Thirty Years in September

Britain and the Thirty Years War

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The French, though Catholic, were rivals of the Habsburgs and were unhappy with the provisions of the Peace of Prague. Thus, the French entered the conflict in However, at least initially, their armies were unable to make inroads against the forces of Ferdinand II, even after he died of old age in However, the French recovered, and fighting between the French-Protestant alliance and the forces of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were at a stalemate for the next several years.

In , the Portuguese began to revolt against their Spanish rulers, thereby weakening their military efforts on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire. Two years later, the Swedes re-entered the fray, further weakening Habsburg forces. The next year, , was pivotal in the decades-long conflict. That year, Denmark-Norway took up arms again, this time fighting on the side of the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire.

Over the ensuing years, the French army had several notable victories, but also suffered significant defeats, particularly at the Battle of Herbsthausen in Also in , the Swedes attacked Vienna, but were unable to capture the city from the Holy Roman Empire. In , the Habsburg forces led by Octavio Piccolomini were able to repel the Swedes and the French from what is now Austria. Weakened by the fighting, for example, Spain lost its grip over Portugal and the Dutch republic.

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The peace accords also granted increased autonomy to the former Holy Roman Empire states in German-speaking central Europe. Ultimately, though, historians believe the Peace of Westphalia laid the groundwork for the formation of the modern nation-state, establishing fixed boundaries for the countries involved in the fighting and effectively decreeing that residents of a state were subject to the laws of that state and not to those of any other institution, secular or religious.

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This radically altered the balance of power in Europe and resulted in reduced influence over political affairs for the Catholic Church, as well as other religious groups. What happened in the Thirty Years War? We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Treaty of Westphalia is signed, ending the Thirty Years War and radically shifting the balance of power in Europe. The Thirty Years War, a series of wars fought by European nations for various reasons, ignited in over an attempt by the king of Bohemia the future Holy One centered on the maritime and colonial conflict between Britain and its Bourbon enemies, France and Spain; the second, on the conflict between Frederick II the Great of Prussia and his opponents: Luther spent his early years in relative anonymity as a monk and scholar.

Two factors lay at the origin of the conflict: Finally, the Swedish aggressive assault method of firing by triple-ranked salvos at point blank range, compared to the Imperialist's more traditional way of firing by volley would prove to be a nasty shock to Tilly's tercios.

The Swedes deployed their 15, infantry in brigades and two lines. The imperial army deployed 25, infantry in a single line of seventeen tercios 1, infantrymen in each.

Thirty Years’ War

The German allies extended the Swedish-Saxon front to be overall slightly longer than the Imperial. The imperial line had its cavalry evenly distributed on its flanks. The Swedes had their cavalry weighted to their right. The Saxon allies fielded their infantry in wedge formation with units in squares, and cavalry on their flanks.

With their Saxon allies extending the Swedes' line, the Protestants had cavalry at the centre and their flanks. The battle started in the middle of the day and lasted over six hours. The first two hours consisted of an exchange of artillery fire.

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This was followed by an Imperial attack with cavalry from both wings to both ends of the Protestant line. The cavalry attack routed the Saxon troops on the Swedish left flank. The Imperial army then conducted a general attack to exploit the exposed left flank. The Swedes repositioned their second line to cover the left flank and counterattacked with their cavalry to both imperial flanks. The attack on the Imperial left was led personally by Gustavus Adolphus, capturing the Imperial artillery and enveloping the Imperial left flank.

The Swedes now had much greater weight of fire from their artillery, infantry, and the captured Imperial artillery. The Imperial line became disorganized under the heavy fire and was enveloped. The combined Swedish-Saxon forces were to the north of Leipzig centred around hamlet of Podelwitz, facing southwest toward Breitenfeld and Leipzig.

The battle began around mid-day, with a two-hour exchange of artillery fire, during which the Swedes demonstrated firepower in a rate of fire of three to five volleys to one Imperial volley. The same tactics worked an hour or so later when the Imperial cavalry charged the Swedish left flank.

During the charges of the Imperialist cuirassiers, Tilly's infantry had remained stationary, but then the cavalry on his right charged the Saxon cavalry and routed it towards Eilenburg. Tilly ordered his infantry to march ahead diagonally to the right, concentrating his forces on the weaker Saxon flank.

Thirty Years War conference at Royal Armouries Museum

The entire Saxon force was routed, leaving the Swedish left flank exposed. Before the Imperial forces could regroup and change face towards the Swedes, the commander of the Swedish Left, Marshal Gustav Horn , refused his line and counter-attacked before the tercios could regroup and change face. The Imperialist tercios then faced the full brunt of the new Swedish firepower for the first time:.

With the Imperial forces engaged, the Swedish right and centre pivoted on the refused angle, bringing them in line with Horn. As Tilly's men came under fire from their own captured batteries, the Swedish cannon, under Lennart Torstensson , rotated, catching the tercios in a crossfire.

Thirty Years in September

After several hours of punishment, nearing sunset, the Catholic line finally broke. Tilly and Pappenheim were both wounded, though they escaped. The Saxon artillery was recaptured, along with all the Imperial guns and regimental flags. In the short term, the Catholic and Imperial forces were significantly hampered by the loss of most of the force.

One hundred and twenty standards of the Imperial and Bavarian armies were taken and are still on display in the Riddarholm church in Stockholm. The army had to be rebuilt.

Gustavus Adolphus, on the other hand, had a larger army after the battle than before. The battle's outcome had the political effect of convincing Protestant German states to join his cause. Finally, with the seventy-two-year-old Tilly's recovery far from certain and he did indeed die within six months while crossing the Lech river , and with no alternative commander at hand, Emperor Ferdinand II had no choice but to rehire Wallenstein. The totality of the victory confirmed Gustav's military innovations and guaranteed that the Swedes would remain engaged in the war for the foreseeable future.

In the long term, the significant loss of forces and the creation of a strong Protestant anti-Imperial force required the Emperor and the Protestant and Catholic princes to rethink on the operational conduct of the war, and the diplomatic avenues they would pursue with it. Gustav's success encouraged several other princes to join the cause of the Swedish king and his few allies. By the month's end, Hanover, the Hessian dukes, Brandenburg and Saxony were officially aligned against the empire, and France had agreed to provide substantially greater funding for Gustavus' armies.

Even when Swedish leadership faltered it did not fail, and the influx of French gold ensured that the hostilities could continue.

Causes of the Thirty Years’ War

The battlefield today is bisected by the A14 autobahn, which slices through the fields where the majority of the action occurred, between the original position of Tilly, at Breitenfeld, and the original positions of the Swedes and Saxons, around Podelwitz. In the eastern portion of the village of Breitenfeld stands a monument to Gustav Adolf and the victory his army accomplished there in It was erected in on the two hundredth anniversary of the battle and bears the following inscription:. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with Battle of Breitenfeld This article includes a list of references , but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. September Learn how and when to remove this template message. Swedish Intervention in the Thirty Years' War. Breitenfeld order of battle. Further information on Consequences of the Thirty Years' War: Archived from the original PDF on

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