvoll sündigen..."

"Lieber ein Hofnarr - als Narren hoffieren "
 ist better to be a jester - than to court jesters (Translation works ?)

"Es gibt nichts Beständigeres als die Unbeständigkeit"

some of the best quotes in Simplicissimus and all time actuell...

Mutter Courage (Berthold Brecht) the story of the gipsy from the Simplicissimus showes altough how brutal and sensless this war was....

[FramFramson]

"Daß man ohne Sorgen lebe sorgt man stets um Gut und Geld, das man doch den, der es entsorgt immer den in Sorgen hält."

"Damit dir etwas vergeben werden kann , mußt du zuerst kraftvoll sündigen..."

"Lieber ein Hofnarr - als Narren hoffieren "
 ist better to be a jester - than to court jesters (Translation works ?)

"Es gibt nichts Beständigeres als die Unbeständigkeit"

some of the best quotes in Simplicissimus and all time actuell...

Mutter Courage (Berthold Brecht) the story of the gipsy from the Simplicissimus showes altough how brutal and sensless this war was....

The last one feels like a more elegant analogue to the 20th century soldier's refrain of "Situation normal: All fucked up".