Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/518

Rh 1612-32. Catholic reaction. ‘duke of Bavaria, and Ferdinand, duke of Styria. Protest- ant Union and Catholic League. Ferdi - nand I I. Thirty Years’ War. Bohemia. 500 for the duties he assumed. He put forth his whole energy against Protestantism; but he could not in the least dis- courage it, and in his time it prevailed over by far the larger part of the Austrian territory. By this time, however, there were signs of a great Catholic reaction which was to work fearful havoc in Germany. It was due mainly to the persistent zeal of the Jesuits. For a long time the Protestants absorbed the intellectual strength of the country ; but many able scholars and divines among the Jesuits could hold their own with their antagonists, who afforded them excellent vantage ground by foolish and bitter controversies. These devoted missionaries of the church gave their attention mainly to the young; and during the reign of Rudolf they were fortunate enough to make a profound impression upon two princes, each of whom was destined to play a great part in the events of the time. These princes were Maximilian, The ' former early showed the fruit of his training by executing, in 1606, an unjust imperial mandate against the Protestant city of Donauwijrth, and afterwards treating it as his own. The Protestant princes, rendered suspicious by this arbitrary act, formed in 1608 a confederation called the Union, which was to last for ten years; and in response the Catholics under the guidance of .Iaximilian, to whom they gave the command, united in a similar confederation called the l League. As the Union was headed by the elector palatine, who was a. Calvinist, many Lutherans, among them the Saxon elector, regarded it coldly. It acquired, however, immense importance by an alliance with Henry IV. of France, who, like Henry II., wished to proﬁt by German quarrels. 'ar was on the point of breaking out between the two confederations in regard to the J uliers-Cleves terri- tory; but the Union did not venture to fight after the sudden death of the French king. Ferdinand was even more vigorous than his friend in the defence of his religion. His faith was that of a genuine fanatic, narrow, intense, austere; and with the feelings of a monk rather than of a secular ruler, he began at once, on assuming the government of Styria, to extirpate Protestant- ism. Individuals and families were driven without mercy from their homes until at last a country which had been mainly Protestant became in appearance altogether Catholic. He was the heir of Matthias; and on coming to Vienna after the death of that sovereign, he found himself in the midst of what seemed hopeless confusion. The Bohemians, embittered by the violation of the royal charter granted by I Rudolf, refused to acknowledge him as king, and elected Frederick V. of the palatinate, son-in-law of James I. of England ; and the people of Hungary and of the Austrian lands, terriﬁed by the prospect of a stern rule in opposition to their religious beliefs, were almost in open revolt. He succeeded in obtaining the imperial crown ; and from that time Ferdinand II. (1619-37) was dominated by a ﬁxed resolve to secure the triumph of his church throughout the q{r1pire,—a resolve which cost Germany the Thirty Years’ air. He began with Bohemia. Although supported by Spain, he could not obtain from her sufficient troops for his I purpose; and as he was for some time nearly powerless in Vienna he was obliged to come to terms with Duke : Maximilian, who, after securing his own interests, put the army of the League commanded by Tilly at his disposal. The Union helped Frederick V.; but being a man of feeble character he wasted precious months, needlessly irritated his subjects, and vaguely hoped that his wife's father would see him out of his embarrassments. In 1620 his army was utterly routed at the battle of Weissenburg ; and he and his family had just time to escape from the kingdom he had rashly undertaken to govern.‘ Ferdinaml drove to the v GERMANY [n1s'ronv. uttermost the advantages of his victory. The I'nion was broken up; and Bohemia was placed under such a system of govermnent that in becoming Catholic it lost more than two-thirds of its population, sank from high prosperity to a state of indigence, and ceased to be a seat of art and learn- ing. The Spanish troops and the army of the League next invaded the palatinate, which after severe struggles, was Palati- ﬁnally subdued; and there also the process of conversion Hatc- was carried on with a thoroughness which ended in the death or exile of multitudes of the inhabitants. Frederick was banished from his inheritance; and the electorate he was declared to have forfeited was conferred on Duke Maximilian. Thus ended the ﬁrst stage of the Thirty Years’ War. The Danish second began (1625) by the formation, after much fruitless Will’- negotiation, of the Protestant League, which comprised Eng- land, Holland, and Denmark. The burden of the struggle fell on the last-named power, whose king, Christian IV., was also duke of Holstein, and therefore a prince of the empire. It was in the war with him that Europe ﬁrst became familiar with the great name of Wallenstein, a Bohemian noble who, Wallcn by marriage and by loyal service to the emperor, had risen stein- to immense wealth and power. Ferdinand became restive at his dependence on the League, and gladly accepted Wallenstein’s offer to raise an army over which it should have no control. This scheming, mysterious general, co- operating with Tilly and soon casting him into the shade, chased Christian, after the battle of Latter, into Denmark, and overran Mecklenburg, of which he was created duke. He apparently intended to make himself master of the Hanse towns with the view of securing predominance at sea as well as 011 land ; but this purpose was thwarted by the bravery of the city of Stralsund, which he in vain tried to conquer. Denmark, however, was compelled to conclude peace in 1629. Intoxicated by success, Ferdinand now issued the edict E«1it_-t. c of restitution, demanding the restoration of all ecclesiastical '_t‘-Will‘ lands of which the Protestants had become possessed since the treaty of Passau. As two archbishoprics and twelve bishoprics had become Protestant, this was to strike a tremendous blow at his enemies; and it stirred among them intense and universal opposition. At the same time, yielding to Duke Maximilian and other members of the League, he recalled Vallenstein_. whose movements had given rise to suspicion. A more inauspicious moment could not have been chosen for these two important steps, for in 1630 Gustavus Adolphus left Sweden at the head of a well- Gustav disciplined army for the purpose of raising up the Protestant A*l01Ph cause which had fallen so low. At first this great king was received coldly, even by his co-religionists. They were I ignorant of his designs, and did not want a stranger to profit by the internal disputes of their country. A mistake at the outset would probably have proved fatal to him; but he saw the dangers of his position, and moved so warily that in less than a year he had obtained, partly by intimida- tion, partly by argument, the alliance of the duke of Pomerania and the elector of Saxony. Tilly, at the head of nearly the whole force of the League, met him at Breitenfeld, and was completely defeated. This victory put Germany at his feet; and had he realized how utterly he had broken the imperial strength, he might have advanced on Vienna itself. He preferred, I however, to make the country around and behind him absolutely secure; and everywhere the cities opened their gates to him as the deliverer of the Protestants. Aftcr again defeating Tilly, who was woun(led and died, he took possession of the palace at Munich, while Duke Maximilian fled. Whatever may have been the motives of Gustavus in undertaking this memorable cxpedition,—-and they were probably not altogether unselﬁsh,—he had the power of 011.