Thirty Years' War in pictures

In addition to the timeline of the Thirty Years' War the following 8 pictures show political events and scenes of daily grind in the war-torn countries of the Thirty Years' War.

Defenestration of Prague

The protestants of Bohemia feared that the new emperor of Germany Ferdinand II could cut their religious rights. In May 1618 an assembly of Protestants forced their way into Prague castle. After a short disputation they threw the 2 imperial governors Martinitz and Slavata and their secretary Fabricius out of a window. They fell 21 meter off the ground and survived, because the inclined wall slowed their fall down into a rubbish heap. The defenestration of Prague marked the beginning of the first phase of the Thirty Years' War.

Execution of Protestant leaders

27 Protestant leaders of the Bohemian revolt had been executed in Prague 1621 after the Protestants suffered a destructive defeat in the battle of Weißen Berg. The convicted leaders were executed following their social standing: 3 civics have been hanged, the nobles killed by the sword. Rataplan accompanied the executions to prevent the convicted to talk to the crowd. The chipped heads of the most important leaders were hanged to the bridge tower, where they remained for 10 years until Saxon troops removed them. With the rebellion collapsed, a widespread confiscation of property and suppression of the Bohemian nobility followed.


The sack of Magdeburg

In November 1630 Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly laid with his imperial army siege to Magdeburg. The town had strong fortification and the defenders hoped that Swedish king Gustav Adolf would come with relief forces to raise the siege. But the king didn't come. In May 1631 Tillys soldiers broke the lines of defense and stormed the town. Of 25.000 residents and 2500 soldiers 20.000 people died. Large parts of the once rich city were burned to the ground. It was the bloodiest day in the whole history of the war.


Marauders

To feed armies with tens of thousands of soldiers was quite a challenge. In the areas where they camped or marched through the armies confiscated huge amounts of food. Often so much, that nothing was left for the population and people starved to death. In contemporary sources those armies were referred to as marching cities. But the mercenaries didn't only take food. Bands of marauders robbed, raped and murdered their way through the German lands. Violence spread the country, aimed not against an armed enemy but a defenseless population. The picture shows the inside of a farmhouse invaded by a dozen marauders, stealing food, raping, torturing and killing the residents.

Hangman's tree

In trying to get the atrocities against civilians under control, officers ordered to hang those mercenaries found guilty. The picture shows regiments standing in file right and left of the hangman's tree. The soldiers had to watch the executions as a deterrent.


Revenge of the peasants

Sometimes peasants took revenge. The picture shows peasants who ambush a military column and kill the soldiers with scythes, spears, clubs and flails. They rob the belongings of the mercenaries and tear the clothes from the dead ones.


Assassination of Wallenstein

In February 1634 Albrecht von Wallenstein, former supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II was assassinated in Eger, a town in todays Czech republic. The picture shows captain Walter Deveroux storming at Wallenstein who, it seems, was surprised during his nighttime work.


Battle of Prague

In autumn 1648 the Swedish field marshal Christian von Königsmarck laid siege to Prague. In the end he was only able to conquer a part of Prague called Kleinseite. The old town was held by strong-willed defenders. The battle ended on the 2nd November when the message of the peace agreement reached the attackers. The battle of Prague was the last one in the Thirty Years' War.

Information taken from Herfried Münkler, Der Dreißigjährige Krieg. Europäische Katastrophe, deutsches Trauma 1618-1648. A standard work which I recommend to everyone who reads German and is interested in the Thirty Years' War.

Timeline of the Thirty Years' War

Many of the adventures of Lamentations of the Flame Princess act against the background of the Thirty Years' War. For those of you immersed into this setting, here is a short timeline of events which shaped the course of the war in Germany.

1618: The war starts as a conflict between Protestant and Catholic states about the authority of emperor Ferdinand II in Bohemia.
1620: The Bohemian Revolt is crushed in the battle of Weißen Berg.
1625: The Protestant king Christian IV of Denmark and Norway intervenes in the German war. Emperor Ferdinand II employs Albrecht von Wallenstein to fight the Danish armies.
1626: The war contractor Peter Ernst Graf von Mansfeld who fought for the Protestants dies near Sarajevo from hemorrhage.
1629: After a series of defeats king Christian IV endet his intervention in the war with the treaty of Lübeck.
1630: The Swedish king Gustav Adolf invades the Holy Roman Empire, heavily subsidized by Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister of Louis XIII of France, and by the Dutch.
1631: Magdeburg is sacked by imperial troops led by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, with a great part of the population murdered and the city burned.
1631, September: In the battle of Breitenfeld the forces of Gustav Adolf defeat the Catholic League led by Tilly.
1632: Tilly dies of a wound by an arquebus bullet he suffered in the battle of Rain.
1632, November: In the battle of Lützen the forces of Wallenstein clash with the Swedish troops. The Swedes prevailed, but king Gustav Adolf was killed.
1634: Wallenstein, who lost the trust of emperor Ferdinand II, is murdered by on of his captains in Eger.
1634, September: Protestant forces were smashed in the battle of Nördlingen.
1635: Roman Catholic France intervenes in the German war against the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.
1636: The imperial army and Spanish forces invade deep into French territory and threaten Paris.
1637: Emperor Ferdinand II dies and is succeeded by his son Ferdinand III.
1638: Bernhard von Weimar wins the battle of Breisach and pushes the Habsburg armies back from the borders of France. The tide begins to turn for the French.
1639: Bernhard von Weimar dies of black pock.
1641: Spain ends it's subsiding payments to emperor Ferdinand III in Vienna because of financial crisis in Madrid.
1642: The second battle of Breitenfeld is one of the bloodiest battles in the Thirty Years' War. The Swedish army under field marshal Lennart Torstenson wins a decisive victory and smashes the imperial troops with 5.000 death and another 5.000 captured. The battle enabled Sweden to occupy Saxony and impress on Ferdinand III the need to include Sweden, and not only France, in further peace negotiations.
1643: Denmark-Norway makes preparations to again intervene in the war, this time on the imperial side against Sweden.
1643: The battle of Rocroi against the French is a disastrous defeat for Spain. Spain plays no further role in the ongoing Thirty Years' War.
1644: The Royal Swedish Navy inflicts a decisive defeat on the Danish army in the battle of Fehmern Belt, forcing them to sue for peace.
1648: The battle of Prague is the last one in Thirty Years' War. The Swedish captured parts of Prague and many valuable treasures which until today are preserved in Stockholm.
1648, October: The Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück are signed and officially end the war.
1650: Until two years after the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück bands of unpaid mercenaries roam the German lands, looting and murdering.

In Europe the Thirty Years' War left estimated 8 million people dead, most of them victims of famine and the Black Death.