Thirty Years' War

Catholics versus Protestants

The religious quarrel became a European power struggle.

💡 Did you know? Even Catholic France eventually fought against the Emperor.

1618

It was ignited in Bohemia.

💡 Did you know? Hardly anyone guessed the war would last three decades.

Defenestration of Prague

Angry Protestants threw imperial governors out of a window.

💡 Did you know? The men survived: supposedly because they landed on a dung heap.

Bohemia

The Bohemian estates rose against the Catholic Emperor.

💡 Did you know? Their defeat at White Mountain sealed their fate early.

Wallenstein

He raised huge mercenary armies at his own expense.

💡 Did you know? In 1634 he was assassinated on the Emperor's orders.

Gustavus Adolphus

He was regarded as the military genius of his age.

💡 Did you know? In 1632 he fell at the Battle of Lützen.

Battle of Lützen

The Swedes won but lost their king.

💡 Did you know? His death was a heavy blow to the Protestants.

Magdeburg

Tens of thousands of inhabitants died when it was taken.

💡 Did you know? “To Magdeburgise” became a word for ruthless destruction.

France

France put power politics above religion.

💡 Did you know? Cardinal Richelieu steered this policy.

As mercenary armies

Mercenaries plundered the land to feed themselves.

💡 Did you know? “War feeds war” became a cruel principle.

Famine and disease

Plundering and crop failures caused famines.

💡 Did you know? In some regions a third to half of the population died.

Peace of Westphalia

It is seen as a cornerstone of modern international law.

💡 Did you know? It gave the imperial princes far-reaching independence.

1648

It was negotiated in Osnabrück and Münster.

💡 Did you know? The negotiations dragged on for years.

Osnabrück and Münster

Catholic and Protestant envoys met separately.

💡 Did you know? Both cities still call themselves “cities of peace”.

The Netherlands and Switzerland

Both formally left the imperial framework.

💡 Did you know? The Netherlands had become a sea power through trade.

Far-reaching sovereignty

They were allowed to conclude their own alliances.

💡 Did you know? This permanently weakened the Emperor.

Ferdinand II

He wanted to enforce Catholicism in the Empire by force.

💡 Did you know? His course drove the Protestants into revolt.

Catholics, Lutherans and the Reformed

This also recognised Calvinism.

💡 Did you know? The principle of 1555 was thus extended.

30 years

From 1618 to 1648: hence the name.

💡 Did you know? It shaped central Europe's collective memory for centuries.

Start of the modern state system

Sovereign states became the basis of the order.

💡 Did you know? People still speak of the “Westphalian system” today.