Eric hobsbawm, the british marxist historian, first proposed an economic crisis associated with the long transition of the european economy from feudalism to capitalism between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. The effects of the war included the creation of the peace of westphalia and a start to remaking the religious and political boundaries in europe. Much of this area was protestant after the western schism the reformation. The first was religious tension and disagreement among protestants and catholics. Main causes of the thirty years war pdf david machin main causes of the thirty years war.
The thirty years war was fought overwhelmingly for religious purposes, with countries being drawn into war to defend the sanctity of one religion or another, and always divided catholics and protestants. What were the causes of the thirty years war answers. A deadly continental struggle, the thirty years war devastated seventeenthcentury europe, killing nearly a quarter of all germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Main causes of the thirty years war by david machin. The socioeconomic relations military mortality crises. The continental conflict arose out of political and religious issues in the holy roman empire and europe as.
Sweden did not enter the war for religious reasons at all. The history of the thirty years war by frederick schiller translated from the german by the rev. This war would mark the future if the european continent in the centuries to follow. Major stumbling blocks to the study of the war include the need to work with at least fourteen languages, study thousands of published works, and toil in numerous archives to produce a study that would cover all aspects of a conflict that involved much of. The thirty years war began as a religious civil war between the protestants and roman catholics in germany that engaged the austrian habsburgs and the german princes. Main causes of the thirty years war publish your master. The political motives became more and more prevalent when sweden entered the war to help the protestant cause. Its destructive campaigns and battles occurred over most of europe, and, when it ended, the map of europe had been irrevocably changed. One important example of this crisis is the thirty years war. Both william of normandy and the count of anjou claimed to have conquered brittany. The history of the thirty years war by friedrich schiller, translated by the rev. This answer will therefore only deal with the more general causes. The thirty years war was a war fought primarily in central europe between 1618 and 1648. As brutal as the fighting was in the thirty years war, hundreds of thousands died as a result of famine caused by the conflict as well as an epidemic of typhus, a disease that spread rapidly in.
In 1152, henry plantagenet, a greatgrandson of william of normandy, married eleanor of aquitaine. It was also one of the most destructive wars in european history, responsible for the deaths of at least eight million people at a time when the continent numbered. The thirty years war occurred in the early 1600s, after the reformation and counter reformation which occurred in the 1500s. This is not an example of the work written by professional essay writers. The thirty years war was a 17thcentury religious conflict fought primarily in.
Pdf with the end of the thirty years war, marked by the peace of westphalia, the. Thirty years war 161848, in european history, a series of wars fought by various nations for various reasons, including religious, dynastic, territorial, and commercial rivalries. The thirty years war, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, started in the present germany and spread to other parts of europe. What began as a local, religious conflict became more and more continental and political with each expanding phase of the war. With the end of the thirty years war, marked by the peace of westphalia, the power of princes and independent feudal identities disappeared as a nationalist conception appeared throughout europe. The book also encapsulates so much about why the war is so complex. The rise of the thirty years war essay 1573 words 7 pages. David machin main causes of the thirty years war world. Writing a history of the thirty years war 16181648 presents the historian with many problems because of the complexity of the conflict. The religious and constitutional struggle of the thirty years war was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in modern history.
Thirty years war 161848, in european history, a series of wars fought by various nations for various reasons, including religious, dynastic, territorial, and. It remains one of the longest and most brutal wars in human. Most of the fighting took place in the holy roman empire, although the war grew to include european powers outside of the empire. The name the hundred years war has been used by historians since the beginning of the nineteenth century to describe the long conflict that pitted the kings. Best books on the thirty years war five books expert. It started as a religious unification and became a great power conflict. The military mortality crises ofthe thirty years war work and accurate arithmetic. The general crisis in the 17th century history essay. Essay from the year 2012 in the subject history miscellaneous, grade. There were several conflicts that comprised the thirty years war, and they had many different, specific causes. What are two causes of the thirty years war answers. The causes of the thirty years war can be traced as far back as the renaissance period.
The house of habsburg spain and austria phillip iii of spain attempted to continue the foreign policy aspirations of his father, phillip ii, which essentially meant that spain had to be kept on a war footing. In 1617 roman catholic officials in bohemia closed protestant chapels that were being constructed by citizens of the towns of broumov and hrob, thus. Where the medium and longterm effects of the thirty years war are concerned. Attempts to locate the causes of the thirty years war more firmly in material reality are primarily associated with the debate on the general crisis of the seventeenth century. A brief history with documents bedford series in history and culture hans medick. The war had its origin in the religious disputes between the catholics and the protests. If you call something a war, it implies a certain unity and polarity to the conflict. The causes of the thirty years war 1618 48 oxford academic.
One of the causes of the thirty years war 16181648 was the growing religious and political tension between roman catholics and protestant christians. Initially a war between various protestant and catholic states in the fragmented holy roman empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the european great powers. In this lesson we explore the thirty years war and the subsequent peace of westphalia. Strategic cause of the 30 years war spanish decide they must sail to italy and go up the peninsula to avoid the swiss and make their way through the habsburg empire to invade the spanish netherlands, known as the spanish road to flanders, completely surrounded by catholics. It has a beginning similarly ridiculous to the event which is supposed to begin the thirty years war in the assassination of the austrian archduke. The thirty years war can be seen as the climax of this era in history. Your next book on the thirty years war is more of a memoir. Taking place from approximately 1618 to 1648, the thirty years war in europe had two primary causes. Ebook human sciences history general, encyclopedias david machin. It was a war that took place in central europe especially in germany between 1618 and 1648, in which the majority of the great european powers intervened. It was during the renaissance that such ideals as secularism, humanism, individualism, rationalism and above all else secularism were first apparent in main stream society. The reason for the battle of the thirty years war was to battle for religious control of holy roman empire. The thirty years war was sparked by a great many factors, a few of which rose to the top of the reason list.
Note 4 consequences of the war and the peace of westphalia. Defenestration of prague, may 23, 1618, incident of bohemian resistance to habsburg authority that preceded the beginning of the thirty years war. If youre interested in the thirty years war, this is one of the only good works of historical fiction about that era. The thirty years war was primarily fought over religion and all stemmed from a little squabble in bohemia. The causes of the thirty years war in western europe. It was the last and most destructive of the religious wars, after which warfare and politics became more purely secular in. With reference to the situation in the empire, outline the chief causes of the thirty years war. The thirty years war 16181648 began as a religious war between protestants and. The history of the thirty years war translated from the german by the rev. The war soon developed into a devastating struggle for the balance of power in europe.
With emperor ferdinand iis ascension to head of state of the holy roman empire in 1619, religious conflict began to foment. The thirty years war was the most destructive war in the history of. This article highlights the various causes of the thirty years war. What were the causes and effects of the thirty years war. As no satisfactory agreement could be reached between the followers of catholicism and protestantism, a feeling of bitterness continued to persist between them which ultimately culminated in the thirty years war. His expedition with the worthy scots regiment called mackeyes this is a classic text from the thirty years war. The thirty years war was primarily fought over religion and all stemmed from a. Peter wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict. It was very destructive to central europe and divided germany until 1870. The thirty years war was actually a number of wars. He inherited a large part of central europe when he became holy roman emperor. The thirty years war was a european continental war that took place from 16181648 thirty years.
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