HIST 126: Age of Reformations
The Wars of Religion, cont.
Introduction
The War of the Three Henries
ª In 1587 Navarre planned an attack against Guise and Valois (who was vacillating between sides). Navarre was helped by English money, Swiss mercenaries, and German troops (notice the international nature of this French encounter…).
ª Guise is able to stop Navarre and his combined forces in the Northeast, becoming really popular throughout the Catholic sectors of France (and beyond). The issue becomes truly complex when, on 9 May 1588 (known as the Day of the Barricades), there was a massive pro-Guise popular uprising. Guise takes advantage, advances in Paris, and forces Henri III to flee his capital. Guise literally becomes the king of Paris.
ª Such a bold move by Guise (tantamount to a coup d’etat) leads Henri III to the decision to eliminate Guise. Valois invites Guise to a private meeting in order to talk reconciliation, but has him assassinated instead.
ª The Catholic League, seeing its leader killed by the king, calls the king a traitor and tyrant. In a panis, Valois decamps to Henri Navarre’s side. Paris revolts, and the League has Henri III assassinated in turn.
ª Henri of Navarre immediately has himself crowned king, although half the country was still in the hands of the Catholic League. The League, determined not to accept a Huguenot king, forwards a king of their own (Charles X, another Bourbon – recall, Navarre himself is one) and seeks the support of Philip II of Spain (1556-98).
ª Long story short, the Spanish, under the direction of the Duke of Parma, invade and lift Navarre’s siege on Paris (1590). However, Parma died in 1591, and no commander could take his place. This led to the failure of the League/Spanish coalition, and the league gradually broke down.
ª In 1593, Henri IV (Navarre) further undercut the League by declaring his conversion to Catholicism (with the famous rejoinder: “Paris is worth a mass). Thus converted, he wins overwhelming popular support, both Catholic and Protestant.
ª As DeLamar Jensen aptly puts it, “[t]he politiques, the Bourbons, and the concept of absolute monarchy emerged victorious.” (Reformation Europe, 246)
ª Henri IV moves to settle the religious question within France, hoping to move towards the rebuilding of the kingdom. His answer is to issue the Edict of Nantes in 1598. The edict was to serve as the framework for religious coexistence within France. Its terms explicitly set Catholicism as the official state religion, but make certain concessions to the Huguenots. Most significantly, Protestants are granted freedom of conscience AND worship, as well as control of over 200 fortified towns in the south. This move reassures the security of the Huguenots, but will later become an intrinsic problem for the ever-centralizing crown (because this towns become enclaves of political dissent).
ª There are two further points about the Edict of Nantes which you should keep in mind:
1. It is the first major, widespread edict of religious toleration. Remember, to this point the only other such edict had been the Peace of Augsburg, but that only granted the ruler, not his people, the right to choose. In its entirety, Nantes amounts to a rejection of the absolute necessity within France of imposing a single kind of Christianity.
2. The Wars of Religion, as ended by Nantes, mark a victory of political concerns over religious ones. By 1600 most French people embraced a pragmatic view, choosing political stability over religious “truth.” This victory of the Politique leads in time to absolutist rule, such as that of Louis XIV, particularly because many people now embraced the idea that a strong king is the only way to maintain order within France.
The Dutch Revolt
ª Previous Spanish policy in the Netherlands was one of uneasy toleration. Picture it: Philip II was a strident Counter-Reformation Catholic (which means he believed that the Council of Trent had reformed Catholicism, and therefore Protestants no longer had a reason to stay away from the Church), but his empire very much depended on Netherlandish money. This means he could not afford to alienate the leading figures, a great number of who happen to be Protestant. The king’s power in the Netherlands was also rather weak, as he was physically removed from the territory, and thus he needed to compromise in order to keep control.
ª Nevertheless, during the 1560s, Philip embarked in an attempt to reform the Church in the Netherlands in Tridentine style. The problem here is that such a reform would infringe upon the privileges of the (mostly Protestant) nobility.
ª Keep in mind: for Philip, foreign policy was inherently motivated by religious fervor. He was simultaneously involved in a war against the Ottomans, an ongoing conflict with the English, and now the Dutch issue. Nevertheless, the practical truth is that the wealth of the Spanish empire was threatened by these enemies as well.
· Philip thus decided to change approach, taking upon himself to strengthen his control over the Netherlands. The first step was to change his regent in the area. He substituted his aunt, Margaret of Parma, with Cardinal Granville. The important fact here is that, while Margaret had ruled with the advice of local nobles, Granville did not. This, of course, led to noble resentment.
· At the same time, from 1564 onward, Philip aggressively undertook the implementation of Tridentine reforms within the Netherlands, creating 15 new bishoprics under three new archbishops. This was taken as encroachment in local affairs and jurisdictions, and worsens local resentment. The Dutch nobility starts to openly resist Spanish rule.
· The leaders of the opposition were, for the most part, aristocrats. The most important of these leaders was William of Orange (the Silent), one the richest and most influential members of the Dutch nobility. Although not a religious zealot, political and economic considerations push him to side with the Dutch Protestants.
· In August 1565, the Dutch nobles send a petition to Philip, requesting the relaxation of religious persecutions with the Netherlands. Philip rejects the petition. As a result, Orange and a few other influential members of the Council of State (advisory board) get together and organize opposition against the Spanish.
· At this point, in the summer of 1566, the Iconoclastic Fury took place, changing the picture forever. In fact, the Fury was seen by the Spanish crown as the last straw. To the Spaniards, the Fury served as proof that Protestantism equaled anarchy: to attack the Church was to attack God, and therefore to attack the king, His representative on Earth.
· Thus, Philip sent in an army, headed by the Duke of Alba, to pacify the Protestants. In 1567, the Duke of Alba arrived in Holland, taking immediate military control. Forcing Margaret to officially resign, Alba places himself as regent and Governor General. Alva treated the Netherlanders like rebels. He instituted a special council which he called the Council of Troubles, but which everyone else soon called the Council of Blood. Setting aside all local laws and customs, Alva attempted a clean sweep of all rebellious and heretical elements: over 12,000 were condemned, though many escaped punishment by fleeing the country. Those executed included some of the most respected members of the noble opposition. When the Beggars (as the Spanish came to call the Protestant Dutch) launched a revolt, led by William of Orange, Alva easily defeated them. With his huge army, Alva and his master Philip seemed entirely in control. But the shock of the Council of Blood had only temporarily repressed dissent; it did not destroy it. Indeed, people were angry about the terror, and angry about the new government that Alva had created: it imposed permanent, arbitrary taxes. Eventually the exiled members of the Beggar party returned under William of Orange and seized the coastal provinces of Holland and Zeeland.
· For a little while, the entire country went over to the rebels, including the provincial states and the federal States General. Philip was forced to negotiate with the States General more or less as an equal. But it was a false dawn. The Netherlanders were far from unified. Most influential people were looking for a quite moderate settlement, something that would return the country to the good old days before the Council of Blood. But Calvinists, especially those who had done the bulk of the fighting, wanted to abolish Catholicism throughout the country; this was already happening in Holland and Zeeland, where the Beggars were in control.
· Despite the best efforts of William the Silent, these different interests could not work together. The southern nobles became increasingly alarmed by the radicalism of the urban parties, especially after an illegal Calvinist dictatorship was set up in Ghent. Eventually the Netherlands pulled apart into two sections. A southern union of provinces soon came to terms with Philip; they returned to their allegiance and to official Catholicism in return for a guarantee of their ancient provincial privileges. The northern provinces and the big towns formed their own union, and by 1578 they were fighting Spain again.
· It was a tough fight. In 1581, William the Silent and the (northern) Estates General officially deposed Philip and offered the leadership of the United Provinces to the Duke of Anjou (Francis), the younger brother of Henri III of France. This would be the basis of an alliance with the Huguenots and politiques of France against Spain. But Anjou was more interested in becoming an absolute ruler than in Dutch priorities. After an attempted coup to accomplish this, he died in June of 1584.
· You will recall that it was this event that made Philip ally himself with the Holy League in France. Once Anjou was dead, Navarre the Huguenot was the heir apparent in France. So Philip's intervention was a preventive measure to keep France out of the Protestant camp, a camp that, by virtue of Anjou's role in the Netherlands, it had already half been in. But Philip was not just worried about defeat; he had high hopes of victory. A month after Anjou died, in July of 1584, Philip's most steadfast Dutch enemy, William of Orange, was assassinated by a man motivated both by religious fervor and the huge reward Philip's government had promised for the rebel's death. (The assassin died but his family got the money.) When Philip signed his treaty with the Holy League, he hoped to paralyze France long enough to defeat his own Netherlandish enemies.
· But the two deaths also braced the Protestants. Now was the time for standing fast against Philip. The danger that he might end up dominating both France and the Netherlands frightened Elizabeth of England into doing things she had avoided for years. First, she made an open commitment to the Dutch rebels. She refused sovereignty over the Netherlands (which was also offered to Henri III), but allowed her favorite, the Earl of Leicester, to accept the post of Governor-General of the Netherlands and lead an army over to Flanders. This help was not very effective; Spanish armies made great gains, taking Antwerp in 1586.
· Thinking that England’s help was prolonging the Revolt, Philip decided to “punish” Elizabeth I for her intervention, sending the great Spanish Armada (until then the most impressive European naval fleet ever assembled) to attack England in 1587. The idea was to have the Armada make inroads into the sourthern part of England, taking land that could be “traded” in exchange for Elizabeth’s withdrawal from the Netherlands. As you might know, this plan failed royally: in fact, the Armada was defeated and decimated by the superior gunnery and strategy of the English fleet.
· Although the matter did not end there, the long story can be cut short: although Spain was able to withstand Protestant assaults, by 1609 (when the Twelve Years’ Truce was signed) it had to compromise. Spain kept control of the southern part of the Netherlands, now to be known as the Spanish Netherlands, but ceded the northern provinces to the Protestants, who create what came to be known as the Dutch Republic.
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
1. The fundamental internal decay of the Holy Roman Empire from 1555 (Peace of Augsburg) onward. The new weakness of imperial power and the virtual paralysis of imperial authority among Protestant states in southwest Germany meant that the Empire was in a continual state of unrest. This internal decay was encouraged by other European powers, who hoped to take advantage of the situation and infringe upon the Empire’s territories. For example:
a. Spain hoped to gain land in the Lower Rhine (a pivotal part of commerce along the Rhine).
b. Meanwhile, France became involved in part out of “tradition”, as France was usually against the emperor for one reason or another, as we know by now. In fact, Henri IV put together a coalition against the Habsburg in 1610, which would come to play an important role in the war.
c. For its part, England, too, became involved. James I, Elizabeth’s successor, was the father-in-law of the head of the Protestant “party” in Germany, the Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate.
d. Denmark also came into the fray, as it wanted power of “administration” (overlordship) over the areas on northern Germany that had become Protestant.
e. Finally, Sweden’s ruler, Gustavus Adolphus, a staunch Lutheran, sought to protect his territories against and imperial advance to the north and, more pragmatically, take over the Baltic region (northern Germany, a booming commercial center).
2. The second reason is the Empire’s involvement in the eastern part of Europe. In fact, the countries which formed the Austrian provinces literally belonged to the Emperor’s family, the Austrian Habsburgs. Austria was not only Spanish but also, of course, Catholic. Thus, keeping in mind their relationship to the Emperor, the Austrian Habsburgs tried to induce the German Habsburgs to support their plans to consolidate their power further. The issue was that in this area the struggle between the representatives of the aristocracy and those of the sovereign became a life-and-death one, literally. This is the first impulse, the direct excuse (if not cause) of the Thirty Years War.
3. Religious sectarianism was in the rise within the Empire in the 17th century. Protestantism made serious inroads in the 16th century, while Tridentine Catholicism barely made a dent. However, in the 17th century Catholics became ardent in their defense of their faith (and power).
4. The last significant cause of the war was the confluence of religious and political issues with social and economic ones (sounds familiar, no?). The war was prolonged, if not immediately caused, by the following: first, there was overall economic stagnation from the second half of the 16th century onward; second, the cost of maintaining the military and the military’s plundering of all areas in their path further crippled the Empire economically; finally, the nobles took advantage of the overall chaos to fight private feuds and overtake enemies’ territories.
1. The Bohemian Phase
ª The red-haired, red-faced, good-natured Ferdinand II was not a great man, but he possessed more virtues than most kings. He was both a devoted husband and father and a conscientious ruler interested in the welfare of his people. Above all else, however, he was a Habsburg: he was dedicated to the twofold task of re- storing the authority of the emperor in the Empire and of re-establishing Catholicism in central Europe.
ª In his desire to restore the authority of the emperor, he could count on the support of Spain. Spain was only awaiting the end of a twelve-year truce made in 1609 to renew its efforts to re-conquer the rebellious provinces in the Netherlands. Because of Dutch naval strength, the Spanish would have to send their troops to the Netherlands by way of Italy, the Alpine passes, and the Rhine River Valley. A strong emperor meant greater imperial authority in the Rhineland and with it more ease in moving troops. Indeed, Ferdinand had already promised Alsace to his Spanish cousins in return for supporting his candidacy to the imperial throne, and he was to promise more in return for military assistance.
ª Ferdinand could rely on the forces of the Catholic Reformation in his efforts to roll back the tide of Protestantism. The Catholic revival had already recouped a few losses in southern Germany, and Ferdinand himself had stamped out Protestantism in his duchies. Unfortunately, his allies were at cross purposes. The Spanish emphasized the need to increase imperial authority because it was essential to their re-conquest of the Netherlands, but the German Catholic princes were only willing to help Ferdinand against the Protestants and strongly opposed any increase in imperial power that might curb their own independence.
ª More serious still was the interest of foreign powers in Germany. Would France permit Spain to take Alsace, the rest of the Rhineland, and the Netherlands, thereby drawing a tight net around its borders? Would Denmark and Sweden sit quietly by while the Habsburgs extended their power to the Baltic Sea and suppressed their fellow Lutherans? Or, would they intervene to maintain their security and, perhaps, to add to their lands in northern Germany? Germany was in central Europe, and the German problem could not be settled without the intervention of surrounding states. It was not enough for Ferdinand to win the allies necessary to defeat the German Protestant princes. He ought to have been less ambitious or else prepared to fight both France and the leading Protestant states. It was not, however, left to him to decide to break the peace. The first step was taken by his rebellious subjects in Bohemia. Gradually and inevitably, the struggle spread to the rest of Germany and then to Europe.
ª The majority of the inhabitants of Bohemia were Lutheran, Calvinist, or members of one of the Hussite sects, although the Catholic minority supported by the Habsburgs was growing in strength. In addition, the Bohemian nobles were opposed to the encroachment by Habsburg officials on their power. This dissatisfaction with the religious and political policies of the Habsburgs, taken with the certainty that Ferdinand would push them further when he came to power, led to the revolt. On May 23, 1618, a year before Ferdinand was named emperor, the Bohemian leaders unceremoniously threw two imperial officials out of a window in the palace at Prague. They fell seventy feet, but escaped with their lives, either because of the intercession of the Virgin Mary, as Catholic propagandists confidently asserted, or because they landed in a dung hill, as Protestants claimed. This famous (infamous?) episode is known as the Defenestration of Prague. In any case, civil war was now inevitable and a European conflict almost certain.
ª The rebels quickly seized control of Bohemia, won assistance from Transylvania, elected as king the Calvinist Elector Frederick of the Palatinate, and marched on Vienna. Ferdinand had neither money nor troops, but he had to regain Bohemia. That wealthy country furnished half the imperial revenue, and its king held one of the seven electoral votes that determined who would be emperor. Since three votes already belonged to Protestant princes, the loss of Bohemia might mean the choice of a Protestant instead of a Catholic Habsburg in an imperial election.
ª Ferdinand turned to Maximilian (1597-1651) of Bavaria and Spain for assistance. Maximilian was an able prince who had consolidated his hold over his duchy and had organized a Catholic League. Furthermore, he had the rare good fortune to have an army under an able, loyal commander. To him, Ferdinand promised the upper Palatinate and Frederick's title of elector. To Spain, he offered the control of Frederick's Rhineland possessions. With these allies, Ferdinand quickly re-conquered Bohemia. Catholicism and imperial authority were ruthlessly restored. The once elective monarchy was made an hereditary Habsburg dominion. By 1623, Ferdinand and his Catholic allies had also occupied Frederick's hereditary lands. Southern Germany was theirs, but the Protestant princes in northern Germany had become alarmed.
2. The Danish Phase
ª More important, perhaps, than the German princes’ alarm was the fact that foreign powers became determined to intervene before the Habsburgs could consolidate their position. France took steps to cut the Spanish supply route through the Alps, and the Danes (financed in part by the English, the Dutch, and the French) marched into Germany with 30,000 men.
ª Ferdinand had come to realize that he could not achieve his objectives, much less defend his position against the Danes, if he had to depend solely on allies. He therefore accepted the offer of a Bohemian nobleman named Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583- 1634) to raise an imperial army. Born a Lutheran, Wallenstein had become a Catholic to qualify for imperial favor.
ª The first step the wily Wallenstein took toward greatness was to marry a wealthy widow who conveniently died soon thereafter, leaving him her estates and the freedom to marry the daughter of one of Ferdinand's councilors. To wealth and influence he added a businessman's instinct for organization and profit. He managed his estates so well that he came to control a quarter of the land in Bohemia and was able to offer to raise, quarter, and provision 50,000 men at his own expense, leaving to Ferdinand only the responsibility of their pay. The emperor recognized the danger of giving too much power to this powerful subject but the alternative was continued dependence on the Spanish and Bavarians. He therefore accepted Wallenstein's offer.
ª Ferdinand was rewarded with quick victories by the Bavarian and imperial forces over the Danes. Much of northern Germany was occupied, and the ascendant Wallenstein was given Mecklenburg as a reward for his services, the former ruler of this Baltic duchy having made the mistake of siding with the Danes. Internal developments caused France and England to withdraw, and by the end of 1626 it looked as though the war might come to an end.
ª The fate of Germany rested upon Ferdinand's next step. He could accept Wallenstein's advice and use his great power to create a more centralized Germany, or he could satisfy the Catholic Reformation's demand for the restoration of the Church lands seized by the Protestants since the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. To choose the former course would alienate Maximilian and other Catholic princes who were opposed to any increase in imperial power. To choose the latter would frighten the remaining Protestant princes, some of whom had thus far been neutral. Ferdinand lacked the strength to take both courses simultaneously. He hesitated but finally chose Catholicism and political disunity. By the Edict of Restitution in 1629, he ordered the restoration of the former ecclesiastical territories to the Catholics, and to placate Maximilian, he dismissed Wallenstein. By placing his reliance on Maximilian and the Catholic League, Ferdinand had condemned Germany to more than two centuries of political disunity.
3. The Swedish Invasion
ª The folly of Ferdinand’s choice was soon revealed. On July 4, 1630, the Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1632), landed in Germany with a well-trained, well- disciplined army. At thirty-six, Gustavus had already given evidence of being one of the greatest men of his age. In his nineteen years as king, be had proved himself to be as able an administrator as Maximilian of Bavaria and as careful a military organizer as Wallenstein. He was now about to show that he was a gifted diplomat, a devout Protestant, and at the same time one of the greatest field commanders of his age.
ª Gustavus Adolphus’s tactics deserve special comment. He abandoned the current emphasis on mass battle formations in order to achieve greater mobility and firepower. Cavalry and infantry were deployed in a series of alternating small squares so that they could turn easily in any direction. Light artillery was substituted for heavy artillery because it could be advanced rapidly, fired from the front lines in battle, and withdraw quickly if necessary. Musketeers were organized in files five deep. The first file was taught to fire and step back to reload. Then the second file fired and stepped back to reload, and then the third and the fourth and the fifth, by which time the first file was ready to fire again. Thus, continuous fire emerged from the Swedish lines.
ª The one important advantage that Gustavus Adolphus lacked was money, for Sweden was a poor country. When the French offered financial assistance, he therefore accepted, but he was careful never to let French wishes interfere with his policy.
ª Many considerations led Gustavus Adolphus to enter the war. First, he dared not permit the Habsburgs to consolidate their hold on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. Sooner or later, they were sure to use the ports of this area as a jumping of place to attack Sweden. Their ally, the Catholic Sigismund of Poland, had a good claim to the Swedish throne. All he needed was imperial assistance to seek to depose Gustavus Adolphus and re-establish Catholicism in the northern kingdom. But if Sweden seized the southern shores of the Baltic, no invasion was possible. "It is better,'' the Swedish estates declared when they learned of the situation, "that we tether our horses to the enemy's fence, than he to ours.'' Second, the Swedes had long desired to turn the Baltic into a Swedish lake, and northern Germany would have to become theirs to make this dream a reality. Already a large part of the royal revenue came from Baltic commerce. Third, Gustavus Adolphus, a sincere Lutheran, was genuinely distressed to see the plight of his coreligionists in Germany.
ª The Swedish invasion completely altered the situation in the Empire. After a great victory in the battle of Breitenfeld, Gustavus Adolphus was free to march where he pleased. Ferdinand had no choice but to recall Wallenstein. The two generals fought an indecisive battle at Nuremberg, and Gustavus Adolphus withdrew to the north. Once more they clashed at Lützen, and this time the Swedes were victorious, but at the cost of their king's life.
ª The death of Gustavus Adolphus gave the Catholics new hope, but the rivalry between Maximilian and Wallenstein weakened their cause. The Bohemian, who had never forgiven Maximilian and Ferdinand for his first dismissal, plotted with the Swedes and French. Some think that be wanted to create a great middle European empire in which Catholic and Protestant could live in peace. Others see him as a Czech patriot who sought to re- vive the Bohemian state with himself as king. More probably he was motivated only by his selfish, restless ambition. Whatever Wallenstein's plans, Ferdinand knew that he could not be trusted. He was declared guilty of treason and was murdered, defenseless in his bedroom, by a disloyal contingent of his own troops.
ª Ferdinand was freed from one peril, and in September, 1634, six months later, he was relieved of another. The imperial forces defeated the Swedes at Nördlingen. The northern kingdom was no longer a serious threat, and one by one the German Protestant princes made peace in return for the abandonment of the Edict of Restitution. Ferdinand kept the gains he had made before 1627, and he now had the united support of the German princes. Their support was an important asset, because nine days before the terms of the peace were published, France had declared war in order to check the power of Spain.
4. The French Invasion and the Peace of Westphalia
ª The conflict thus entered a new (and final) phase. Spain, Austria, and the other German states were pitted against the French, the Dutch, and what was left of the Swedes. Religion had become a secondary issue, and the old struggle between the Habsburgs and the French, now ruled by the Bourbons rather than the Valois, held the center of the stage. There were no decisive battles, with the possible exception of Rocroi in 1643 where the French won a victory over the Spanish.
ª Peace negotiations were begun in 1643, but they proceeded slowly. There were two treaties which marked the end of the Thirty Years War, and the age of Religious Wars: the Treaty of Westphalia (signed in 1648), and the Treaty of the Pyrenees (signed in 1659).
ª The Treaty of Westphalia, although it does not officially end fighting between France and Spain, did make several important provisions:
1. The religious settlement at Westphalia confirmed the predominance of Catholicism in southern Germany and of Protestantism in northern Germany. The principle accepted by the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 that Catholic and Lutheran princes could determine the religion practiced in their territory was maintained (at least in theory – most rulers did not enforce it), and this privilege was extended to include the Calvinists as well. In practice, Westphalia led to widespread religious toleration;
2. Dutch independence from Spain was recognized;
3. Sweden gained territory around the Baltic, fulfilling in part Gustavus Adolphus’s aims;
4. France gained control of the area known as the Alsece-Lorraine region, which served as the boundary between France and Germany;
5. The Austrian Habsburgs maintained their control over their hereditary lands in the east;
6. The German princes were granted the power to pursue their own foreign policy, making them independent from the Holy Roman Empire. They are also granted formal rights to enter into alliances, as long as they are not directed against the Empire.
ª The further results of the war and the two peace treaties were highly significant:
1. France replaced Spain as the greatest power in Europe. With Sweden, France had blocked the Habsburg efforts to strengthen their authority in the Empire.
2. The Empire was further dismembered by the recognition of the independence of Switzerland and the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands. Two new powers emerged in northern Germany. Sweden received part of Pomerania and several bishoprics, while Brandenburg-Prussia added the rest of Pomerania and several secularized bishoprics to its possessions.
3. The Austrian Habsburgs had failed in their efforts to increase their authority in the Empire and to eradicate Protestantism, but they emerged from the war stronger than before. In Bohemia, they had stamped out Protestantism, broken the power of the old nobility, and declared the crown hereditary in the male line of their family. With Bohemia now firmly in their grasp and with their large group of adjoining territories, they were ready to expand to the east in the Balkans, to the south in Italy, or to interfere once more in the Empire.
4. The real losers in the war were the German people. Over 300,000 had been killed in battle. Millions of civilians had died of malnutrition and disease, and wandering, undisciplined troops had robbed, burned, and looted almost at will. Most authorities believe that the population of the Empire dropped from about 21,000,000 to 13,500,000 between 1618 and 1648. Even if they exaggerate, the Thirty Years War remains one of the most terrible in history.