The Thirty Years’ War was an armed conflict that tore apart Central Europe from 1618 to 1648; one of the longest and fiercest wars in history. It arose from the clash, in the 17th century, between the Catholic and Protestant religions . The war can be ideologically divided into four phases: Bohemian-Palatine (1618–1625), Danish (1625–1629), Swedish (1630–1635) and French (1635–1648). The conflict began when the Holy Roman Empire tried to impose the same religion on all its dominions.
The Protestant states of the north opposed this, forming the Evangelical Union . The empire threatened by this league intervened. The episode that triggered the entire conflict arose from the fact that Ferdinand of Styria, who in 1617 had received the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, violated a provision that allowed the Bohemian Hussites freedom of worship, sparking the discontent of the Bohemians who on 23 May 1618 stormed the royal palace in Prague and threw two representatives of the emperor out of the window (an episode known as the Defenestration of Prague .
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Thirty Years’ War: A Summary of the Conflict
· First phase: Bohemian-Palatine
At this point a revolt broke out in Bohemia against the Habsburgs who asked for help from Spain . The Catholics won. Afterwards there was a harsh repression and a Catholic prince was elected: Maximilian I of Bavaria.
· Second phase: Danish
Denmark also entered the conflict . The state, worried about the growing power of Spain , entered the conflict to support the Protestant countries ; together with France which wanted to counter the expansionist policy of the Habsburgs . The Danes were defeated and forced to sign the Peace of Lübeck (1629) with which they committed themselves to no longer intervene in German affairs.
· Third phase: Swedish
The Swedes also intervene to support the Protestants . King Gustav II of Sweden , financed by France and the German Protestant princes , is defeated in 1634 and forced to sign the Peace of Prague , which convinces the French to enter the war.
· Fourth stage: French
The political phase begins (and the religious one ends): now it becomes only a question of territories. Louis XIII (ruler of France) allies himself with Sweden and the Netherlands and brings about very important victories. In the meantime, Spain was shaken by the economic crisis that led the Catalans and the Portuguese to rebel against the crown and ally themselves with the French. In the end, the French defeated the Habsburgs who were forced to sign the Peace of Westphalia with which the Habsburgs renounced their hegemonic plan over Europe. Spain did not surrender immediately but was forced, in the end, to sign the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659).
