WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:24.199 Hello, and Welcome to Western Cive Episode three hundred and 2 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:29.480 forty two, The German War. In six thirty five, France 3 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.479 entered the Thirty Years War in earnest There were a 4 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.799 few reasons for their entrance into the hostilities, given the 5 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:41.439 fact that the war had been raging since effectively sixteen eighteen. 6 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:47.119 The first reason is Spanish policy. France's decision to enter 7 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:50.799 the war was largely driven by concerns about Spanish aggression. 8 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:55.679 France continued to have animosity towards Spain since they had 9 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:01.600 fought a slight war over Mantua several decades earlier. Furthermore, Spain, 10 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:05.560 despite claiming to be a victim of French aggression, was 11 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:12.560 actively pursuing policies hostile to French interests. For instance, Spain 12 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.680 continued to support the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand, who was at 13 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:21.319 war with France's allies, the Dutch. This support, coupled with 14 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:26.400 Spain's overall hostile stance, was a key factor in Cardinal 15 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:31.840 Richelieu's decision to declare war. This was also an opportunity 16 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:36.599 to weaken the Habsburg's The Thirty Years War presented France 17 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:40.480 with an opportunity to weaken the Habsburg dynasty, which ruled 18 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.280 both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. By supporting the 19 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.079 enemies of the Habsburgs, namely the Swedish and the Dutch, 20 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.040 France aimed to curb their influence in Europe. There was 21 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:56.200 also a desire to secure the strategically important province of Alsace. 22 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.560 And by the way, France, the Holy Roman Empire and 23 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.400 then later Germany are going to be fighting over Alsace 24 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:05.359 Lorraine for a while now, so get used to it. 25 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:11.479 The strategically important province of Alsace was particularly critical for France. 26 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.960 Spanish military presence in Al Saints, which is directly along 27 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.639 the Rhine, was a direct threat, prompting French intervention. The 28 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:24.560 French sought to prevent the Spanish from using the province 29 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:29.319 as a base from which to easily launch attacks into France. 30 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:34.360 But while France entered the war with ambition and a 31 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.960 desire to curb the influence of the Habsburgs, the fact 32 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:43.240 of the matter remains that its military capabilities legged far 33 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:46.599 behind its aspirations. There's a couple of factors. The thing 34 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.840 that we can point to here. One was financial dependence 35 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:56.240 and a relatively weak military. Overall, France was heavily reliant 36 00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:00.080 on financial subsidies from the Dutch and from Sweden to 37 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:04.599 sustain its war effort. This dependence underscored the limitations of 38 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:09.120 its own resources and financial systems. The French army, though 39 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:14.000 ambitious and its deployments, was actually relatively small, smaller than 40 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:18.800 the Swedes, for example, and experienced and poorly equipped. These 41 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:22.639 factors combined to create a situation where France, despite being 42 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:27.120 a territorially major power, found itself in a position of 43 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:31.599 relative weakness compared to its adversaries and quite frankly, even 44 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:37.680 its territorially smaller allies. It was also totally reliant on 45 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:43.199 its allies and aimed at procuring limited military success. The 46 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.639 French needed to cooperate with and rely on their allies, 47 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:50.039 particularly the Swedish and the Dutch, throughout the conflict. This 48 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.120 reliance suggests that France was not yet in a position 49 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:57.080 to independently chain lenge the military might of the Habsburgs 50 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.240 or to achieve decisive victories on its own. There was 51 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.360 a situation where the French were often reactive to the 52 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:08.520 movement of their allies and enemies. Never was France in 53 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:12.039 a position to dictate the pace or the direction of 54 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:17.160 the war. This is further illustrated by France's initial hesitance 55 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:21.279 to commit troops to Germany, opting instead for limited financial support. 56 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.759 The French military operations during this period were marked by 57 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:29.879 a mix of setbacks and limited successes. There was a 58 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:33.920 defeat in Alsace and a struggle to effectively support their 59 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:39.439 allies like Saxe Vemar. But of course, another factor in 60 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.240 France's inability to really move the needle here is just frankly, 61 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:49.079 Spanish strength. Spain was a formidable adversary throughout this period. 62 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.920 Despite facing challenges on multiple fronts, Spain remained a significant 63 00:04:55.040 --> 00:05:00.279 military power, capable of resisting French advances and inflicting defeat beats. 64 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:05.959 There were instances where Spanish forces successfully countered French maneuvers 65 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:10.279 and thwarted their objectives, particularly in the regions of Alsace 66 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:14.720 and in the Rhineland. The Habsburgs were also, quite frankly, 67 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:18.399 just more persistent, more dogged in their ability to keep 68 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.759 the war effort going, perhaps because it simply mattered more 69 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:25.519 to them. The Habsburgs were persistent and their ability to 70 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:30.240 secure alliances despite facing a coalition of enemies was critical 71 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.439 in their ability to ultimately bring the war to a 72 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:38.240 somewhat successful conclusion. What this suggests is that France, even 73 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:41.720 in alliance with other powerful entities like Sweden and the 74 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:46.600 Dutch Republic, faced a difficult challenge in overcoming what was 75 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.839 an entrenched power of the Habsburgs, you know, going all 76 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.560 the way back to Francis the Second, there's this sort 77 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:56.240 of desire on the part of France to somehow make 78 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.680 the French king the Holy Roman Emperor. And what we 79 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:03.040 see even throughout the seventeenth century at that point is 80 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.560 that that is becoming increasingly a relic of the past. 81 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:11.759 The idea of these trans European empires that span what 82 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.560 are going to become nation states and ethnicities just far 83 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:18.759 too medieval. And it reflects, quite frankly a fact that 84 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:22.480 oftentimes the aristocracy and leading military orders of the day 85 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:25.439 are still thinking three four hundred years in the past, 86 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:28.199 and that's going to continue to be a problem throughout 87 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.680 the Thirty Years War. Despite an optimistic outlook on the 88 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.240 potential of offensive operations, the reality was that French finances 89 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:42.279 were strained, with the troops often going unpaid. The need 90 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:45.319 to maintain a standing army and provide subsidies to allies 91 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:49.360 put a considerable pressure on their treasury. France entered the 92 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.879 Thirty Years War nonetheless in sixteen thirty five, declaring war 93 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.160 on Spain, but the French army was ill prepared. It 94 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:59.279 was small and experienced and poorly equipped. Be that as 95 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:02.439 it may, France's objective remained to weaken the Habsburg dynasty, 96 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.920 including both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. To this end, 97 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:10.240 they sought alliances with the Protestant German Princess and Sweden 98 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.759 were also opposed to Habsburg power. But the French were 99 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.600 initially hesitant to fully commit to the war effort in Germany, 100 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.600 and as a result, really honestly, the only French involvement 101 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.680 early on was sending a small force under Henri de 102 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.879 Rohan to support the French Protestants. This force, which numbered 103 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.240 a couple of thousand men at the most, was ultimately unsuccessful, 104 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.959 and the French suffered a further setback when their forces 105 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:42.199 sent to Alsace were decisively defeated by the Spanish. The 106 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.040 Tie turn, however, in sixteen thirty six, when the French 107 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:49.600 achieved a major victory in the town of Corbet. This 108 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:54.639 victory forced the Spanish to retreat from France and allowed France, 109 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.680 at least temporarily, to seize the offensive in the war. 110 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.040 In the aftermath of Core, the French continued to pursue 111 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.839 their goal of weakening the Habsburgs. They launched an invasion 112 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:09.120 of the Spanish Netherlands and continued to provide support to 113 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.399 their allies in Germany. The events of sixteen thirty five 114 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:16.560 and sixteen thirty six marked a crucial turning point in 115 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:20.720 France's involvement in the Thirty Years War. Despite the initial 116 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:25.000 reluctance and setbacks, the Frends were ultimately able to emerge 117 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.959 as a larger player in the conflict thanks to the 118 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.480 victory ed Corbell and the ability to put the Habsburgs 119 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.120 both in Spain and in Germany on the back foot, 120 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:56.440 at least as we'll see temporarily. The year is now 121 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:00.240 sixteen thirty five, after decades now of brutal war. Fair 122 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:05.159 keep in mind we're already almost twenty years into the 123 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.679 Thirty Years War. The Holy Roman Empire is finally starting 124 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.480 to experience a glimmer of peace as the sides finally 125 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:18.960 sign the Treaty of Prague. But the peace is fragile, 126 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:23.679 and the treaty riddled with exceptions and exclusions that sow 127 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:27.480 the seeds of its own demise. Now, at the heart 128 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:31.000 of the instability of the Treaty of Prague, which was 129 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:36.120 signed between Emperor Ferdinand and the various chairman princes opposed 130 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:42.039 to him in sixteen thirty five, was this idea of amnesty. 131 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:44.759 It was an issue that exposed the deep divisions and 132 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:50.320 mistrust lingering between Emperor Ferdinand the Second and his various adversaries. 133 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:55.240 So the Treaty of Prague, which was designed to be 134 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.600 sort of a prototype of the Treaty of Westphalia that's 135 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:02.480 actually going to end the war, promised a general amnesty. 136 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.360 The idea was to just essentially forgive everyone who had 137 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:10.320 taken part in the conflict, because otherwise there was simply 138 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:16.720 no way to sort out who owed who what. The 139 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:21.039 promise unfortunately doesn't work because it's immediately broken by Ferdinand 140 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:27.799 Ferdinand foolishly. Besides that, the amnesty provision of the Treaty 141 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:33.639 of Prague will exclude many of his key opponents. It 142 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:40.960 turns into selective amnesty, and the selective amnesty enrages everyone 143 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:46.440 who had negotiated this treaty, especially those who had pledged 144 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.720 a full pardon to everyone who initially laid down their 145 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:54.919 arms to make the peace possible. The exclusion of figures 146 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:00.320 like Bernard of Saxe Vemar and Johann Yorg of hesse Kill, 147 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:05.159 both formidable military leaders, through an instant wrench into the 148 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:10.279 peace process. These men felt betrayed, and with their armies 149 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:13.759 still at the command, refuse to accept the treaty and 150 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:18.120 continue to fight against the emperor. Again. What we have 151 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:23.000 here is a patchwork attempt at a solution. That's all 152 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.480 we've seen since the very beginning of the Thirty Years War. 153 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.679 What the parties seem to fail to recognize at this 154 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:35.039 point is that this patchwork process to peace simply isn't 155 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:41.200 going to work, and their inability to recognize that only 156 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:47.399 fuels the fires of war for another decade now. The 157 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:53.399 impact of these exclusions reverberate throughout the Empire, reigniting old 158 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:59.039 conflicts and hindering efforts to establish a lasting peace. The 159 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:03.679 unity that we forged for about a month at Prague 160 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:11.039 in sixteen thirty five crumbled instantaneously. In fact, there's one 161 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:17.080 particular study that's relevant here, and that is the Landgrave Wilhelm, 162 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:22.440 the fifth of hesse Kessel. Despite being excluded from the amnesty, 163 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:27.039 Wilhelm's troops remain active, and it becomes a testament to 164 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:31.480 the resentment and unresolved grievances that plague the empire. Wilhelm 165 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:36.840 never stops fighting, despite the fact that there is ostensibly 166 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.840 at least a peace treaty in place, which, as you 167 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:45.080 can guess, because of the shifting alliances with people coming 168 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:49.639 in and out of the conflict, the mere fact that 169 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:54.039 it doesn't end, the mere fact that the smoldering embers 170 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:59.440 of war are allowed to continue perpetuate the system going 171 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:05.159 for it's as I discussed in the beginning, the Holy 172 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:10.679 Roman Empire had so many idiosyncrasies, had so many overlapping jurisdictions, 173 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:14.600 so many confusing paths to authority, that that tended to 174 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.200 drive the conflict over and over again, even as some 175 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.320 sides tried to get out of it. Meanwhile, in Sweden, 176 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.240 the amnesty issue became a powerful weapon in the hands 177 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:31.399 of the Chancellor. I mentioned him before Oxtersteirna, and he 178 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.879 was leading the Swedish delegation in the peace process. He 179 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:40.799 immediately and adroitly recognized the discontent brewing between the German 180 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:45.360 Protestant princes. He realized that some people got amnesty and 181 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:49.600 some people didn't, and all he did was skillfully exploited 182 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:53.639 this division to bolster support for Sweden's continued involvement in 183 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.759 the war. Auxygen Steirna painted the Emperor's limited amnesty as 184 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.759 a betrayal of German liberties, actively framing the conflict as 185 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.120 a fight for freedom and justice against a tyrannical ruler. 186 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:11.399 Austin Sterness rhetoric, however, made his own difficult dilemma. He 187 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:16.000 desperately wanted a favorable peace for Sweden, but at the 188 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:17.480 same time, the only way he was going to get 189 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.960 that was if he leveraged the support of his German allies. 190 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:27.320 Accepting the German Emperor's limited amnesty would risk alienating these 191 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:31.960 crucial allies, yet pushing for a full amnesty could very 192 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:36.840 well prolong the Body conflict, which Sweden really didn't want 193 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:41.960 it to. Oxygen Sterna kept up this balancing act as 194 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:46.559 long as he could, but as tensions escalated that became untenable. 195 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:51.480 The Swedish army, which was at this point largely composed 196 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:57.000 of German soldiers, actually quickly grew disillusioned with the peace negotiations. 197 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.320 They came to see oxten Sterna's willingness to compromise as 198 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:04.240 a betrayal of the sacrifices that they had made after 199 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:08.639 fighting for years, and they demanded full amnesty and critically 200 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.559 all the back pay they had been owed. This discontent 201 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.720 would boil into open mutiny, which was nothing less than 202 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:20.279 a dramatic display of deep frustration and distrust and also 203 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.799 an ominous sign of things to come. One of the 204 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:27.000 things to keep in mind here is that none of 205 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.919 these kingdoms has the capacity to fight a war for 206 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:34.159 thirty years. None of these kingdoms have the logisticals support 207 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.759 for their troops to be able to keep this whole 208 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:41.240 machine going for three decades. The fact of the matter 209 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:44.639 is it was the peasants who bore the bronze of 210 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.559 the Thirty Years War, as I'll talk about really extensively 211 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:51.440 at the end of this story arc, because that's the 212 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:57.279 true devastation here. It's the loss of harvest after harvest 213 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:01.360 and the subsequent famine that's caused by marauding armies of 214 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:06.039 both sides, honestly roving back and forth over the countryside 215 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.840 that's the issue with the Thirty Years War. It's not 216 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:11.840 even about who wins, it's about who loses, and who 217 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.679 loses is the people of Germany, the people of the 218 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:20.559 territories that are being fought over now. Ultimately, this particular 219 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:25.480 mutiny crippled Oxygen Sterna's negotiating position and led to the 220 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.879 breakdown of talks between Sweden and the Emperor in November 221 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:32.799 of sixteen thirty five. And this failure marks yet another 222 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:35.559 one of these turning points in the war. It ended 223 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:38.480 the hopes that maybe the Thirty Years War is only 224 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.000 the Seventeen Years War and comes to an end in 225 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:47.000 sixteen thirty five. Instead, the war continues and Central Europe 226 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:51.159 is plunged back into chaos. Now, the collapse of the 227 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:56.759 negotiations was not solely an amnesty issue, and it wasn't 228 00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:03.000 solely Oxygen Stererna's fault either. The personal ambitions and political 229 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:08.480 maneuvering of several key people, particularly of course, the Emperor 230 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:13.440 and Johann George, another one of those minor principality leaders, 231 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:18.720 also play a crucial role. These leaders, who prioritize their 232 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:23.160 own interests over the common good, became obstacles to peace, 233 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:28.599 particularly the unwillingness of the Habsburg Emperor to compromise and 234 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:31.240 his goal at trying to still get some sort of 235 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:36.720 consolidated power over the entirety of the empire continued, the 236 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:41.519 perpetuation of the conflict, and of course ultimately results in 237 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:46.160 a decline of Habsburg authority. The story of the Treaty 238 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:50.039 of Prague is a cautionary tale. It's a reminder that peace, 239 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:54.359 even when achieved, can easily be shattered by broken promises, 240 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.039 unaddressed grievances, and the hunger for power. And I think 241 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:00.640 it's something we need to think about right now in 242 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.119 the world, a world that's experiencing a lot of conflict, 243 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.359 where there's hopes for peace, but we need to remember 244 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:10.240 it's not about winning the war and getting the peace terms. 245 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.680 It's about winning the peace, and that means about addressing 246 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:19.720 grievances and following through with your promises. Now, this story 247 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:23.759 also underscores the fragility of peace and the devastating consequence 248 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:29.119 of prioritizing individual gain over collective well being. The events 249 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:33.319 of sixteen thirty five and sixteen thirty six reveal a 250 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:38.720 complex web of competing interests, personal ambitions, and political maneuvering 251 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.720 that ultimately undermine the efforts to bring an end to 252 00:18:42.799 --> 00:19:08.440 the devastating Thirty Years War. In sixteen thirty seven, as 253 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.680 the Thirty Years War continued to wage, finally an event 254 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:15.759 happens that some might say could have ended the war 255 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.519 in that year, and that is that the Holy Roman 256 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:27.200 Emperor Ferdinand the Second, also Duke of Austria dies. The 257 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:31.359 throne is then inherited by a young Emperor, Ferdinand the Third. 258 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:37.279 He inherits the throne at the age of only thirty nine, 259 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:43.920 and finds himself confronting a series of political intrigues, military setbacks, 260 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:50.240 and above all, financial turmoil. Ferdinand the Third is a 261 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:56.119 man of contradictions. He is often described as more moderate 262 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:01.519 than his father, Ferdinand the Second, yet he remained fiercely 263 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:06.400 committed to protecting the Habsburg dynasty in its vast, vast holdings. 264 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:11.680 The new emperor faced the daunting task of securing peace 265 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:16.079 in a war torn empire while upholding the constitutional rights 266 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:21.640 of its varied territories. However, he's also very much driven 267 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:25.680 by a deep seated desire to advance his own religious goals, 268 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:31.720 a legacy of his father's staunch Catholic convictions. Now. One 269 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:35.400 of the most pressing challenges facing Ferdinand the Third is 270 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:38.680 the legacy of the Treaty of Prague, signed two years 271 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:43.359 earlier and now basically in tatters. The treaty, intended to 272 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:45.039 bring an end of the bloodshed, as we know, was 273 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:49.000 riddled with loopholes and exclusions, particularly regarding the amnesty question. 274 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:53.799 Many of Ferdinand the Third's opponents, including powerful military leaders 275 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:57.839 like Bernard of Saxey Weimar and Johann George of Hesse Kassel, 276 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:02.599 were excluded from the general partner. Now, this put Ferdinand 277 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:05.799 the Third in a tough position because immediately he was 278 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:09.200 facing these two men and others, including of course Sweetness 279 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:13.519 we've discussed, who were going to reignite the old conflict. 280 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:19.799 These unresolved grievances fuel ongoing resistance and complicated any efforts 281 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:23.319 that Ferdinand the Third might have made in the absence 282 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:27.160 of them, to establish some sort of stability. The military 283 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:31.400 situation that Ferdinand the Third was facing was also very dire. 284 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.200 The Rhineland, a strategically vital region, became a battleground now 285 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.960 as Imperial forces attempt to get the French out of 286 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.480 German territory. This campaign, which was launched in early sixteen 287 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:47.960 thirty seven, one of the first of Ferdinand the Third's reign, 288 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:53.079 ends in total disaster for the Empire. A combination of 289 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:57.519 factors contribute to this defeat. There were logistical problems that 290 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:02.640 plagued the Imperial army, in adequate funding and poor coordination 291 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:07.759 with their allies. They're also tactical blunders made by imperial commanders. 292 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:12.480 All in all, safe to say the Empire had no chance. 293 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:18.519 The setback forces Ferdinand to shift his focus to Hesse Cassel, 294 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:22.559 where he hoped to secure a crucial stronghold and gain 295 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:28.160 control over vital supply lines. Despite receiving assistance from the 296 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:32.720 Duke of Lorraine, Ferdinand the Third's forces were unable to 297 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:38.720 dislodge the French garrison from this key province. This failure 298 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.640 underscored the growing strength of France and the challenges the 299 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:49.160 Empire faced encountering their influence. The growth of France, of course, 300 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.440 has a lot to do with the roles played by 301 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:56.480 Cardinal Richelieu. Richelieu continued to be a master of diplomacy 302 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:01.440 and intrigue, skillfully exploiting the Empire's weakness is to advance 303 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:06.519 French interests. Throughout the period, he provided generous financial subsidies 304 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:10.079 to the Swedes and the Hessians, keeping the pressure on 305 00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:13.160 Ferdinand the Third and hindering any efforts he might have 306 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:18.200 made to consolidate his power. Richelieu also secured the allegiance 307 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:22.160 of the landgrave Wilhelm the second of Hesse Kassel, a 308 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:27.880 key player in the ongoing conflict. Richelieu understood that Wilhelm's 309 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:31.920 strategic position and military expertise would make him a valuable 310 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.359 ally going forward, and he was one of the first 311 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:39.160 people to recognize this. He worked tirelessly to cultivate this relationship, 312 00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:45.519 even orchestrating a marriage between Wilhelm's granddaughter, emil Elizabeth and 313 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.640 the Duke of Orleans, a French prince. This alliance not 314 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:54.279 only strengthened French's position, but also isolated Ferdinand the Third, 315 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:58.960 further diminishing his chances of achieving a lasting piece. Of course, 316 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:02.440 from Prance perspective, this made sense. The longer that you 317 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:06.039 could keep the Holy Roman Empire divided and weak, the 318 00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:09.359 longer it would be before they could challenge French hegemony, 319 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.680 and the more territory that France would be able to 320 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.160 consolidate to long the critical Rhine River valley. Now, meanwhile, 321 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.839 of course, Sweden was still around, casting a long shadow 322 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:25.400 over the Empire. Despite facing internal divisions and the challenges 323 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:29.319 of sustaining a prolonged campaign, the Swedish Army remained a 324 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:34.839 formidable force. The exiled Prince Laarl Ludwig, with Swedish backing, 325 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:38.880 tried to reclaim lost territories in the Palatinate that had 326 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.640 been lost actually all the way going back to Frederick 327 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:46.759 the Fifth when this story all began. Initially, the Palatinate forces, 328 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:51.279 bolstered by Scottish mercenaries and of course by Swedish help, 329 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:56.200 enjoyed success, but this momentum was frankly short lived. In 330 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:00.759 November sixteen thirty eight, the Palatinate forces for a crushing 331 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:04.559 defeat at the hands of the Imperial Army, dashing Karl 332 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:10.400 Ludwig's hope of a Protestant restoration to the key territory. Now, 333 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:13.880 despite this setback, the Swedes were still all in, and 334 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:16.400 under the command of Johann Banaher, they proved to be 335 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:20.559 both resilient and adaptable. They weathered a difficult retreat in 336 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:25.680 sixteen thirty nine. They regrouped and continued operations, demonstrating the 337 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:29.079 determination to remain a major player in this conflict that 338 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:34.559 seems increasingly not in their interests. Now, adding, of course, 339 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:39.240 to Ferdinand the Third's military woes were the Empire's chronic 340 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:44.279 financial constraints. The costs of maintaining a large standing army, 341 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:48.759 coupled with the ongoing expenses of the war, continued to 342 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:53.799 strain the Imperial treasury. Securing adequate funding from the imperial 343 00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:57.960 estates proved to be a constant challenge, hindering the Emperor's 344 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:03.319 ability to effectively prosecute the war. Remember, all of these 345 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:06.640 grants that were issued by the Reichstag and other different 346 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:10.839 estates throughout the Empire, those were conditional, and they were 347 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:13.839 normally made for a brief period of time and to 348 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:19.119 critically combat an external threat like the Ottomans. It was 349 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:23.319 never a system that was built or intended to fight 350 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:28.119 a prolonged conflict that lasted thirty years, not to say 351 00:26:28.119 --> 00:26:32.359 something that was essentially a civil war. Now, it is 352 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:35.359 important to back up for a second. If you think 353 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:38.400 about the period from sixteen thirty seven to sixteen forty 354 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.039 and think about the larger challenges that are facing the 355 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:46.880 Holy Roman Empire. There's a complicated web of political alliances 356 00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:51.240 that Ferdinand the Third has to hold together during this period, 357 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.319 and not everybody's initiatives, desires, or demands are the same. 358 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.599 Makes it a very difficult juggling act for him to 359 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:03.680 continue uously carry out. On top of it, the military 360 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:08.119 campaigns for both sides were never uniform. It was never 361 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:12.839 a string of uninterrupted victories for the Protestant princes, for Sweden, 362 00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:16.359 for France, or for the imperial forces. It was a 363 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:18.160 lot of back and forth, so you had to recover 364 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:21.400 from losses. And then on top of this were the 365 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:26.160 financial pressures. The financial pressures were enormous for all the combatants, 366 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:32.640 but mostly for the imperial forces. Now, Ferdinand is a 367 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:36.039 young emperor and he's doing the best he can, grappling 368 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:38.640 with a legacy of conflict. He's got an empire that 369 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:43.599 appears to be crumbling, and powerful adversaries like France, Spain, 370 00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:46.759 and Sweden all lined up potentially with him, potentially against 371 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:50.480 him at different times. This was a challenging time to 372 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:54.640 be a leader. Next time, we'll delve into Ferdinand the 373 00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:57.640 Third's reign a little bit more and start to learn 374 00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:04.119 more about how he feels these challenges going forward. Now 375 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:07.640 all this week I'll be releasing more episodes as I 376 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.119 continue to try to put the pedal to the metal. 377 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.880 As we used to say, it doesn't really make much 378 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.920 sense anymore in the world of evs, but keeping the 379 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:19.319 analogy going. If you'd like to support my efforts to 380 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:21.799 bring this to a conclusion, please check out the link 381 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:24.279 in the show notes to Western Civ two point oh. 382 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.359 For one dollar a month you can get all of 383 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:30.160 these shows a little early and without any advertisements, and 384 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:32.680 for two dollars or more a month you can continue 385 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:34.880 to support the show and get access to Western Civ 386 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:37.640 two point oh, where I do a much much more 387 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.279 detailed look at all the events of history in the 388 00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:42.480 same narrative style.