This Day in History

October 24, 1648 :
Westphalia, The Peace of Death  

The struggle that would leave Germany devastated, Europe religiously divided, and religion itself discredited in the eyes of many began when two imperial counselors, thrown from a high window, fell into a heap of manure. This "Defenestration of Prague" of May 23, 1618 was the first salvo in Bohemia's revolt against the Holy Roman emperor, Matthias, and his cousin, Ferdinand von Habsburg, whom Matthias had designated as his successor both as emperor and king of Bohemia. The Bohemian Revolt formed the first phase of the terrible Thirty Years' War. 

We often hear this conflict -- or, rather, series of conflicts -- called a religious war. And, indeed, at its inception, it was at least largely religious in character, for it pitted the Catholic imperial power and the Catholic League of princes against Protestant princes in Germany and the Protestant king of Denmark. After 11 years of fighting, a triumphant Emperor Ferdinand II could issue a decree demanding that the Protestant princes return to the Church all the lands they had seized from her since the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. But then the religious character of the conflict began to give way to political interests (though these were never lacking throughout the war). Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, the prime minister of France, had seen the war as a way of weakening Habsburg power; and with this in view, this prince of the Church had instigated the king of Denmark's entry into the conflict on the Protestant side. Now, with what appeared the possible destruction of Protestant political power in Germany, Richelieu encouraged Gustavus Adophus of Sweden to enter the fray. Then, in 1635, Cardinal Richelieu led France herself into the war. It was now France, Sweden, and the Protestant German princes pitted against the Catholic League, the Habsburg emperor, Ferdinand II, and the Habsburg king of Spain, Philip IV.

It was in this its last phase that the war in Germany grew especially violent and lost any religious character it may have had. It had become a political struggle, with Protestants fighting with the emperor (Ferdinand III, who had succeeded his father, Ferdinand II, in 1637) and Catholics fighting on the side of the Protestants. Neither side showed any Christian charity to the civilian population, which was caught between the contending armies. French, Swedish, and Protestant armies on the one hand, and the imperial and Catholic League armies on the other, ravaged Germany. They burned houses, massacred inhabitants, destroyed livestock, and ruined crops. Both sides said such destruction was the necessary consequence of the "religious" disagreement. The "enemy" was expected to suffer and pay for his "opposition to the Truth."

The Thirty Years' War finally ended with the Peace of Westphalia, which was signed after long negotiations on October 24, 1648. Under the agreement, though Ferdinand III still held the title of emperor, the German states became practically independent of his power. Ferdinand, however, still held control of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary, which, in the future, would form a strong Habsburg-controlled state. But the German empire, from then on, would be an empire only in name.

More important and lasting than the parts of the Peace having to do with the empire were those that touched on religion. For the first time, the empire was forced to recognize Calvinism alongside Lutheranism and the Catholic Church as an official religion. But more significant than this was the provision stating that all states that had been Protestant in 1624 would remain Protestant, and all states then Catholic would remain Catholic. This provision made the religious division of Germany permanent and signified that any hope of reuniting Christendom had been openly abandoned. The Thirty Years' War was thus a great tragedy for Europe as a whole and Germany in particular. That land was devastated. Whole provinces were left uninhabitable wastelands, and almost half of the population of Germany had been killed. It took nearly 150 years for Germany to recover economically to the level of prosperity it had enjoyed before the conflict.

France's war with Spain continued until 1659. Abandoned by Ferdinand III, his cousin for whom he had sacrificed so much, Philip IV, with the Spanish, fought bravely on. The Spanish cause, however, was hopeless. Portugal and England joined France against Spain. The Spanish treasury was empty, and vast numbers of Spanish soldiers had been killed in the long war. When the war ended in 1659, Spain, once the richest and strongest state in Europe, had become one of the poorest and weakest.

Richelieu's supreme goal had been achieved, though he did not live to enjoy his victory. France came out of the Thirty Years'War the most powerful nation in Europe. But to achieve this, France had forced Europe to pay an enormous price -- the permanent dismemberment of Christendom into Protestant and Catholic states.

The foregoing text draws from Chapter 18 of our middle school book, Light to the Nations II: The History of Christian Civilization. 

Additional Resources:

Richelieu by Hilaire Belloc (out of print, check library)

Understanding Europe by Christopher Dawson (googlebook)