>Thirty Years’ War, Swedish Phase, Part 3

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With Gustavus Adolphus and his Swedish Alliance now deep within the Holy Roman Empire, Count Tilly decided that defense was no good against such a formidable foe. Tilly joined armies with Maximilian’s army and attacked Bamberg, and cleared the region of Protestant power. This action sprang Gustavus Adolphus into life. He quickly regained power in Bamberg, and then moved on Bavaria, a key Catholic power center.

Tilly, who went on the offensive, was now on the run from an embittered Gustavus Adolphus. When Tilly’s army reached the city of Rain on the Lech River, he set up defense-works for the ensuing battle. On April 15, 1632, Adolphus crossed the Lech River covered by intense cannon fire. Tilly could not halt any Swedish advance, because of the heavy casualties inflicted by the Swedish cannons. Tilly himself was a victim as he was fatally wounded during the bombardment. After crossing the river, and with Imperial forces in chaos due to Tilly’s hasty removal from injury, Swedish Cavalry ran roughshod over the Catholics. Maximilian was now in danger, and had to flee his own duchy when Gustavus Adolphus invaded by May 1632.

Maximilian was left without a choice, his top general was killed, and his remaining forces were in chaos; Wallenstein needed to be quickly recalled. Within a few weeks of Maximilian’s flight, Wallenstein came back to power after immense demands. He wanted complete control of 70,000 troops and negotiation decisions without answering to Maximilian in any way. All of his terms being granted, Wallenstein recaptured Prague and ridded Bohemia of any invading force. After these objectives were completed, Wallenstein moved to join his army to what was left of Maximilian’s troops in order to advance en masse on Adolphus. Adolphus realized what was taking place and tried to prevent the maneuver, but failed. Distraught, Adolphus had to take a defensive stance against Wallenstein in Nuremburg. Wallenstein, who seemed to have the upper hand would not attack Adolphus; he chose rather to cut Adolphus’ supply lines, and starve him into submission.

With little success on either side, both armies left their positions and moved northward by September 1632. Adolphus attacked Upper Austria, hoping to lure Wallenstein into open conflict. He refused. Instead, Wallenstein tried a similar maneuver when he attacked Saxony, Adolphus’ powerful ally. Wallenstein was successful, and Adolphus marched to defend his ally. The Swedish Army arrived by November 1632 to confront the Catholics. Wallenstein rightly perceiving that he had the upper hand in position and numbers, chose to attack Adolphus near Leipzig at Lutzen. A foolish decision, however, gave Adolphus a small window of opportunity, ultimately leading to Wallenstein’s defeat. A Swedish victory, though earned, was not celebrated, because the great Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus was killed during the course of battle.

The Thirty Years’ War, already a complex diplomatic maze, became even more so after Adolphus’ death. Sweden and the Protestants were now without a leader. The Swedish heir was a six-year-old girl, hardly what the Swedes and Protestants were used to under Adolphus. Without the strong imposition-minded Adolphus, Sweden and certainly the Protestants were now in serious danger. Negotiations ensued with hopes that France would become more proactive. France did help to create the Heilbronn League, and used French power to guarantee Swedish military payment. Payment, however, did not arrive and the remaining Swedish Army mutinied. To make matters worse Adolphus’ duplicitous ally, Saxony, would not agree to the Heilbronn League terms. Saxony actually went so far as to dissuade members from joining the League, and negotiated separately with Wallenstein. Eventually, Saxon Elector Johann-Georg did join campaigns against Emperor Ferdinand, but demanded that the military be under former Bohemian rebel Matthias Thurn’s direction.

At this juncture, Wallenstein shockingly negotiated a cease-fire with his former Lieutenant, von Arnim, who was now serving the Saxons. Wallenstein was lying. He broke the cease-fire only a few weeks later when his army invaded Saxony. Yet, an army did not stop his advance, the plague did. Another cease-fire was hastily agreed, which again only lasted a short while before Wallenstein again attacked with great success. He captured Thurn and 8,000 Swedish soldiers, then moved to the Oder River taking all of Lusatia. He was setting up a plan to invade Brandenburg and Saxony. Seeing new events unfold, Spain also sent a force to reopen the “Spanish Road” into The Netherlands. The remaining Swedish army moved against the Spanish and Bavarians, taking Regensburg rather easily. Maximilian and Ferdinand were livid when cries to Wallenstein for help were unheeded. Once again, Catholic Electors and the Emperor distrusted Wallenstein. He was granted too much power as the Imperial Court panicked after Breitenfeld.

With Imperial demands that Wallenstein move his army into Bavaria also dismissed, Ferdinand had enough. He sent ambassadors to remove Wallenstein from power. Wallenstein, cocky, asked his officers to swear an oath of allegiance to him instead of the Emperor. Officers did swear to Wallenstein, but another clause was added to their oaths, that they’d follow him as long as he was under Ferdinand’s command. Wallenstein’s power quickly worked against him, as his chief officers fled camp and proclaimed him an outlaw. Wallenstein fled with his remaining loyalists to Eger to join von Arnim’s army against the Emperor. A banquet was held in Wallenstein’s army at which the loyalists were murdered, and Wallenstein was stabbed to death. Upheaval throughout Europe saw Saxony and Brandenburg forsake the Protestant Heibronn League, Spain gain more power, and the Swedish force wiped out. France alarmed at Spanish and Austrian Habsburg power suddenly increasing, could no longer sit by idle. Cardinal Richelieu soon brought French armies into the Thirty Years’ War beginning in 1635.

 

>Thirty Years’ War, Swedish Phase, Part 2

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The introduction of Gustavus Adolphus into the Thirty Years’ War was like an injection of steroids. Not to be crass or flippant, but the Protestant cause was near dead, and a leader with the Swede’s capabilities was overtly necessary. His panache was unmatched anywhere in Europe, except maybe Wallenstein. With treaties signed, and alliances made, or rather in some cases such as Pomerania, forced, Gustavus Adolphus eased his way southward.

The Swedish forces successfully defeated the Catholic armies with aplomb. Adolphus initially sent a diversionary force into Mecklenburg, but it was not intended to do more than divert Imperial attention. It worked, but early in 1631, a second force was sent to capture the city. Soon thereafter Adolphus’ army captured Demmin, Greifswald, and Kolberg. Spooked, Emperor Ferdinand reinforced his army by sending Tilly northward to halt any further Protestant advances.

With Adolphus’ victories in the north, Protestant Electors banded together in a new pact, the Leipziger Bund, which was to arm the Protestants within the Empire against any Catholic aggression. Their hope was to provide a counteraction force within the Empire, which would stretch Imperial armies too thin to be effective. It proved to be disastrous for a major Protestant landmark, Magdeburg, which was now under siege. Adolphus wanted to bring his army in relief, but because of the Leipziger Bund, Protestant leaders sheepishly reacted to the Swede’s advances. Eventually, in typical Adolphus fashion, he destroyed the Imperial army at Frankfurt an der Oder, then forced the Elector of Brandenburg to allow his army to occupy Spandau and Kurstin. This maneuvering cost many lives, as Magdeburg could not maintain existence against the Imperial army. It fell in May, and all of the inhabitant were killed by Tilly’s army. Tilly was hoping to use Magdeburg to replenish his army’s supplies, but the utter destruction and chaos after the city fell left Tilly with a smoking trash heap at best.

This atrocity shuddered through Protestantism, and changed policies regarding Gustavus Adolphus. The Lutheran Electors, who were at first scared of Adolphus and forced into treaties with him, began to seek his help as necessary. This is not to say that Adolphus ceased to impose himself. He did so at least one more time, when he surrounded Berlin, and forced Georg Willem into an alliance. With Tilly dejected in spite of victory, the new Swedish Alliance raised considerable support and started causing problems for Tilly. Imperial detachments were sent to deal with what were at first minor skirmishes. Adolphus was victorious in all opposition, pursuing more alliances, especially with Saxony. Saxon Elector Johann-Georg finally chose Adolphus, though grudgingly, and joined forces on march to Leipzig, which was recently taken by Tilly.

The stage was now set for one of the outstanding battles of the entire war. Tilly knew that he was outnumbered by the new alliances, and did not want to join a battle. He hoped instead to endure a lengthy siege thinking that it would drain Protestant morale, and allow time for Imperial reinforcements to arrive. Tilly, however, made an uncharacteristic blunder when he sent an army against the advancing Protestants. With reckless abandon, the move almost worked, but Adolphus was too crafty a military genius, and responded with a bold cavalry move that captured all Imperial artillery. He then used the same artillery against the Imperials at Breitenfeld to devastating effect. Approximately two-thirds of the Imperial army were killed. The remaining troops fled, and left behind all their materiel. With this overwhelming victory Adolphus took control of Germany. Swedish armies followed up the decisive Breitenfeld victory by obliterating any remaining opposition throughout the Main and Rhine river valleys. All previously conquered Catholic territories fell into Swedish/Lutheran control by December 1631. Part of the Alliance also moved into Moravia and Bohemia, taking Prague without a fight before the end of the year.

Ferdinand had to act swiftly. Saxons were now in talks with the deposed Wallenstein. France was also entering diplomatic negotiations throughout Europe. The Holy Roman Empire during the span of only a year went from seemingly victorious, to now seemingly defeated. Certainly, the situation would worsen for Ferdinand before any improvement.

 

>Thirty Years’ War, Swedish Phase, Part 1

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With the Catholics and the Holy Roman Empire firmly in control, arrogant insolence showed during the diplomatic negotiations following Denmark’s defeat. Emperor Ferdinand II wanted a number of issues brought to pass, such as his son to be in line for the Emperor’s throne. To bring his demands to pass, Ferdinand had to make the electors happy, as well as outside nations, which included Spain and France. Ferdinand’s blunders began almost immediately after Christian IV of Denmark was defeated.

Mistakes abounded first when Denmark received most of her lost territory back, much to Wallenstein’s chagrin, at the Treaty of Lubeck. Denmark simply had to agree that it would not interfere within the Empire. Wallenstein voiced his opinion that such lax treaty terms would prove dangerous, and possibly could bring Sweden into the War. Next, Ferdinand at the behest of a number of his aids, produced the Edict of Restitution, which demanded all lost Catholic territory since the Reformation be returned to Catholic control. The Protestant Electors flatly refused both of Ferdinand’s demands. Catholic Electors also proved to be uneasy with Ferdinand’s growing power. In return for their votes, the Catholic’s wanted Wallenstein removed from army command. They also desired that the army, now large, and unimpeded, be shrunk by two-thirds. Wallenstein and his army were an immense burden on the Empire, as his army lived off of the land, and Wallenstein paid his men through plunder. Their brutality, though reasoned necessary , cost him his support. Ferdinand complied and relieved Wallenstein.

International demands were also made during the process after Denmark capitulated. Spain was aiding the Holy Roman Empire, and the H.R.E. was aiding Spain against the Dutch. When Spain further asked assistance against the Mantuan’s in Northern Italy, France cried foul. The French ambassadors impressed upon the Electors to reduce Imperial military power. When Ferdinand asked the Electors to send support to Spain, the Electors agreed with the French, and stood against Imperial involvement in Spain’s affairs. France was not yet done diplomatically. Spain gained the upper hand against Mantua, and sacked the city in 1630. France panicked and agreed to the Peace of Regensburg; however, Louis XIII would not sign. France was not to be at war, but did not have an army. French ambassadors sought to bring Sweden into an alliance against the Habsburgs of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, but to do so, they had to negotiate peace between Poland and Sweden, who were involved in a separate war. Peace was agreed. With Poland pacified, Sweden mobilized to invade Germany.

Meanwhile, with Wallenstein dismissed, and the army shrunk, Count Tilly was installed as head of the army. He was not ready when Sweden landed in Pomerania. The Empire was uncertain how events would now unfold after such a meaningless few months of diplomacy ended. By the middle of 1630, Wallenstein, who had warned of impending Swedish belligerence, was proved correct. Gustavus Adolphus II, King of Sweden, brought his well trained and experienced army to Stettin, and forced Duke Bogislav XIV at gunpoint to sign a treaty. Bogislav wanted to remain neutral, but Adolphus would have none of it. Immediately, Adolphus proved much more successful than Christian IV or Waldstein during their previous campaigns. Even more amazing is how Adolphus accomplished his goals. He had no allies, but willed his way to power everywhere his army marched. Eventually, Adolphus did find what he craved, an ally with deep pockets – France.

The French, who were now eager to stand opposed to the Habsburgs, were not militarily able to fight, yet. Instead, once Sweden made intentions known by invading, France worked to diplomatically clear the way for Gustavus Adolphus. Adolphus assumed control of the Protestant cause, and France funded Adolphus’ outstanding army with the Treaty of Barwalde. Soon, France would be more directly involved, and Gustavus Adolphus would prove to be a rather successful thorn in the Holy Roman Empire’s flesh.