Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the Central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire, but also involving most of the major continental powers. It occurred for a number of reasons. Although it was from its outset a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the self-preservation of the Habsburg dynasty was also a central motive.

Danish intervention

Period: 1625-1629

Related Topics:
1625 - 1629

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Danish Period began when Christian IV of Denmark (1577-1648) the King of Denmark, himself a Lutheran, helped the Germans by leading an army against the Holy Roman Empire, fearing that Denmark's sovereignty as a Protestant nation was being threatened. Christian IV had profited greatly from his policies in northern Germany (Hamburg had been forced to accept Danish sovereignty in 1621, and in 1623 the Danish heir apparent was made bishop of Bremen-Verden.) As an administrator, Christian IV had done remarkably well, obtaining for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe, paid for by tolls on the Oresund and extensive war reparations from Sweden. The only country in Europe with a comparably strong financial position was, ironically, Bavaria. It also helped that the French regent Cardinal Richelieu was willing to pay for a Danish incursion into Germany. Christian invaded at the head of a mercenary army of 20,000 men.

Related Topics:
Christian IV of Denmark - 1577 - 1648 - Bremen-Verden - Oresund - Cardinal Richelieu

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To fight him off, Ferdinand II employed the military help of Albrecht von Wallenstein, a Bohemian nobleman who had made himself rich off the confiscated estates of his countrymen. Wallenstein pledged his army of between 30,000 and 100,000 soldiers to Ferdinand II in return for the right to plunder the captured territories. Christian, who knew nothing of Wallenstein's existence when he invaded, was forced to retire before the combination of Wallenstein and Tilly would annihilate his army. Christian's poor luck struck him again when all the allies he thought he had were forced aside: England was weak and internally divided, and France was in civil war, Sweden was at war with Poland, and neither Brandenburg nor Saxony were interested in changes to the tenuous peace in eastern Germany. Wallenstein defeated Mansfeld's army at the Battle of the Bridge of Dessau (1626) and General Tilly defeated the Danes at the Battle of Lutter (1626). Mansfeld died some months later of illness, exhausted and ashamed of the battle which had cost him half his army.

Related Topics:
Albrecht von Wallenstein - 1626 - Battle of Lutter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wallenstein's army marched north, occupying Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and ultimately Jutland itself. However, he was unable to take the Danish capital on the island of Zealand without a fleet, and neither the Hanseatic ports nor the Poles would allow an Imperial fleet to be built in the Baltic. He pressed a siege against Stralsund, the only belligerent port on the Baltic which had the facilities to build a fleet the like of which could take the Danish islands. However, the cost of continuing to support Wallenstein was exorbitant, particularly compared to what could possibly be gained from the war with Denmark.

Related Topics:
Mecklenburg - Pomerania - Jutland - Zealand - Hanseatic - Stralsund

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This led to the Treaty of Lübeck (1629), in which Christian IV abandoned his support for the Protestants in order to keep his control over Denmark. In the following two years more land was subjugated by Catholic powers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At this point, the war could have been concluded, but the Catholic League persuaded Ferdinand II to take back the Lutheran holdings that were, according to the Peace of Augsburg, rightfully the possession of the Catholic Church. Described in the Edict of Restitution of (1629), these included two Archbishoprics, sixteen bishoprics, and hundreds of monasteries. Nobles and peasants alike left their lands in Bohemia and Austria rather than convert. Mansfeld and Gabriel Bethlen, the first officers of the Protestant cause, were dead in the same year. Only the port of Stralsund held out against Wallenstein and the Emperor, abandoned by all its allies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~