Chapter VII: The Thirty-Years' War, to the Peace Op Westphalia

(1618-1648).

ORIGIN OF THE WAR.--In _Germany_, more than in any other country, the Reformation had sprung from the hearts of the people. Its progress would have been far greater had it not been retarded by political obstacles, and by divisions among Protestants themselves. Germany, to be sure, was not disunited by the Reformation: it was disunited before. But now strong states existed on its borders,--_France_, even _Denmark_ and _Sweden_,--which might profit by its internal conflicts. The _Peace of Augsburg_, unsatisfactory as it was to both parties, availed to prevent open strife as long as _Ferdinand I_. (1556-1564) and _Maximilian II_. (1564-1576) held the imperial office. The latter, especially, favored toleration, and did not sympathize with the fanaticism of the Spanish branch of his family. He condemned the cruelties of _Alva_ and the massacre of St. Bartholomew. With the accession of _Rudolph II._, a change took place. He had been brought up in Spain. The Catholic counter-reformation was now making its advance. The order of the _Jesuits _was putting forth great and successful exertions to win back lost ground. There were out-breakings of violence between the two religious parties. A Catholic procession was insulted in _Donauwörth_, a free city of the empire. The city was put under the ban by the emperor; the Bavarian Duke marched against it, and incorporated it in his own territory (1607). On both sides, complaints were made of the infraction of the Peace of Augsburg. The Donauwörth affair led to the formation of the _Evangelical Union_, a league into which, however, all the Protestant states did not enter. The _Catholic League_, under the Leadership of Maximilian of Bavaria, was firmly knit together and full of energy.

FIRST STAGE IN THE WAR (to 1629).

THE BOHEMIAN STRUGGLE.--The _Bohemians_ revolted against _Ferdinand II_. in 1618, when their religious liberties were violated, and shortly after (1619) refused to acknowledge him as their king. He was a narrow and fanatical, though not by nature a cruel, ruler. He gave himself up to the control of the Catholic League. The two branches of the _Hapsburg_ family--the _Austrian_ and _Spanish_--were now in full accord with each other. The Bohemians gave their crown to _Frederick V_., the Elector Palatine, the son-in-law of _James I_. of England. Bohemia was invaded by _Ferdinand_, aided by the League, and abandoned to fire and sword. The terrible scenes of the Hussite struggle were re-enacted. In the protracted wars that ensued, it was estimated that the Bohemian population was reduced from about four millions to between seven and eight hundred thousand! The _Palatinate_ was conquered and devastated. The electoral dignity was transferred to the _Duke of Bavaria_. At last, in 1625, _England_, _Holland_, and _Denmark_ intervened in behalf of the fugitive Elector Palatine. _Christian IV_. of Denmark was defeated, and the intervention failed. The power gained by Maximilian, the Bavarian Duke, made his interests separate, in important particulars, from those of _Ferdinand_. _Ferdinand_ was able to release himself from the virtual control of _Maximilian_ and the League, through _Wallenstein_, a general of extraordinary ability. He was a Bohemian noble, proud, ambitious, and wealthy. He raised an army, and made it support itself by pillage. The unspeakable miseries of Germany, in this prolonged struggle, were due largely to the composition of the armies, which were made up of hirelings of different nations, whose trade was war, and who were let loose on an unprotected population. Captured cities were given up to the unbridled passions of a fierce and greedy soldiery. Germany, traversed for a whole generation by these organized bands of marauders, was in many places reduced almost to a desert.

EDICT OF RESTITUTION.--Victory attended the arms of _Wallenstein_, and of _Tilly_, a brutal commander, the general of the League. The territory of the Dukes of _Mecklenburg_ was given to _Wallenstein_ as a reward (1629). He was anxious to conquer the German towns on the _Baltic_. _Stralsund_ offered a stubborn resistance, which he could not overcome. The League moved _Ferdinand_ to the adoption of the _Edict of Restitution_ (1629), which put far off the hope of peace. This edict enforced the parts of the _Peace of Augsburg_ which were odious to the Protestants, especially the _Ecclesiastical Reservation_ (p. 410), and abrogated the provisions of an opposite tenor. It was evident that the real aim was the entire extinction of Protestantism. The League, moreover, induced the emperor to remove _Wallenstein_, of whom they were jealous. The effect of these measures was to rouse the most lukewarm of the Protestant princes, including the electors of _Brandenburg_ and _Saxony_, to a sense of the common danger. It was plain that _Wallenstein_ was a sacrifice to the League, and to the ambition of _Maximilian_ of Bavaria.

SECOND STAGE IN THE WAR (1629-1632).

In the second act of this long drama, _Gustavus Adolphus_ of Sweden is the hero. His reign is marked by the rise of his country to the height of its power.

EVENTS IN SWEDEN: CAREER OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.--_Gustavus Vasa_ made the mistake of undertaking to divide power among his four sons. There was a vein of eccentricity, amounting sometimes to insanity, in the family. _Eric XIV_. was hasty and jealous, imprisoned his brother _John_, and committed reckless crimes. In 1569 he was himself confined, and nine years after was secretly put to death. _John_ and another brother, _Charles_ of Südermanland, now reigned together. _John_ was favorable to the Roman-Catholic Church, and offended his Protestant subjects by efforts at union and compromise. Moreover, he unwisely made concessions to the nobles, and increased the burdens of the peasants. Finally, he wanted to make his son _Sigismund_ king of Poland, a country which, from its anarchical constitution, was on the road to ruin. _Poland_ was a Catholic land; and, in order to get the crown, _Sigismund_ avowed himself a Catholic. _Charles_, a strict Lutheran, drew to his side all who were hostile to _John's_ spirit and policy. On the death of the latter (1592), Duke _Charles_ came into collision with _Sigismund_ and with the nobles, whose power depended on his concessions; and he gained the victory over them (1598). In 1604 the Diet gave him the crown, which he wore for seven years. He had to contend against faction, and to withstand the attacks of _Denmark_ and of _Russia_. In the midst of these troubles he died, and was succeeded by his son _Gustavus Adolphus_, then less than eighteen years of age (1611-1632). He was a well-educated prince, early familiar with war, a devoted patriot, and, although tolerant in his temper, was a sincere Protestant, after the type of the old Saxon electors. For eighteen years after his accession, it had been his aim to control the _Baltic_. This had brought him into conflict with _Denmark_, _Poland_, and _Russia_. His interposition in the German war, a step which was full of peril to himself, was regarded by _Brandenburg_ and _Saxony_ with jealousy and repugnance. But when the savage troops of _Tilly_ (1631) sacked and burned _Magdeburg_, the neutral party was driven to side with _Sweden_. _Gustavus_ defeated _Tilly_, and the advance of his army in the South of Germany prostrated the power of the League. The princes regarded the Swedish king with suspicion: the cities regarded him with cordiality. Whether along with his sagacious and just intentions he connected his own elevation to the rank of King of Rome, and emperor, must be left uncertain. _Ferdinand_ was obliged to call back _Wallenstein_. The battle of _Lützen_, in 1632, was a great defeat of _Wallenstein_, and a grand victory for the Swedes; but it cost them the life of their king.

FRANCE.--THE BOURBON KINGS.

HENRY IV, 1589-1610, (2), _m._ Mary, daughter of Francis, Grand Duke of Tuscany | +--LOUIS XIII, 1610-1643, _m._ | Anne, daughter of Philip III of Spain. | | | +--LOUIS XIV, 1643-1715, _m._ Maria Theresa, | | daughter of Philip IV of Spain. | | | | | +--Louis, Dauphin, _d._ 1711, _m._ Maria Anna, | | | daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria. | | | | | | | +--Louis, Duke of Burgundy, _d._ 1712, _m._ | | | Mary Adelaide, daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. | | | | | | | +--LOUIS XV, 1715-1774, _m._ | | | Mary, daughter of Stanislas Leczinsky, King of Poland. | | | | | | | +--Louis, Dauphin, _d._ 1765, _m_ | | | Maria Josepha, daughter of Frederick Augustus II | | | of Poland and Saxony. | | | | | | | +--LOUIS XVI, 1774-1792 (deposed, executed 1793), | | | | _m._ Marie Antoinette, daughter of | | | | Emperor Francis I. | | | | | | | +--Louis, Count of Provence (LOUIS XVIII), | | | | 1814-1824. | | | | | | | +--Charles, Count of Artois (CHARLES X), 1824-1830 | | | (deposed),_m_ Maria Theresa, daughter | | | of Victor Amadeus III of Savoy. | | | | | +--Francoise (Mademoiselle de Blois), | | _m._ | | +--Philip, regent, _d._1723. | | | | | | | +--Louis, _d._ 1752. | | | | | | | +--Louis Philippe, _d._ 1785. | | | | | | | +--Louis Philippe (Egalite), executed 1793. | | | | | | | +--LOUIS PHILIPPE, 1830-1848 (deposed), _m._ | | | Maria Amelia, daughter of | | | Ferdinand I of Two Sicilies. | | | | | (2), Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Lewis, Elector Palatine. | | (1), Henrietta Maria. | +--Philip, _m._ | +--Henrietta Maria _m._ Charles I of England.

THIRD STAGE IN THE WAR (1632-1648).

FRANCE AFTER HENRY IV.--After the death of _Gustavus_, in the new phase of the war, the influence of _Richelieu_, the great minister of France, becomes more and more dominant. Germany was in the end doomed to eat the bitter fruits of civil war, such as spring from foreign interference, even when it comes in the form of help. _Henry IV_. had died when he was on the point of directing the power of France, as of old, against the house of Hapsburg. The country now fell back for a series of years to a state akin to that under the kings who preceded him, although it was saved from a long civil war. _Louis XIII._ (1610-1643) was a child; and the queen, _Mary de Medici_, who was the regent, an Italian woman, with no earnest principles, deprived of the counsels of _Sully_, lavished the resources of the crown upon nobles, who were greedy of place and pelf. At the assembly of the States-general in 1614, nobles, clergy, and the third estate were loud in reciprocal accusations. The queen fell under the influence of the _Concinis_, an Italian waiting-maid and her husband, the latter of whom she made a marquis and a marshal of France. She leagued herself in various ways with _Spain_. As the king grew older, a party rallied about him, and the marshal was assassinated (1617). From that time _Louis_ was under the influence of a favorite, the Duke de Luynes, a native Frenchman, with whom the nobles were in sympathy. The duke died in 1621. Then _Richelieu_, Bishop of Lucon (made a cardinal in 1622), a statesman of extraordinary genius, began his active career in politics, and after 1624 guided the policy of France, as a sort of Mayor of the Palace. _Louis XIII._ was not personally fond of him, but felt the need of him._ Richelieu's_ aim, as regards the government of France, was to consolidate the monarchy by bringing the aristocracy into subjection to the king. Under him began the process of centralization, the system of officers appointed and paid by the government, which was fully developed after the great revolution. He accomplished the overthrow of the _Huguenots_ as a political organization, a state within the state. In 1628 _Rochelle_, the last of their towns, fell into his hands. He was determined to make the civil authority supreme. He resisted interference with its rights on the part of the Church. The nobles were reduced to obedience by the infliction of severe punishments. The common people were kept under. But the domestic government of _Richelieu_ made it possible for the selfish and ruinous policy of _Louis XIV._ to arise. The key of his foreign policy was hostility to _Austria_ and _Spain_, to both branches of the Hapsburgs. Before he took active measures against them, he had to procure quiet in France, and to provide himself with money and troops.

INTERVENTION OF RICHELIEU.--The pretext of _Richelieu_ for taking part in the German war was the alleged ambitious aim of the _Hapsburgs_ to destroy the independence of other nations. He helped _Gustavus_ with money; but the Swedish king would neither allow him to take territory, nor to dictate the method of prosecuting the contest. It was agreed that the Catholic religion as such should not be attacked. _Oxenstiern_, the Swedish chancelor, in the _Heilbronn Treaty_ (1633) adhered to the same policy.

DEATH OF WALLENSTEIN.--_Wallenstein_ had now become dangerous to the emperor. He negotiated with the Protestants, the Swedes, and the French, possibly to confront the emperor with the accomplished fact of peace and to claim as a reward the _Palatinate_ or the _Kingdom of Bohemia_. Deprived of his command and declared a traitor, he was assassinated by some of his officers (1634).

END OF THE WAR.--The imperial victory of _Nordlingen_ (1634) made the active assistance of France necessary. But it was not until the death of _Bernard_ of Weimar, the foremost general of the Germans (1639), that _Richelieu_ found himself at the goal of his efforts. The armies opposed to the emperor were now under the control of the French. The character of the war had changed. Protestant states were fighting on the imperial side: the old theological issues were largely forgotten. Yet the Court of Vienna still clung to the Edict of Restitution (p. 424) for eight long years, during which the confused, frightful warfare was kept up. At last the military reverses of the emperor, _Ferdinand III_. (1637-1657), who, unlike his father, was not indisposed to peace, wrung from him a consent to the necessary conditions.

EFFECTS OF THE WAR.--The barbarities of this long war are indescribable. The unarmed people were treated with brutal ferocity. The population of Germany is said to have diminished in thirty years from twenty to fifty per cent. The population of one city, Augsburg, fell from eighty to eighteen thousand. There were four hundred thousand people in _Würtemberg_: in 1641 only forty-eight thousand were left. In fertile districts, the destruction of the crops had caused great numbers to perish by famine. It is only in recent years that the number of horned cattle in Germany has come to equal what it was in 1618. Cities, villages, castles, and dwellings innumerable, had been burned to the ground.

THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA.--The Peace of Westphalia, concluded in 1648, was a great European settlement. It was agreed, that in _Germany_, whatever might be the faith of the prince, the religion of each state was to be Catholic or Protestant, according to its position in 1624, which was fixed upon as the "normal year." In the imperial administration, the two religions were to be substantially equal. Religious freedom and civil equality were extended to the Calvinists. The _empire_ was reduced to a shadow by giving to the _Diet_ the power to decide in all important matters, and by the permission given to its members to make alliances with one another and with foreign powers, with the futile proviso that no prejudice should come thereby to the empire or the emperor. The independence of _Holland_ and _Switzerland_ was acknowledged. _Sweden_ obtained the territory about the Baltic, in addition to other important places, and became a member of the German Diet. Among the acquisitions of _France_ were the three bishoprics, _Metz_, _Toul_, and _Verdun_, and the landgraviate of _Upper_ and _Lower Alsace_. Thus _France_ gained access to the Rhine. _Sweden_ and _France_, by becoming guarantors of the peace, obtained the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Germany.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE TREATY.--By this treaty, what was left of central authority in Germany was destroyed: the empire existed only in name; the mediæval union of empire and papacy was at an end. Valuable German territories were given up to ambitious neighbors. _France_ had extended her bounds, and disciplined her troops. _Sweden_ had gained what _Gustavus_ had coveted, and, for the time, was a power of the first class. _Spain_ and _Austria_ were both disabled, and reduced in rank.