The Thirty Years War: Ingredients to the Complex War 1618-1648, Defenestration of Prague (Research Paper Sample)

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The Thirty Year’s War
Introduction
Shorter seasons for farming were created by the colder and wetter climates that began in early 1300. Later in 1590, Europe started experiencing longer rains, droughts and exceptionally long cold winters. During these periods, harvest failures were experienced in Sweden, Norway, and Italy and there was a growing rate of plague and starvation which hit the people, and more beggars filled the cities as they roamed in search of food. At this time, Spain approximately lost a half of its population as food shortages had caused a tremendous increase in food prices making it difficult for the commoners to purchase. The havocs brought about by this plague led to the emergence of prophecies that the world would end in 1600. But fortunately, came a temporary relief when a favorable weather and hope to recovery finally downed on the country. More agricultural crises and food shortages were however experienced after 1600 that led to economic depression in Spain, France, England and the Holy Roman Empire. A decrease in population followed. (Parrott, 6)
The works of the Europe’s monarchs also laid a burden on the population due to massive tax imposition. According to them, there was increased warfare, and they needed to increase the size of their armies hence offering an explanation for the increased taxes. The unhappy population became rebellious and held out uprisings in a desperate attempt to change the political landscape.
The Thirty Year’s War was instigated and was headed to its beginning in 1617 when a Ferdinand II, Habsburg prince from Austria, was chosen as the king of Bohemia. Ferdinand was a pious man who attended masses at all hours. He was also a monarch who went for pilgrimages and endured self-abasement. In 1618, Ferdinand went against Protestants in Prague when he decided to close down their churches (Blackbourn, 18). These Protestants reacted by rebelling and, as a result, a religious war ensued between Ferdinand, who was joined by the Catholic monarch of Bavaria, Catholic King of Spain, Philip III, Maximilian and the Protestants who had help from some German princes.
Between 1618 and 1625, Ferdinand and his allies defeated the Protestant armies. As a result, with the help of Jesuits and the forced conversions, Bohemia and all neighboring states including Moravia were made Catholic. The war led to the execution of twenty-six noblemen in Prague on June 21, 1621 and the confiscation of property from other noblemen in Bohemia and Moravia, which was given to nobles who had demonstrated loyalty to the Catholic way and Ferdinand II.
Ingredients to the complex war 1618-1648
The conglomeration of conflicts which was later on referred to as the Thirty Year’s War can be seen as the tidying up process of the patchwork quilt which had seen Germany’s reduction by two methods namely; the Holy Roman Empire and further complicated by embittered rivalries of the Reformation (Blackbourn, 27). These wars are fought between 1618 and 1648 in a continuous power struggle which eventually ended in a compromise acceptable to all German powers, great and small.
At the same time, the war is also a lengthy conflict between Habsburgs and France dating the early 16th century between Francis I and Charles V. The French were being cautious and feared that the Habsburgs would encircle them. The Habsburgs from Spain ruled over Spain, Northern Italy, and the Spanish Netherlands. The Austrian Habsburgs, as the Holy Emperors, were owed nominal allegiance by many German districts on France’s border to the East. So the other strand of this war was for France to break free from this stranglehold. French support and Army are available to any power opposing the Habsburgs from 1635.
These political considerations transcend the religious alignments which form the central cause of the conflicts. Within German, the rebellions and uprisings which culminated to the local clashes were invariably caused by conflicts between Catholic and Protestant armies. In 1635, the French Catholic entered the war as an ally of the Protestant Swedes and Dutch against the Catholic Spanish.
In essence, both ingredients; politics and religion are responsible for starting the Thirty Year’s War. In 1618, when violence is used in Prague against Habsburg officials, the perpetrators are Bohemian noblemen rebelling against the foreign rule. (Parrott, 24). At the same time, they are Protestants rebelling against the fervent Catholicism and the recently crowned King, Ferdinand II.
Defenestration of Prague
The dramatic event which instigates a major crisis throughout Europe is known as Defenestration or otherwise, the out-windowing of Prague. The windows in question for this matter include the seat of government referred to as the Hradcany fortified palace. Those thrown out by force are two regents appointed by the Habsburgs.
Rumors later embellish the already dramatic scenario. The drop out of the window is described as some fifty feet though it might have been less. Both of the unfortunate officials survive the fall and play prominent and significant roles in the subsequent Bohemian history. Their undignified exit from the palace acts as a flashpoint in the clash between the Protestant majority and the Catholic rulers I Bohemia.
Ferdinand II, who has been educated by the Jesuits and becomes the King of Bohemia in1617, does not hide his intentions of imposing Catholicism on his territories as a counter-reformation. His regents in Prague have even tried to appoint a Catholic priest in Bethlehem Chapel to forever be associated in Protestant minds as the heroic Huss (Blackbourn, 13). The crisis is heightened in1619 when the Protestant party in Prague declares that the Bohemian crown is empty and thus elective. They, therefore, decide to choose as their King, Frederick V of the Rhine Palatinate, who was among the few princes of the Holy Roman Empire. This act signaled the beginning of a Bohemian revolt against Ferdinand II, marking the opening phase of the Thirty Years War.
Peace of Westphalia
The process of settling disputes violently became exhausting, and as fate would have it, Germany had lost a third of its urban population as well as two-fifths of its rural people (Parrott, 34). Following these events, a shared agenda of negotiating differences between Catholics and Protestants was agreed. The war that had been painted "The Great War" came to an end in1648 with a negotiated settlement that provided for the peace of Westphalia, thirty years after the war started with Spain and France for another ten years that followed.
The negotiations at Westphalia provided for order over chaos and nationalism over the universalism that had dominated a greater part of Roman Catholicism. The settlement provided for a "Christian and universal peace, and a perpetual, genuine and sincere amity." The bloodshed and devastation caused by thirty years of warring had awakened the people and had instilled a modicum of tolerance in their hearts. The peace of Westphalia readjusted the political and religious affairs of Europe. Germany’s principalities from this date onwards were to be sovereign and would allow her to make treaties with foreign powers. Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Catholicism were recognized as legitimate faiths, and anyone could embrace the faith that they saw as befitting. Germany principalities at the borders were restored to their initial state as in 1618. The Peace of Westphalia allowed for secular kingship as the dominant and legitimate form of government. As a result, the sovereignty of Netherlands and Switzerland was recognized. With this new order, the war came to an end, marking a new beginning.
The settlement returned Bohemia to the Habsburgs as well as ending their predominance in Europe. This meant that that France became the preeminent power on the European continent subsequently marking a victory for their French arms and diplomacy. France thus became the arbiter of Europe. Its authority in the divided Germany was becoming greater by each day than the so-called Holy Roman Empire. Also, France’s army was increasing due to challenges by British and Dutch navies. They treaties settling the wars may not have entirely restored peace throughout Europe, but they created a foundation for self-determination of all countries.
The Peace of Westphalia established a basis for other precedent treaties set by the diplomatic congress as well as a series of peaceful political order in Central Europe which was later called the Westphalian sovereignty, based upon the peaceful co-existence concept among states. A balance of power would manage and keep inter-state aggression in check. A norm that regulates the state's domestic affairs was established so as to restrict interference. As the growing influence of European influence spread across the world, Westphalian principles, especially the concepts of sovereign states, has become central to international law and the prevailing world order.
Peace of Prague
A compromise is made possible after the German princes are exhausted. The conflict that had flared up in Prague back in 1618 is resolved by local terms in a peace meeting in 1635. The emperor makes the greatest concession. Instead of restoring the ownership of the church lands to the situation that prevailed back then in 1555 as demanded by Ferdinand’s Edict of Restitution, the agreed status quo date is to be set to the recent one of 1627. This period reflects the time before the issue of the edict in late 1629. In essence, there is a minor alteration in the 1648 treaty which states the relevant year to be 1624.
If the war was only involved states from Germany, the settlement at Prague might have ended it. But th...