Thirty Years' War - Essay Example

The Thirty Years’ War is viewed by many historians as a German civil war, and a religious war. The war was religious in that it involved conflicts between Protestants (Lutherans and Calvinists) and Catholics. The war was also civil in nature considering that Germany’s principalities, at the time, engaged in conflict in opposition of the Habsburgs at different occasions over the thirty year duration2. In the course of the war, the Habsburgs received opposition from various quarters beyond national borders.

Across the borders, the Dutch, Danish Sweden and France, opponents of House of Austria, confirmed their extended opposition to the Habsburgs. This paper will discuss the Thirty Years’ War in light of its four principal phases, the phases being The Bohemian intervention, the Danish phase, the Swedish phase and the French intervention. Causes of the War The causes of the Thirty Years’ War, according to many a historian, is as varied and complex as the number of participants. In other words, the main reason behind the war cannot be accurately presented in one cause.

Many historians believe that the war was initially a result of conflict between Catholics and Protestants ((Lutherans and Calvinists) residing in the Roman Empire3. . The Peace, signed by Emperor Charles V was meant to end the conflict between German Catholics and Lutherans. Meanwhile, secular powers retained the lands that they had taken from the Roman church even as the rulers of Germany held the authority to impose their religions on subjects4. Internal rivalry in the Roman Empire in relation to power balance and politics also contributed significantly to the degeneration with other European powers centering the scene.

The fight for political pre-eminence in respect of the rivalry between Habsburg and Bourbon aggravated the conflict to the extent of France joining the conflict in a show of might. The Bohemian Period The Bohemian period started in 1618 and ended roughly in 1625. In 1617 Ferdinand of Styria, a member of the Hapsburg family, was elected king of Bohemia by the Bohemian Diet. The king who was a strong supporter of Catholicism reigned as Holy Roman emperor a couple of years later. Bohemian Calvinists, for fear of losing their religious rights, revolted in 1618 throwing some Catholic members of the Bohemian royal council off a window in what is popularly known as the Defenestration of Prague.

Ferdinand II, with the support of Maximilian I of Bavaria attacked Bohemia under the command of Baron Tilly. In the Battle of White Mountain, Tilly won the war against Fredick V forcing the latter to flee to Holland. Ferdinand II hence regained the throne as King of Bohemia as Maximilian took acquisition of the Palatinate with a Catholic and Hapsburg victory5. The Danish Intervention (1625-1629) When King Christian IV, a Holy Roman Empire prince, Denmark ruler, duke of Holstein, and Lutheran supported the protests directed against Ferdinand II, the Danish intervention officially took root.

Ferdinand on his part