Central European Monarchs
Clash
Too much drama!
The Thirty Years’ War
• Conflict was inevitable b/c of the Peace of
Augsburg
• Both Catholics AND Lutherans in
Germany feared the Calvinists
• War sparked by Ferdinand II (Catholic and
foreign – treated Protestants badly)
• Conflict really about power, territory and
religion among ruling families
Thirty Years’ War continued
•
Two major phases:
– Hapsburg triumphs
– Hapsburg defeats
1. Triumphs – Hapsburg armies from Austria
and Spain defeat all the troops hired by
Protestant princes. Hapsburg army wanted
to win b/c Ferdinand II said the army could
rob the German villages.
Thirty Years’ War continued
2. Hapsburg Defeats – German and
Swedish Protestants + Cardinal Richelieu
and Cardinal Mazarin of France =
defeated the Hapsburgs
* WHY would two Catholic Frenchmen
gang up against the Hapsburgs?
The Peace of Westphalia
• 1648 – Germany was devastated!
• Important consequences:
– Weakened Hapsburg states of Spain and
Austria
– Strengthened France by giving it German land
– Separated German princes from the Holy
Roman Emperor
– Ended religious wars in Europe
– Introduced new method of negotiating peace
The Point?
• No more Catholic Empire ruling over
Europe – independent states ruled for
themselves
• Beginning of the modern state system
• Ferdinand II Habsburg, Emperor of
the Holy Roman
Empire, King of
Hungary and
Bohemia (with his
court midget)
• His hatred for the
Protestants caused
the 30 years’ war
Central Europe vs. The West
Central Europe:
• Economy different
• Serfs not free – not even
allowed to move into
cities
• Kings and empires also
weak – no income, no
standing armies and no
law courts
• Holy Roman Empire =
WEAK after war
The West:
• Serfs win freedom and
become middle class
people
• Were taxed to build up
large armies
Drama in Central Europe
• Hapsburgs of Austria (Austria was the
most powerful state in the Holy Roman
Empire after the War)
• Eventually Hapsburg power went to
Charles VI’s oldest daughter’s hands,
Maria Theresa
• Maria soon found herself in war with
Prussia (the state north of Austria)
The Ruler of Austria
Maria Theresa – as a
child (below) and an
adult (right)
Prussia and Austria Clash
• Prussia (north of Austria) led by King
Frederick William I
• Frederick William I bought the nobility’s
allegiance and created a tight military
society
• He beheaded his son’s best friend (wanted
to make his son tough), and his son
eventually took the throne as Frederick the
Great
Frederick the Great
• Followed father’s hard
military policies (big
standing army)
• Thought the role of a
government was to
expand its territories
• Was an atheist who
disliked his wife and
never had kids
Austria vs. Prussia
• Frederick the Great assumed that Maria
would be easy to bully b/c she was a
woman
• Battled Prussia for a while but eventually
lost
• Eventually both countries (Austria and
Prussia) got involved in different alliances
throughout Europe
Seven Years’ War
A miniature world
war – everyone
got sucked in w/
the alliances and
eventually got the
colonies involved