The Thirty Years' War is the first military conflict that has engulfed the whole of Europe. Two large groups took part in it: the Habsburg bloc (Austro-German and Spanish Habsburgs, the Catholic principalities of Germany, Poland) and the anti-Habsburg coalition (Denmark, Sweden, France, the Protestant principalities of Germany, England, Holland, Russia). Both religious and political reasons contributed to the development of this conflict.
Religious reasons
"War of Faiths" is the second name of a large-scale military conflict that lasted from 1618 to 1648. Indeed, the Thirty Years' War became the most terrible period of confrontation between Catholics and Protestants in the 17th century. Many people took up arms to establish the dominance of the "right faith". The names of the opposing alliances also testify to the religious nature of the war. In particular, the Protestants created the Evangelical Union (1608), and the Catholics - the Catholic League (1609).
The intensity of relations between Protestants and Catholics occurred when in 1617 Ferdinand of Styria was proclaimed king of the Czech Republic, who at the same time was the heir to the entire HolyRoman Empire. He was a Catholic and was not going to reckon with the interests of the Protestants. This was clearly shown in his policy. So, he gave various privileges to Catholics, and he limited the rights of Protestants in every possible way. The main government posts were occupied by Catholics, while Protestants, on the contrary, were persecuted. A ban was imposed on the performance of Protestant religious rites. As a result of violence, part of the Protestants went over to the Catholics. Religious clashes are back to normal.
All of the above led to the uprising of the Prague Protestants on May 23, 1618. Then the “Second Prague Defenestration” took place: the rebellious Protestants threw Habsburg officials out of the windows of one of the fortresses in Prague. The latter remained alive only thanks to the fact that they fell into the dung. Later, the Catholic Church explained their salvation by the help of angels. After the events described, the Catholic army moved on the rebels. Thus began the Thirty Years' War.
Political reasons
But the causes of the Thirty Years' War are connected not only with religion. The political nature of the conflict became clear in the subsequent periods of the war (Swedish, Danish and Franco-Swedish). It was based on the struggle against the hegemony of the Habsburgs. Thus, Denmark and Sweden, defending the interests of the Protestants, wanted to gain political leadership in Central Europe. In addition, these countries were trying to get rid of competitors on the northern sea routes.
The Thirty Years' War contributed to the fragmentation of the empireHabsburgs, so even Catholic France went over to the side of the Protestants. The latter was afraid of an excessive strengthening of the empire, and also had territorial claims in the Southern Netherlands, Alsace, Lorraine and Northern Italy. England fought the Habsburgs at sea. The Thirty Years' War, rooted in religion, quickly turned into one of Europe's biggest political conflicts.
