The Thirty Years’ War.
It is natural to turn to Germany first in presenting the religious wars because of the greater familiarity of the student with conditions there. The order becomes thereby strictly chronological, as the Schmalkaldic War broke out in 1546; or, in other words, earlier by several years than either of the other struggles. This war gave rise to the Peace of Augsburg, which was a source of so much discontent that it has been counted as one of the great factors in bringing on the main struggle. Among the points which seem to call for special emphasis are the mixture of religious and political causes underlying the struggle, and the general participation of many of the great powers of Western Europe. This fact served to prolong the war and to give it a more European character and a wider significance. It was not merely a question of cujus regio, ejus religio, but of important dynastic and territorial interests. The efforts directed toward the overthrow of the power of the Hapsburgs and the peculiar interests of Denmark, Sweden and England in the contest call for special emphasis. The power of the Hapsburgs in the time of Charles V and later can be shown to good advantage by the use of outline maps. At least three great personalities dominate the scene, Wallenstein, Richelieu and Gustavus Adolphus, all of whom furnish rich material for biographical study. Although it is possible to follow the campaigns with an atlas like Putzger, this study is comparatively barren of results except as it throws light upon the military genius of a Wallenstein or on the prowess of “The Lion of the North.” The effects of the war were to be seen in Germany in the weakness of the central government and in the wretchedness and misery consequent upon thirty years of marching and countermarching on the part of hostile armies. The picture sketched by Gardiner in his Thirty Years’ War is well nigh incredible. The territorial changes which followed the war can best be shown by the preparation of a map. They are much more readily appreciated if they appear by themselves. (See, for example, the map in Harding, “Essentials,” p. 339, or Wakeman “Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715,” p. 124.)