The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy

Description

A deadly continental struggle, the Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world. When defiant Bohemians tossed the Habsburg emperor’s envoys from the castle windows in Prague in 1618, the Holy Roman Empire struck back with a vengeance. Bohemia was ravaged by mercenary troops in the first battle of a conflagration that would engulf Europe from Spain to Sweden. The sweeping narrative encompasses dramatic events and unforgettable individuals—the sack of Magdeburg; the Dutch revolt; the Swedish militant king Gustavus Adolphus; the imperial generals, opportunistic Wallenstein and pious Tilly; and crafty diplomat Cardinal Richelieu. In a major reassessment, Wilson argues that religion was not the catalyst, but one element in a lethal stew of political, social, and dynastic forces that fed the conflict. By war’s end a recognizably modern Europe had been created, but at what price? The Thirty Years War condemned the Germans to two centuries of internal division and international impotence and became a benchmark of brutality for centuries. As late as the 1960s, Germans placed it ahead of both world wars and the Black Death as their country’s greatest disaster. An understanding of the Thirty Years War is essential to comprehending modern European history. Wilson’s masterful book will stand as the definitive account of this epic conflict. Contents List of Illustrations List of Maps and Battle Plans List of Tables Note on Form The Habsburg Family Tree 1500–1665 Map of Central Europe, 1618 Note on Currencies Preface Part One: Beginnings 1 Introduction 2 Trouble in the Heart of Christendom 3 Casa d’Austria 4 The Turkish War and its Consequences 5 Pax Hispanica 6 Dominium Maris Baltici 7 From Rudolf to Matthias 1582–1612 8 On the Brink? Part Two: Conflict 9 The Bohemian Revolt 1618–20 10 Ferdinand Triumphant 1621–4 11 Olivares and Richelieu 12 Denmark’s War against the Emperor 1625–9 13 The Threat of European War 1628–30 14 The Lion of the North 1630–2 15 Without Gustavus 1633–4 16 For the Liberty of Germany 1635–6 17 Habsburg High Tide 1637–40 18 In the Balance 1641–3 19 Pressure to Negotiate 1644–5 20 War or Peace 1646–8 Part Three: Aftermath 21 The Westphalian Settlement 22 The Human and Material Cost 23 Experiencing War Abbreviations Notes Index Illustrations