If the present work should appear to be written for more advanced students than those for whom most if not all the other books of the series are designed, the nature of the subject must be pleaded in excuse. The mere fact that it relates exclusively to Continental history makes it unlikely that junior pupils would approach it in any shape, and it is probably impossible to make the very complicated relations between the German states and other European nations interesting to those who are for the first time, or almost the first time, attempting to acquire historical knowledge. Every history, to be a history, must have a unity of its own, and here we have no unity of national life such as that which is reflected in the institutions of England and France, not even the unity of a great race of sovereigns handing down the traditions of government from one generation to another. The unity of the subject which I have chosen must be sought in the growth of the principle of religious toleration as it is adopted or repelled by the institutions under which Germany and France, the two principal nations with which we are concerned, are living. Thus the history of the period may be compared to a gigantic dissolving view. As we enter upon it our minds are filled with German men and things. But Germany fails to find the solution of the problem before it. Gradually France comes with increasing distinctness before us. It succeeds where Germany had failed, and occupies us more and more till it fills the whole field of action.
But though, as I have said, the present work is not intended for young children, neither is it intended for those who require the results of original research. The data for a final judgment on the story are scattered in so many repositories that the Germans themselves have now discovered that a complete investigation into one or other of the sections into which the war naturally falls, is sufficient work for any man. There must surely, however, be many, as well in the upper classes of schools as in more advanced life, who would be glad to know at second hand what is the result of recent inquiry in Germany into the causes of the failure of the last attempt, before our own day, to constitute a united German nation. The writer who undertakes such a task encounters, with his eyes open, all the hazards to which a second-hand narrative is liable. His impressions are less sharp, and are exposed to greater risk of error than those of one who goes direct to the fountain head. He must be content to be the retailer rather than the manufacturer of history, knowing that each kind of work has its use.
Not that the present book is a mere collection of other men's words. If I have often adopted without much change the narrative or opinions of German writers, I have never said any thing which I have not made my own, by passing it through my own mind. To reproduce with mere paste and scissors passages from the writings of men so opposed to one another as Ranke, Gindely, Ritter, Opel, Hurter, Droysen, Gfrörer, Klopp, Förster, Villermont, Uetterodt, Koch, and others, would be to bewilder, not to instruct. And in forming my own opinions I have had the advantage not merely of being in the habit of writing from original documents, but of having studied at least some of the letters and State papers of the time. I have thus, for example, been able, from my knowledge of the despatches of Sir Robert Anstruther, to neglect Droysen's elaborate argument that Christian IV. took part in the war through jealousy of Gustavus Adolphus; and to speak, in opposition to Onno Klopp, of the persistence of the Dukes of Mecklenburg in the support which they gave to the King of Denmark.
More valuable than the little additional knowledge thus obtained is the insight into the feelings and thoughts of the Catholic princes gained by a very slight acquaintance with their own correspondence. To start by trying to understand what a man appears to himself, and only when that has been done, to try him by the standard of the judgment of others, is in my opinion the first canon of historical portraiture; and it is one which till very recent times has been more neglected by writers on the Thirty Years' War than by students of any other portion of history.
My teachers in Germany from whom I have borrowed so freely, and according to the rules of the series, without acknowledgment in foot-notes, will, I hope, accept this little book, not as an attempt to do that which they are so much better qualified to execute, but as an expression of the sympathy which an Englishman cannot but feel for the misfortunes as well as the achievements of his kindred on the Continent, and as an effort to tell something of the by-gone fortunes of their race to those amongst his own countrymen to whom, from youth or from circumstances of education, German literature is a sealed book.
I have only to add that the dates are according to the New Style. Ten days must be deducted to bring them in accordance with those used at the time in England.
| CHAPTER I. CAUSES OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. |
||
| Section I.—Political Institutions of Germany (1440-1517). | ||
| PAGE | ||
| National institutions of Germany defective | 1 | |
| (a) As regarded the Emperor | 1 | |
| (b) As regarded the great vassals | 3 | |
| Attempts made to introduce order by giving a regular form to the Diet | 5 | |
| These, though only partially successful, are not altogether useless | 6 | |
| Constitution of the Diet | 6 | |
| Section II.—Protestantism in Germany (1517-1570). | ||
| Protestantism acceptable to the majority of the nation, but rejected by the Emperor and the Diet | 8 | |
| The result is a civil war, resulting in a compromise, called the Peace of Augsburg (1555). Its terms being ambiguous on some important points, give rise to controversy | 10 | |
| But as Protestantism is on the increase, the ambiguous points are, at first, construed by the Protestants in their own favour | 11 | |
| The main points at issue relate to the right of Protestants to hold bishoprics, and to the right of Protestant princes to secularize church lands | 12 | |
| Section III.—Reaction against Protestantism (1570-1596). | ||
| Theological controversies are carried on with bitterness amongst the Protestants | 13 | |
| The Catholics, accordingly, begin to gain ground | 14 | |
| And having the Emperor and Diet on their side, are able to use force as well as persuasion | 14 | |
| Want of any popular representation prevents any fair settlement of the dispute | 15 | |
| Section IV.—Three Parties and Three Leaders (1596-1612). | ||
| Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists are respectively guided by Maximilian Duke of Bavaria, John George Elector of Saxony, and Christian of Anhalt | 15 | |
| Character and policy of Maximilian dangerous to the Protestants | 15 | |
| The Protestants of the south more alive to the danger than the Protestants of the north | 17 | |
| Spread of Calvinism, especially in the south, accounted for by the greater danger from Catholic States | 17 | |
| Character and policy of Christian of Anhalt | 18 | |
| 1603 | Accession of James I. of England | |
| 1605 | Gunpowder Plot | |
| 1607 | Donauwörth occupied by Maximilian | 19 |
| 1608 | Formation of the Protestant Union and the Catholic League | 21 |
| 1609 | The quarrel for the succession of Cleves does not result in open war | 21 |
| 1612 | John George fruitlessly attempts to mediate between the Catholics and the Calvinists | 22 |
| 1613 | Marriage of Frederick V., Elector Palatine, to Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England | |
| CHAPTER II. THE BOHEMIAN REVOLUTION. |
||
| Section I.—The House of Austria and its Subjects (1600-1618). | ||
| Political and religious dissensions between the rulers and their subjects | 24 | |
| 1609 | The Emperor Rudolph, as King of Bohemia, grants the Royal Charter to Bohemia | 25 |
| 1611 | He is succeeded by Matthias in spite of the intrigues of Christian of Anhalt | 26 |
| Matthias evades the charter | 27 | |
| 1617 | Ferdinand accepted by the Bohemian Diet as King by hereditary right | 28 |
| 1618 | The Protestant churches on ecclesiastical lands declared illegal by the government of Matthias; one at Braunau shut up, one at Klostergrab pulled down | 29 |
| Section II.—The Revolution at Prague (March-May 1618). | ||
| Mar. 5. | Meeting of the Protestant Estates of Bohemia | 29 |
| May 23. | Attack headed by Thurn upon the Regents at Prague. Martinitz and Slawata thrown out of window. Beginning of the Thirty Years' War | 30 |
| Appointment of Thirty Directors as a Revolutionary Government in Bohemia | 31 | |
| Section III.—The War in Bohemia (May 1618-February 1619). | ||
| Aug. 13. | Bohemia invaded by the Emperor's general, Bucquoi. | |
| The Bohemians look abroad for help. Mansfeld brings troops to them. He besieges Pilsen, whilst Thurn makes head against Bucquoi | 33 | |
| Nov. 21. | Pilsen surrenders | 34 |
| Christian of Anhalt urges Frederick V., Elector Palatine, to intervene on behalf of the Bohemians, and asks the Duke of Savoy to help them | 34 | |
| 1619 Feb. |
The Duke of Savoy talks of dividing the Austrian dominions with Frederick | 35 |
| Section IV.—Ferdinand on his Defence (March-November 1619). | ||
| Mar. 20. | Death of Matthias | 36 |
| June 5. | Vienna besieged by Thurn. Ferdinand threatened by a deputation from the Estates of Lower Austria | 36 |
| He is delivered by a regiment of horse, and Thurn raises the siege | 37 | |
| Aug. 28. | Ferdinand II. elected Emperor | 38 |
| Aug. 26. | Frederick, Elector Palatine, elected King of Bohemia, Ferdinand having been previously deposed | 38 |
| Nov. 4. | Frederick Crowned at Prague | 39 |
| CHAPTER III. IMPERIALIST VICTORIES IN BOHEMIA AND THE PALATINATE |
||
| Section I.—The Attack upon Frederick (November 1619-January 1621). | ||
| 1619 | Maximilian of Bavaria prepares for war | 39 |
| Vienna fruitlessly attacked by Bethlen Gabor | 40 | |
| Frederick finds no support in the Union | 41 | |
| 1620 Mar. |
The North German Princes agree to neutrality at Mühlhausen | 42 |
| June 3. | Spinola, the Spanish General, prepares to attack the Palatinate, and the Union, being frightened, signs the treaty of Ulm, by which it agrees to observe neutrality towards the League | 42 |
| June 23. | Maximilian, with Tilly in command of his army, enters Austria and compels the Austrian Estates to submit, whilst Spinola reduces the Western Palatinate | 42 |
| Maximilian joins Bucquoi, and enters Bohemia | 43 | |
| Sep. 28. | Frederick, having failed to organize resistance, joins the Bohemian army | 44 |
| Nov. 8. | Defeat of Frederick at the Battle of the White Hill, 1619 and submission of Bohemia to the Emperor | 45 |
| Jan. 22. | Frederick put to the Ban of the Empire | 46 |
| Section II.—The War in the Upper Palatinate (January-October 1621). | ||
| 1621 Jan. |
Frederick does not abandon hope of regaining Bohemia | 47 |
| Ap. 12. | The Treaty of Mentz dissolves the Union | 47 |
| Bad character of Mansfeld's Army | 48 | |
| May. | Mansfeld takes the offensive | 49 |
| Aug. | Recommencement of the War in the Lower Palatinate | 50 |
| Oct. | Mansfeld unable to hold out in the Upper Palatinate | 50 |
| Oct. 10. | Signs an engagement to disband his forces, but escapes with them to Alsace | 50 |
| Section III.—Frederick's Allies (October 1621-May 1622). | ||
| 1621 | James I. of England proposes to take Mansfeld into his pay, but he cannot agree with the House of Commons, and is therefore in want of money | 50 |
| 1622 | He then tries to obtain a settlement of the German disputes with the aid of Spain | 51 |
| May. | A conference for the pacification of Germany held at Brussels | 52 |
| Frederick prepares for War, with the help of Mansfeld, the Margrave of Baden, and Christian of Brunswick, the latter being a Protestant Administrator of the Bishopric of Halberstadt | 53 | |
| He ravages the diocese of Paderborn | 55 | |
| Section IV.—The Fight for the Lower Palatinate (April-July 1622). | ||
| Ap. 12. May 6. |
Frederick joins Mansfeld. Tilly defeats the Margrave of Baden at Wimpfen | 57 |
| June. | Frederick, hopeful of success, refuses to consent to a treaty, and seizes the Landgrave of Darmstadt | 58 |
| But is driven by Tilly to retreat | 59 | |
| June 30. | Defeat of Christian of Brunswick at Höchst | 59 |
| July. | Mansfeld abandons the Palatinate, and Frederick, after taking refuge at Sedan, retires to the Hague | 60 |
| CHAPTER IV. MANSFELD AND CHRISTIAN IN NORTH GERMANY. |
||
| Section I.—Mansfeld's March into the Netherlands (July-November 1622). | ||
| 1622 | Tilly proceeds to reduce the fortified places in the Lower Palatinate | 60 |
| 1623 Feb. 13 |
The Electorate transferred from Frederick to Maximilian | 61 |
| 1622 | Change of feeling in North Germany | 61 |
| Aug. | Mansfeld and Christian establish themselves in Lorraine, and then try to cut their way through the Spanish Netherlands to join the Duke | 63 |
| Aug. 28. | Battle of Fleurus. Christian loses his arm | 63 |
| Nov. | Mansfeld establishes himself in East Friesland | 64 |
| Section II.—Christian of Brunswick in Lower Saxony (November 1622-August 1623). | ||
| 1622 | The Lower Saxon Circle urged by Tilly to join him against Mansfeld, and by Christian of Brunswick to join him against Tilly | 64 |
| 1623 Feb. |
Warlike preparations of the Circle | 65 |
| Aug. 6. | Christian expelled from the Circle, and defeated by Tilly at Stadtlohn | 66 |
| Section III.—Danger of the Lower Saxon Circle (August-December 1623). | ||
| 1623 | The North German Protestant Bishoprics in danger | 66 |
| Aug. | Alarm in the Lower Saxon Circle | 68 |
| Dec. | But nothing is done, and its troops are disbanded | 68 |
| Section IV.—England and France (October 1623-August 1624). | ||
| Oct. | Foreign Powers ready to interfere | 69 |
| Return of the Prince of Wales from Madrid | 70 | |
| 1624 Feb.‑May |
Divergence between the English House of Commons and James I. upon the mode of recovering the Palatinate | 70 |
| Position of the Huguenots in France | 72 | |
| Section V.—Rise of Richelieu (August 1624-September 1625). | ||
| Aug. | Lewis XIII. makes Richelieu his chief minister. He is divided between a desire to combat Spain and a desire to reduce the Huguenots to submission | 72 |
| Richelieu's position less strong than it afterwards became. He has to make great allowances for the King's humour | 74 | |
| Dec. | French attack upon the Spanish garrisons in the Valtelline | 75 |
| 1625 Jan.‑June |
Failure of Mansfeld's expedition intended by James to recover the Palatinate | 76 |
| Jan. | Richelieu's plans for engaging more deeply in the war frustrated by the rising of the Huguenots of Rochelle | 77 |
| Sept. | The Huguenot fleet is defeated, but Rochelle holds out | 77 |
| CHAPTER V. INTERVENTION OF THE KING OF DENMARK. |
||
| Section I.—Christian IV. and Gustavus Adolphus (1624). | ||
| Character and position of Christian IV., King of Denmark | 78 | |
| Genius of Gustavus Adolphus | 79 | |
| Sketch of the earlier part of his reign | 80 | |
| His interest in German affairs | 82 | |
| Section II.—English Diplomacy (August 1624-July 1625). | ||
| 1624 Aug. |
The Kings of Denmark and Sweden asked by James I. to join him in recovering the Palatinate | 84 |
| 1625 Jan. |
The English Government, thinking the demands of Gustavus exorbitant, forms an alliance with Christian IV. | 85 |
| June. | Meeting of the first Parliament of Charles I. | |
| June | Gustavus directs his forces against Poland | 86 |
| Mar. 27. | Death of James I. Accession of Charles I. | 86 |
| July 18. | Christian IV., at the head of the Circle of Lower Saxony, enters upon war with the army of the League commanded by Tilly | 87 |
| Aug. | Dissolution of the first Parliament of Charles I. | |
| Section III.—Wallenstein's Armament (July 1625-February 1626). | ||
| The Emperor needs more forces | 87 | |
| Wallenstein offers to raise an army for him. Account of Wallenstein's early life | 89 | |
| The system by which the army is to be supported is to be one of forced contributions | 90 | |
| Oppressive burdens laid thereby on the country | 91 | |
| Wallenstein enters the dioceses of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, and lies quietly there during the winter | 92 | |
| 1626 Feb. |
Failure of negotiations for peace | 93 |
| Section IV.—Defeat of Mansfeld and Christian IV. (February-August 1626). | ||
| 1626 Feb. |
Numerical superiority on the side of the King of Denmark, but the Imperialists are superior in other respects | 94 |
| Failure of the supplies promised to Christian by Charles I. | 95 | |
| Feb. | Meeting of the second Parliament of Charles I.—Impeachment of Buckingham | |
| Ap. 25. | Mansfeld defeated by Wallenstein at the Bridge of Dessau | 96 |
| June. | Dissolution of the second Parliament of Charles I. | |
| Aug. 27. | Christian IV. defeated by Tilly at Lutter | 97 |
| Wallenstein pursues Mansfeld into Hungary | 97 | |
| CHAPTER VI. STRALSUND AND ROCHELLE. |
||
| Section I.—Fresh Successes of Wallenstein (August 1626-October 1627). | ||
| 1626 | Divergence between the League and Wallenstein | 98 |
| Nov. | Wallenstein advocates religious equality and the predominance of the army | 98 |
| 1627 Jan. |
He persuades Ferdinand to increase his army, and is created Duke of Friedland, in spite of the growing dissatisfaction with his proceedings | 100 |
| May‑Aug. | The King of Denmark hopes to resist Tilly, but Wallenstein returns from Hungary, and gains possession of Silesia | 101 |
| Sept. 20. | Defeat of the Margrave of Baden at Heiligenhafen | 102 |
| Oct. | Christian IV. flies to the Island of Fünen, leaving Jutland to Wallenstein | 102 |
| Section II.—Resistance to Wallenstein in the Empire (October 1627-February 1628). | ||
| 1627 Oct. |
Meeting of the Electors at Mühlhausen. They complain of Wallenstein | 103 |
| 1628 | The commercial towns of North Germany jealous of Wallenstein | 105 |
| Feb. | The Emperor declares the Dukes of Mecklenburg to have forfeited their lands and titles, and pledges the territory to Wallenstein | 106 |
| Wallenstein tries in vain to gain over the Hanse Towns | 106 | |
| He attempts to establish himself on the coast of the Baltic by getting possession of the towns | 108 | |
| Section III.—The Siege of Stralsund (August-February 1628). | ||
| Feb. | As Stralsund refuses to admit a garrison, it is attacked by Wallenstein's orders | 108 |
| May | It is succoured by Denmark and Sweden | 109 |
| Aug. 3. | The siege is raised | 110 |
| Section IV.—The Siege of Rochelle (1625-1628). | ||
| 1625 | Richelieu would have made peace with the Huguenots if he had been able | 112 |
| 1626 | An agreement is effected, but comes to nothing through the jealousy of Charles I. | 112 |
| 1627 | War between France and England, Buckingham's expedition to Rhé | 113 |
| Nov. | Richelieu besieges Rochelle | 114 |
| 1628 Mar |
Meeting of the third Parliament of Charles I. | |
| May | Failure of an English fleet to succour Rochelle | 115 |
| June | The Petition of Right granted | |
| Aug. | Murder of the Duke of Buckingham | 115 |
| Nov. 1. | Surrender of Rochelle | 115 |
| Contrast between France and Germany. Toleration granted to the Huguenots | 116 | |
| CHAPTER VII. THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION. |
||
| Section I.—Oppression of the Protestants (March 1628-May 1629). | ||
| 1628 Mar. |
Surrender of Stade to Tilly | 117 |
| 1629 Jan. |
Wallenstein fails to take Glückstadt | 117 |
| Mar. | Dissolution of the third Parliament of Charles I. | |
| May 22. | Peace of Lübeck between Christian IV. and the Emperor | 118 |
| Wallenstein invested with the Duchy of Mecklenburg | 118 | |
| 1628 | The Protestants oppressed in the South of Germany | 119 |
| 1629 Mar. 29. |
Issue of the Edict of Restitution | 120 |
| Section II.—French Intervention in Italy (1628-1630). | ||
| 1628 | War in Italy for the succession to the Duchy of Mantua | 121 |
| 1629 Mar. |
Richelieu enters Italy, and compels the Spaniards to raise the siege of Casale | 122 |
| Rebellion of Rohan in the south of France | 123 | |
| 1629 | Richelieu again enters Italy, seizes Pignerol and Saluces, and again forces the Spaniards to raise the siege of Casale | 123 |
| 1630 | Negotiations between France and Sweden | 124 |
| Section III.—Wallenstein deprived of his Command (March 1629-September 1630). | ||
| 1629 | Wallenstein increases his forces | 125 |
| Jealousy between him and the Catholic Electors | 126 | |
| 1630 | Assembly at Ratisbon | 127 |
| July 3. | It demands that Wallenstein be deprived of his command | 127 |
| July 4. | Landing of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany | 128 |
| Sept. | Dismissal of Wallenstein | 129 |
| Tilly in command | 130 | |
| Section IV.—The Swedes establish themselves on the Coast of the Baltic (July 1630-January 1631). | ||
| July. | Discipline in the Swedish Army | 130 |
| The Duke of Pomerania submits to him, but the Elector of Brandenburg declares himself neutral | 130 | |
| 1651 | The treaty of Bärwalde between France and Sweden | 132 |
| Section V.—The Fall of Magdeburg (January-May 1631). | ||
| Jan. | Success of Gustavus on the Baltic coast | 133 |
| March. | The Electors of Saxony hold a Protestant Assembly at Leipzig | 133 |
| Tilly attacks the Swedes, but is driven to retreat | 134 | |
| Ap. 26. | Treaty of Cherasco between France and the English | 135 |
| May 15. | Convention between Gustavus and the Elector of Brandenburg | 136 |
| May 20. | Magdeburg stormed, plundered, and burnt | 136 |
| The Emperor refuses to cancel the Edict of Restitution | 137 | |
| CHAPTER VIII. THE VICTORIES OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. |
||
| Section I.—Alliance between the Swedes and the Saxons (June-September 1631). | ||
| June 21. | Gustavus compels the Elector of Brandenburg to an alliance | 138 |
| July. | Gustavus at the Camp of Werben | 138 |
| Aug. | Tilly summons the Elector of Saxony to submit | 139 |
| Sept. | He attacks Saxony, upon which the Elector forms an alliance with Gustavus | 139 |
| Gustavus joins the Saxons | 140 | |
| Section II.—Battle of Breitenfeld (September 1631). | ||
| Sept. 17. | Victory of Gustavus over Tilly at Breitenfeld | 141 |
| Wallenstein's intrigues with Gustavus | 142 | |
| Wallenstein and Gustavus unlikely to agree | 143 | |
| Political and military designs of Gustavus | 144 | |
| He looks for a basis of operations on the Rhine | 146 | |
| Section III.—March of Gustavus into South Germany (October 1631-May 1632). | ||
| Oct. | March of Gustavus to Mentz | 148 |
| 1632 | In spite of the objections of the French, he attacks Bavaria | 149 |
| Ap. 14. | Tilly defeated and mortally wounded at the passage of the Lech | 149 |
| May 17. | Gustavus enters Munich | 150 |
| Section IV.—Wallenstein's Restoration to command (September 1631-June 1632). | ||
| Sept. | Wallenstein breaks off all intercourse with Gustavus | 151 |
| Nov. | Attempts to reconcile the Elector of Saxony with the Emperor | 152 |
| Dec. | Is reinstated temporarily in the command of the Imperial Army | 153 |
| 1632 | Character of that Army | 153 |
| April | Wallenstein permanently appointed Commander | 155 |
| May | Offers peace to the Saxons, and drives them out of Bohemia | 155 |
| June | Gustavus does not approve of the terms of peace offered by Wallenstein | 156 |
| Section V.—Struggle between Gustavus and Wallenstein (June-October 1632). | ||
| June | Gustavus and Wallenstein opposed to one another at Nüremberg | 157 |
| Efforts of Gustavus to maintain discipline | 159 | |
| Sept. 4. | Fails to storm Wallenstein's lines | 160 |
| Sept. 18. | Gustavus leaves Nüremberg | 160 |
| Oct. | Wallenstein marches into Saxony | 160 |
| Section VI.—The Battle of Lützen (October-November 1632). | ||
| Oct. | Gustavus follows Wallenstein into Saxony | 161 |
| Nov. 16. | Battle of Lützen | 162 |
| Death of Gustavus | 163 | |
| Victory of the Swedes | 164 | |
| Irreparable loss by the death of Gustavus to the Protestants | 164 | |
| CHAPTER IX. THE DEATH OF WALLENSTEIN AND THE TREATY OF PRAGUE. |
||
| Section I.—French Influence in Germany (November 1632-April 1633). | ||
| 1633 | Differences between Bernhard and Oxenstjerna | 166 |
| Ap. 23. | The League of Heilbronn signed | 167 |
| Firm establishment of Richelieu's authority in France | 168 | |
| Richelieu's interposition in German affairs | 169 | |
| Section II.—Wallenstein's Attempt to dictate Peace (April-December 1633). | ||
| 1633 | Wallenstein's peace negotiations with the Swedes and Saxons | 170 |
| Oct. | He drives the Saxons out of Silesia | 172 |
| Nov. | Ratisbon taken by Bernhard | 173 |
| Spanish opposition to a peace which would leave Spain exposed to French attacks | 173 | |
| Dec. | Wallenstein thinks of making peace, whether the Emperor consents or not | 175 |
| Section III.—Resistance to Wallenstein's Plans (January-February 1634). | ||
| 1634 Jan. |
Oñate, the Spanish Ambassador, persuades the Emperor that Wallenstein is a traitor | 175 |
| Ferdinand determines to displace Wallenstein | 176 | |
| Feb. 19. | Wallenstein engages the Colonels to support him | 177 |
| Section IV.—Assassination of Wallenstein (February 1634). | ||
| Feb. 18. | Wallenstein declared a traitor | 179 |
| Feb. 21. | The garrison of Prague declares against him | 179 |
| Feb. 24. | Wallenstein at Eger | 179 |
| Feb. 25. | He is assassinated | 181 |
| Comparison between Gustavus and Wallenstein | 181 | |
| Section V.—Imperialist Victories and the Treaty of Prague (February 1634-May 1635). | ||
| 1634 Feb. |
The King of Hungary reorganizes the imperial army | 181 |
| Sept. 6. | In conjunction with the Cardinal-Infant, he defeats Bernhard at Nördlingen | 183 |
| Consequent necessity of an increased French intervention | 184 | |
| 1635 | Peace of Prague | 184 |
| May 30. | It is not universally accepted | 185 |
| Miserable condition of Germany. Notes of an English traveller | 187 | |
| CHAPTER X. THE PREPONDERANCE OF FRANCE. |
||
| Section I.—Open Intervention of France (May 1635). | ||
| 1635 | Protestantism not out of danger | 189 |
| May. | Close alliance of some of the Princes with France | 190 |
| Importance of the possession of Alsace and Lorraine | 191 | |
| May 19. | France declares war against Spain | 192 |
| Section II.—Spanish Successes (May 1635-December 1637). | ||
| 1635 | Failure of the French attack on the Spanish Netherlands | 192 |
| 1636 | Spanish invasion of France | 193 |
| Oct. 4. | Baner's victory at Wittstock | 194 |
| 1637 Feb. 15. |
Death of Ferdinand II. Accession of Ferdinand III. | 194 |
| Imperialist success in Germany | 195 | |
| Section III.—The Struggle for Alsace (January 1638-July 1639). | ||
| 1638 | Bernhard's victories in the Breisgau and Alsace | 195 |
| July 8. | Death of Bernhard | 196 |
| Section IV.—French Successes (July 1639-Dec. 1642). | ||
| French maritime successes | 197 | |
| 1639 | Spanish fleet taking refuge in the Downs | 198 |
| It is destroyed by the Dutch | 198 | |
| 1640 | Insurrection of Catalonia | 199 |
| Nov. | Independence of Portugal | 200 |
| 1641 | Defeat of the Imperialists at Wolfenbüttel | 201 |
| 1642 | Defeat of the Imperialists at Kempten | 201 |
| Aug. | Charles I. sets up his standard. Beginning of the English Civil War | |
| Dec. 4. | Death of Richelieu | 201 |
| Section V.—Aims and Character of Richelieu (December 1642-May 1643). | ||
| Richelieu's domestic policy | 201 | |
| Contrast between France and England | 202 | |
| Richelieu's foreign policy | 203 | |
| Moderation of his aims | 204 | |
| 1643 May 14. |
Death of Lewis XIII | 205 |
| Section VI.—More French Victories (May 1643—August 1645). | ||
| 1643 | Rule of Cardinal Mazarin | 205 |
| May 19. | Enghien defeats the Spaniards at Rocroy | 206 |
| The French kept in check in Germany | 207 | |
| 1644 | Enghien and Turenne. Battle of Freiburg | 208 |
| July | Battle of Marston Moor | |
| 1645 Aug. 3. |
Second Battle of Nördlingen | 208 |
| Mar. 6. | Swedish victory at Jankow | 209 |
| CHAPTER XI. THE END OF THE WAR. |
||
| Section I.—Turenne's Strategy (June 1645-October 1648). | ||
| 1645 | Negotiations for peace begun | 209 |
| June. | Battle of Naseby | |
| Aims of the Emperor and the Duke of Bavaria | 210 | |
| 1646 | Turenne outmanœuvres the Imperialists | 212 |
| 1647 May‑Sept. |
Truce between the French and the Bavarians | 213 |
| 1648 May 17. |
Defeat of the Bavarians at Zusmarshausen | 213 |
| Section II.—The Treaty of Westphalia (Oct. 1648). | ||
| 1648 | Terms of the peace | 213 |
| Oct. 24. | How far was toleration effected by it | 214 |
| General desire for peace | 217 | |
| Section III.—Condition of Germany. | ||
| Debasing effects of the war | 217 | |
| Decrease of the population | 218 | |
| Moral and intellectual decadence | 218 | |
| Disintegration of Germany | 220 | |
| Protestantism saved, and with it the future culture of Germany | 220 | |
| Section IV.—Continuance of the War between France and Spain (1648-1660). | ||
| 1648 | Recognition of the independence of the Dutch Republic | 221 |
| 1649 | Execution of Charles I. | |
| The Fronde | 222 | |
| Continuance of the war with Spain | 223 | |
| Alliance between France and Cromwell | 223 | |
| 1660 | Treaty of Pyrenees | 224 |
| French greatness based on Tolerance | 225 | |
| Intolerance of Lewis XIV. and downfall of the French monarchy | 226 | |
It was the misfortune of Germany in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that, with most of the conditions requisite for the formation of national unity, she had no really national institutions. There was an emperor, who looked something like an English king, and a Diet, or General Assembly, which looked something like an English Parliament, but the resemblance was far greater in appearance than in reality.
The Emperor was chosen by three ecclesiastical electors, the Archbishops of Mentz, Treves and Cologne, and four lay electors, the Elector Palatine, the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, and the King of Bohemia. In theory he was the successor of the Roman Emperors Julius and Constantine, the ruler of the world, or of so much of it at least as he could bring under his sway. More particularly, he was the successor of Charles the Great and Otto the Great, the lay head of Western Christendom. The Emperor Sigismund, on his death-bed, had directed that his body should lie in state for some days, that men might see 'that the lord of all the world was dead.' 'We have chosen your grace,' said the electors to Frederick III., 'as head, protector, and governor of all Christendom.' Yet it would be hard to find a single fragment of reality corresponding to the magnificence of the claim.
As far, however, as the period now under review is concerned, though the name of Emperor was retained, it is unnecessary to trouble ourselves with the rights, real or imaginary, connected with the imperial dignity. Charles the Great, before the imperial crown was conferred on him, ruled as king, by national assent or by conquest, over a great part of Western Europe. When his dominions were divided amongst his successors, the rule of those successors in Germany or elsewhere had no necessary connexion with the imperial crown. Henry the Fowler, one of the greatest of the Kings of the Germans, was never an emperor at all, and though, after the reign of his son Otto the Great, the German kings claimed from the Pope the imperial crown as their right, they never failed also to receive a special German crown at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) or at Frankfort as the symbol of their headship over German lands and German men.
When, therefore, the writers of the 16th or 17th centuries speak of the rights of the Emperor in Germany, they really mean to speak of the rights of the Emperor in his capacity of German king, just as, when they speak of the Empire, they mean what we call Germany, together with certain surrounding districts, such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Lorraine, and Eastern Burgundy or Franche Comté, which are not now, if Alsace and the newly-conquered part of Lorraine be excepted, included under that name. In the same way the mere fragments of feudal supremacy, and the payment of feudal dues which the emperors claimed in Italy, belonged to them, not as emperors, but simply as Italian kings, and as wearers of the iron crown of Lombardy, which, as the legends told, was formed of nails taken from the Saviour's cross.
Not that it would be wise, even if it were possible, to do otherwise than to follow the practice of contemporaries. The strange form, Emperor of Germany, by which, at a later period, men unfamiliar with Germany history strove to reconcile the old claims with something like the actual fact, had not been yet invented. And, after all, the confusions of history, the use of words and titles when their meaning is changed, are so many tokens to remind us of the unity of successive generations, and of the impossibility of any one of them building anew without regarding the foundations of their fathers. All that is needed is to remember that the emperor of later times is a personage whose rights and functions can be profitably compared with those of Henry VIII. of England or Lewis XIV. of France, not with Julius or Constantine whose successor he professed himself to be.
'Take away the rights of the Emperor,' said a law book of the fifteenth century, in language which would have startled an old Roman legislator, 'and who can say, "This house is mine, this village belongs to me?"' But the princes and bishops, the counts and cities, who were glad enough to plead on their own behalf that their lands were held directly from the head of the Empire, took care to allow him scarcely any real authority. This kingly dignity which passed under the name of the Empire was indeed very weak. It had never outgrown the needs of the Middle Ages, and was still essentially a feudal kingship. From circumstances which it would take too much space to notice here, it had failed in placing itself at the head of a national organization, and in becoming the guardian of the rights of the tillers of the soil and the burghers of the towns, who found no place in the ranks of the feudal chivalry.
The immediate vassals of the Empire, in fact, were almost independent sovereigns, like the Dukes of Normandy in the France of the tenth century, or the Dukes of Burgundy in the France of the fifteenth century. They quarrelled and made war with one another like the Kings of England and France. Their own vassals, their own peasants, their own towns could only reach the Emperor through them, if anybody thought it worth while to reach him at all.
The prospect of reviving the German kingship which was veiled under the august title of Emperor seemed far distant at the beginning of the fifteenth century. But whilst the Empire, in its old sense, with its claims to universal dominion, was a dream, this German kingship needed but wisdom in the occupant of the throne to seize the national feeling, which was certain sooner or later to call out for a national ruler, in order to clothe itself in all the authority which was needed for the maintenance of the unity and the safety of the German people. That, when the time came, the man to grasp the opportunity was not there, was the chief amongst the causes of that unhappy tragedy of disunion which culminated in the Thirty Years' War.
In the middle of the fifteenth century an effort was made to introduce a system of regular assemblies, under the name of a Diet, in order to stem the tide of anarchy. But it never entered into the mind of the wisest statesman living to summon any general representation of the people. In the old feudal assemblies no one had taken part who was not an immediate vassal of the Empire, and the Diet professed to be only a more regular organization of the old feudal assemblies.
From the Diet, therefore, all subjects of the territorial princes were rigorously excluded. Whatever their wishes or opinions might be, they had neither part nor lot in the counsels of the nation. There was nothing in the Diet answering to those representatives of English counties, men not great enough to assume the state of independent princes, nor small enough to be content simply to register without question the decrees of those in authority who with us did more than any other class to cement town and country, king and people together. Nor did even the less powerful of the immediate vassals take part in the meetings. Like the lesser barons of the early Plantagenet reigns, they slipped out of a position to which they seemed to have a right by the fact that they held their few square miles of land as directly from the Emperor as the Dukes of Bavaria or the Electors of Saxony held the goodly principalities over which they ruled.
Such a body was more like a congress of the representatives of European sovereigns than an English Parliament. Each member came in his own right. He might or might not speak the sentiments of his subjects, and, even if he did, he naturally preferred deciding pretty much as he pleased at home to allowing the question to be debated by an assembly of his equals. An Elector of Saxony, a Landgrave of Hesse, or an Archduke of Austria knew that taxes were levied, armies trained, temporal and spiritual wants provided for at his own court at Dresden, at Cassel, or at Vienna, and he had no wish that it should be otherwise. Nor was it easy, even when a prince had made himself so obnoxious as to call down upon himself the condemnation of his fellows, to subject him to punishment. He might, indeed, be put to the ban of the Empire, a kind of secular excommunication. But if he were powerful himself, and had powerful friends, it might be difficult to put it in execution. It would be necessary to levy war against him, and that war might not be successful.
Still, at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries some progress was made. An Imperial Court (Reichskammergericht) came into existence, mainly nominated by the princes of the Empire, and authorized to pronounce judgment upon cases arising between the rulers of the various territories. In order to secure the better execution of the sentences of this court, Germany was divided into circles, in each of which the princes and cities who were entitled to a voice in the Diet of the Empire were authorized to meet together and to levy troops for the maintenance of order.
These princes, lay and ecclesiastical, together with the cities holding immediately from the Empire, were called the Estates of the Empire. When they met in the general Diet they voted in three houses. The first house was composed of the seven Electors, though it was only at an Imperial election that the number was complete. At all ordinary meetings for legislation, or for the dispatch of business, the king of Bohemia was excluded, and six Electors only appeared. The next house was the House of Princes, comprising all those persons, lay or ecclesiastical, who had the right of sitting in the Diet. Lastly, came the Free Imperial Cities, the only popular element in the Diet. But they were treated as decidedly inferior to the other two houses. When the Electors and the Princes had agreed upon a proposition, then and not till then it was submitted to the House of Cities.
The special risk attending such a constitution was that it provided almost exclusively for the wants of the princes and electors. In the Diet, in the circles, and in the Imperial Court, the princes and electors exercised a preponderating, if not quite an exclusive influence. In ordinary times there might be no danger. But if extraordinary times arose, if any great movement swept over the surface of the nation, it might very well be that the nation would be on one side and the princes and the electors on the other. And if this were the case there would be great difficulty in bringing the nation into harmony with its institutions. In England the sovereign could alter a hostile majority in the House of Lords by a fresh creation of peers, and the constituencies could alter a hostile majority of the House of Commons by a fresh election. In Germany there was no House of Commons, and an emperor who should try to create fresh princes out of the immediate vassals who were too weak to be summoned to the Diet would only render himself ridiculous by an attempt to place in check the real possessors of power by the help of those who had the mere appearance of it.
When, in the sixteenth century, Protestantism suddenly raised its head, the institutions of the Empire were tried to the uttermost. For the mass of the nation declared itself in favour of change, and the Diet was so composed as to be hostile to change, as soon as it appeared that it was likely to take the direction of Lutheranism. In the Electoral House, indeed, the votes of the three ecclesiastical electors were met by the votes of the three lay electors. But in the House of Princes there were thirty-eight ecclesiastical dignitaries and but eighteen laymen. It was a body, in short, like the English House of Lords before the Reformation, and there was no Henry VIII. to bring it into harmony with the direction which lay society was taking, by some act equivalent to the dissolution of the monasteries, and the consequent exclusion of the mitred abbots from their seats in Parliament. To pass measures favourable to Protestantism through such a house was simply impossible. Yet it can hardly be doubted that a really national Parliament would have adopted Lutheranism, more or less modified, as the religion of the nation. Before Protestantism was fifty years old, in spite of all difficulties, ninety per cent. of the population of Germany were Protestant.
In default of national action in favor of Protestantism, it was adopted and supported by most of the lay princes and electors. A new principle of disintegration was thus introduced into Germany, as these princes were forced to act in opposition to the views adopted by the Diet.
If the Diet was unlikely to play the part of an English Parliament, neither was the Emperor likely to play the part of Henry VIII. For the interests of Germany, Charles V., who