Early European History Part 119

THE BOHEMIAN REVOLT

The Thirty Years' War was not so much a single conflict as a series of conflicts, which ultimately involved nearly all western Europe. It began in Bohemia, where Protestantism had not been extinguished by the Hussite wars. [37] The Bohemian n.o.bles, many of whom were Calvinists, revolted against Hapsburg rule and proclaimed the independence of Bohemia. The German Lutherans gave them no aid, however, and the emperor, Ferdinand II, easily put down the insurrection. Many thousands of Protestants were now driven into exile. Those who remained in Bohemia were obliged to accept Roman Catholicism. Thus one more country was lost to Protestantism.

DANISH INTERVENTION

The failure of the Bohemian revolt aroused the greatest alarm in Germany.

Ferdinand threatened to follow in the footsteps of Charles V and to crush Protestantism in the land of its birth. When, therefore, the king of Denmark, who as duke of Holstein had great interest in German affairs, decided to intervene, both Lutherans and Calvinists supported him. But Wallenstein, the emperor's able general, proved more than a match for the Danish king, who at length withdrew from the contest.

EDICT OF RESt.i.tUTION, 1692 A.D.

So far the Roman Catholic and imperial party had triumphed. Ferdinand's success led him to issue the Edict of Rest.i.tution, which compelled the Protestants to restore all the Church property which they had taken since the Peace of Augsburg. The enforcement of the edict brought about renewed resistance on the part of the Protestants.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS AND THE INTERVENTION OF SWEDEN

There now appeared the single heroic figure on the stage of the Thirty Years' War. This was Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, and a man of military genius. He had the deepest sympathy for his fellow-Protestants in Germany and regarded himself as their divinely appointed deliverer. By taking part in the war Gustavus also hoped to conquer the coast of northern Germany. The Baltic would then become a Swedish lake, for Sweden already possessed Finland and what are now the Russian provinces on the Baltic.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS After the portrait by the Flemish artist, Sir Anthony Van Dyck.]

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN GERMANY, 1630-1632 A.D.

Gustavus entered Germany with a strong force of disciplined soldiers and tried to form alliances with the Protestant princes. They received him coolly at first, for the Swedish king seemed to them only a foreign invader. Just at this time the imperialists captured Magdeburg, the largest and most prosperous city in northern Germany. At least twenty thousand of the inhabitants perished miserably amid the smoking ruins of their homes. This ma.s.sacre turned Protestant sentiment toward Gustavus as the "Lion of the North" who had come to preserve Germany from destruction.

With the help of his allies Gustavus reconquered most of Germany for the Protestants, but he fell at the battle of Lutzen in the moment of victory.

His work, however, was done. The Swedish king had saved the cause of Protestantism in Germany.

RICHELIEU AND THE INTERVENTION OF FRANCE

After the death of Gustavus the war a.s.sumed more and more a political character. The German Protestants found an ally, strangely enough, in Cardinal Richelieu, the all-powerful minister of the French king.

Richelieu entered the struggle in order to humble the Austrian Hapsburgs and extend the boundaries of France toward the Rhine, at the expense of the Holy Roman Empire. Since the Spanish Hapsburgs were aiding their Austrian kinsmen, Richelieu naturally fought against Spain also. The war thus became a great international conflict in which religion played only a minor part. The Holy Roman Emperor had to yield at last and consented to the treaties of peace signed at two cities in the province of Westphalia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, EUROPE at the End of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 A.D.]

PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, 1648 A.D.

The Peace of Westphalia ended the long series of wars which followed the Reformation. It practically settled the religious question, for it allowed Calvinists in Germany to enjoy the same privileges as Lutherans and also withdrew the Edict of Rest.i.tution. Nothing was said in the treaties about liberty of conscience, but from this time the idea that religious differences should be settled by force gradually pa.s.sed away from the minds of men.

TERRITORIAL READJUSTMENTS

The political clauses of the peace were numerous. France received nearly all of Alsace along the Rhine. Sweden gained possessions in North Germany.

Brandenburg--the future kingdom of Prussia--secured additional territory on the Baltic Sea. The independence of Switzerland [38] and of the United Netherlands [39] was also recognized.

DISRUPTION OF GERMANY

The Peace of Westphalia left Germany more divided than ever. Each one of the larger states was free to coin money, raise armies, make war, and negotiate treaties without consulting the emperor. In fact, the Holy Roman Empire had become a mere phantom. The Hapsburgs from now on devoted themselves to their Austrian dominions, which included more Magyars and Slavs than Germans. The failure of the Hapsburgs in the Thirty Years' War long postponed the unification of Germany.

EXHAUSTION OF GERMANY

During the Thirty Years' War Germany had seen most of the fighting. She suffered from it to the point of exhaustion. The population dwindled from about sixteen million to one-half, or, as some believe, to one-third that number. The loss of life was partly due to the fearful epidemics, such as typhus fever and the bubonic plague, which spread over the land in the wake of the invading armies. Hundreds of villages were destroyed or were abandoned by their inhabitants. Much of the soil went out of cultivation, while trade and manufacturing nearly disappeared. Added to all this was the decline of education, literature, and art, and the brutalizing of the people in mind and morals. It took Germany at least one hundred years to recover from the injury inflicted by the Thirty Years' War; complete recovery, indeed, came only in the nineteenth century.

RISE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

The savagery displayed by all partic.i.p.ants in the Thirty Years' War could not but impress thinking men with the necessity of formulating rules to protect noncombatants, to care for prisoners, and to do away with pillage and ma.s.sacre. The worst horrors of the war had not taken place, before a Dutch jurist, named Hugo Grotius, published at Paris in 1625 A.D. a work _On the Laws of War and Peace_. It may be said to have founded international law. The success of the book was remarkable. Gustavus Adolphus carried a copy about with him during his campaigns, and its leading doctrines were recognized and acted upon in the Peace of Westphalia.

THE EUROPEAN STATE SYSTEM

The great principle on which Grotius based his recommendations was the independence of sovereign states. He gave up the medieval conception of a temporal and spiritual head of Christendom. The nations now recognized no common superior, whether emperor or pope, but all were equal in the sight of international law. The book of Grotius thus marked the profound change which had come over Europe since the Middle Ages.

STUDIES

1. On an outline map indicate the European countries ruled by Charles V.

2. On an outline map indicate the princ.i.p.al territorial changes made by the Peace of Westphalia.

3. Identify the following dates: 1648 A.D.; 1519 A.D.; 1517 A.D.; 1588 A.D.; 1598 A.D.; and 1555 A.D.

4. Locate the following places: Avignon; Constance; Augsburg; Zurich; Worms; Magdeburg; and Utrecht.

5. For what were the following persons noted: Cardinal Wolsey; Admiral de Coligny; Duke of Alva; Richelieu; St. Ignatius Loyola; Boniface VIII; Frederick the Wise; Gustavus Adolphus; and Mary Queen of Scots?

6. Compare the scene at Anagni with the scene at Canossa.

7. On the map, page 646, trace the geographical extent of the "Great Schism."

8. Name three important reasons for the lessened influence of the Roman Church at the opening of the sixteenth century.

9. Explain the difference between heresy and schism.

10. Why has Wycliffe been called the "morning star of the Reformation"?

11. Compare Luther's work in fixing the form of the German language with Dante's service to Italian through the _Divine Comedy_.

12. What is the origin of the name "Protestant"?

13. Why was Mary naturally a Catholic and Elizabeth naturally a Protestant?

14. On the map, page 663, trace the geographical extent of the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

15. Why did the reformers in each country take special pains to translate the Bible into the vernacular?

16. What is the chief difference in mode of government between Presbyterian and Congregational churches?

17. "The heroes of the Reformation, judged by modern standards, were reactionaries." What does this statement mean?

18. Why is the Council of Trent generally considered the most important church council since that of Nicaea?

19. Mention some differences between the Society of Jesus and earlier monastic orders.

20. Compare the Edict of Nantes with the Peace of Augsburg.