The Conflict Begins

In 1618, in the Bohemian capital of Prague, three Imperial representatives were thrown out of a window of the Hradshin Palace by angry Bohemian Protestant nobles. They were angry because the man who was soon to become Emperor, the future Emperor Ferdinand II, was a devout Catholic and had made it clear that he would not tolerate Protestantism. This was the "Defenestration of Prague"; the incident which ignited the powder barrel. In 1619, when the old Emperor died, the Bohemians refused to offer the crown of Bohemia to the new Emperor Ferdinand. He in turn decided to take the crown by force and to eliminate Protestantism in that part of the Empire (remember the Peace of Augsburg).

The imperial armies rapidly defeated the rebelling Bohemians, and the region came under Catholic control. Other Protestant states also took up arms against the threat, but, under the command of the brilliant Wallenstein, the Imperial armies were victorious. This, in turn, encouraged the Protestant Dutch to get involved because their survival was in danger. Catholic Spain entered the conflict because it saw this as an opportunity to crush the Dutch revolt once and for all.

It became obvious that this was not simply a struggle between Catholics and Protestants. Both Catholic Habsburg Spain and the Catholic Habsburg Empire were in the process of conquering large areas of Europe. Not only the Protestant countries of Europe were worried but also Catholic countries, especially France, were afraid that this war would eventually lead to Europe being dominated by the Habsburg dynasty.

Albrecht Wenzel von Wallenstein 
(1583 - 1634) (Opens in new window)

In 1625, King Christian IV of Denmark sent his Protestant armies into the Empire to stop the all-victorious Wallenstein, but, after several defeats, the Danes capitulated in 1629. It seemed as if nothing could stop Ferdinand's armies from re-conquering Europe for Catholicism and for the Habsburgs.

Events: The Thirty Years' War (Opens in new window)