discerninghistory.com/2014/05/gustavus-adolphus-thirty-years-war In June 1630 the Swedish expeditionary force landed at Peenemünde. THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR (1618-1648). The charter that the Estates extorted from Gustavus when he became king in 1611 might well have entailed the virtual subjection of the monarchy to the council and the high aristocracy. The Thirty Years’ War, of which Gustavus Adolphus was the greatest hero, was the result of those religious agitations which the ideas of Luther produced. "Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War." But Adolphus was a great st… The fight raged fiercely all day, but when night fell the Swedes had won an important victory. Meanwhile, the internal tensions that Gustavus Adolphus had inherited had been largely resolved. Sweden's entry into the war under Gustavus II (Adolphus) led to imperial reversals. Gustavus AdolphusThe king of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, credited with founding the Swedish Empire, who led Sweden to military supremacy during the Thirty Years’ War. best top new controversial old q&a. On 9 December 1594, Gustav II Adolf was born. 182. Professor of Modern History, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1954–73. The impact Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years’ War had on the broader contexts of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, European power politics and the European balance of power, and the new style of warfare introduced by Gustavus made the conflict much more than the regional topic it has been treated as by historians. In this crisis, Wallenstein, whom the emperor had dismissed from his service in 1630, was recalled to lead the imperial armies. The aristocracy found in Gustavus a king favourable to their interests. See more ideas about Gustavus, Thirty years' war, Arms and armour. The vastness of his operations in Germany initiated a permanent increase in the size of European armies. These developments forced Gustavus to reassess the limited and vague plans with which he had embarked on the expedition. At sixteen he contested three wars, against the Russians, the Danes and the Poles. It thus cut Russia off entirely from the Baltic, thrust it back toward Asia, and postponed its emergence as a major European power until the time of Peter the Great. Sweden’s power grew until it was the greatest of the Baltic nations. Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus) of Sweden now came into the war. In the ensuing months Gustavus swept triumphantly through central Germany, systematically consolidating his base areas as he advanced; by Christmas he had established himself at Mainz. That conflict, the Thirty Years’ War, saw the most horrific acts of violence, the greatest loss of life, and the greatest suffering among both soldiers and civilians of any of the religious wars of the period. At his death the country was exhausted by constant warfare, the monarchy was generally unpopular, and the accession of a new king seemed to offer the opportunity to extort from the crown guarantees against a recurrence of misgovernment. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. As Gustav II Adolf (King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden) waited in Werben, … Thus, the fate of Europe was bound up with what happened in Livonia or Prussia. Thus, the old security had become the new indemnity. As Gustav II Adolf (King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden) waited in Werben, Germany, Johann Tserclaes, the Count of Tilly (Field Marshall of the Catholic League’s forces) received a message from Field Marshall Pappenheim requesting that he come to Magdeburg and aid in its defense against the Swedes. Thirty Years’ War was fought in Central Europe from year 1618 to 1648. And the decisions were always his, though they were usually arrived at after intimate consultation with Axel Oxenstierna. The whole reign of Gustavus Adolphus, from 1611, had been time of almost constant war: Sweden fought against Russia in Ingria (1611-1617), against Poland in Livonia (1617-1618 and 1621-1626) and in Prussia (1626-1629) and several times against Denmark. Hans Georg von Arnim, the military commander of the Protestant troops, realized that he was militarily powerless against the superiority of the enemy and asked – or compelled, to be more specific – his employer John George of Saxony on September 11, 1631, to form an … Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. In 1635 the Treaty of Prague ended the civil war within Germany, but in the same year France, in … But before he was prepared to commit himself to any Protestant league and undertake a military campaign in Germany, Gustavus required adequate assurance of support. Thirty Years War: The Swedish Period. His intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, at a moment when the armies of the Habsburg emperor and the German princes of the Catholic League controlled almost the whole of Germany, ensured the survival of German Protestantism against the onslaughts of the Counter-Reformation. In 1627 Gustavus Adolphus , the “Lion of the North”, had compared the revived Roman Catholic Church to the sea … The whole process had profound social effects on the history of Europe. This series offers … In September 1631, at Breitenfeld, the Swedish-Saxon forces shattered Tilly’s army in a battle that was a landmark in the art of war and a turning point in the history of Germany. The savage European conflict known to history as the Thirty Years’ War was in its 13th year. Immigrants, such as Dutchman Louis de Geer, who founded the Swedish arms industry, came from Belgium, the Netherlands, England, and Germany and made important contributions to the economy. In this emergency, Gustavus and Christian joined forces to send an expedition to Stralsund, the last remaining Protestant bastion in Pomerania, which arrived just in time to prevent its capture by Wallenstein (1628). • La vida y hechos de Estebanillo González, hombre de buen humor, compuesta por él mismo (Antwerp, 1646): The last of the great Spanish Golden Age picaresque novels, this is set against the background of the Thirty Years' War. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years War mod. The Battle of Lutzen occurred on November 16, 1632 during the Thirty Years' War and resulted in a Swedish victory though gifted leader King Gustavus Adolphus was killed in the fighting. Archived. He spent much of his life at war. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. His capture of Riga was followed by a gradual conquest of Livonia (present-day northern Latvia and southern Estonia). Sort by. He inherited the Swedish throne in 1611. save hide report. In this last respect the outcome proved disappointing, but politically and strategically Stolbova was a treaty of European importance. Posted by. But from the point of view of his own country, these achievements were less significant than his domestic labours—his extraordinarily wide-ranging creative work in the fields of administrative organization, economic development, and education. 27 comments. Gustavus Adolphus | Biography, Thirty Years’ War, & Death | … His usurpation of the throne had meant not only the expulsion of a Roman Catholic sovereign whose rule seemed to threaten Sweden’s Lutheranism but also the defeat of the aristocratic constitutionalism of the Council of State, and it had been followed by the execution of five leading members of the high aristocracy. The disastrous defeat (1626) of Christian IV of Denmark, who had intervened in Germany without such an assurance, justified his caution, but it also made Swedish intervention inevitable. But already he was concerned with the larger question of the danger to German Protestantism entailed by the victorious campaigns of the Habsburg commanders, Johann Tserclaes von Tilly and Albrecht von Wallenstein. By the close of 1631, with most of northern and central Germany under his control and the liberation of the southern German Protestant states already in prospect, his plans had broadened. Take advantage of our Presidents' Day bonus! His death came at a moment when it had already begun to appear that the victory he believed to be essential to the stability of Germany and the security of Sweden might be more difficult to achieve than he had imagined. November 16, 1632 Lutzen; Gustavus Adolphus crushed main field army (Battle of Lutzen) • Gustavus Adolphus died in battle • Richelieu – Prince of Catholic Church; led France into the 30 years war • 1635 Richelieu interest for French national interest; Drove France to war to protect French national interest • Powers/ states help and protect the other’s national interest; it would … His object was to compel Sigismund to renounce his claims to Sweden, and he hoped to gain his end by the economic pressure that would result from Poland’s loss of access to its main export routes to western Europe. Gustav II Adolf's politics in th… Omissions? Matthäus Merian, Merseburg, 1650. The Form of Government of 1634 summed up these reforms in a general statute giving Sweden a central administration more modern and efficient than that of any other European country. Jun 8, 2017 - Explore Bill Wilks's board "Gustavus Adolphus" on Pinterest. A Swedish administration was being organized in the occupied areas; Gustavus rewarded his generals and supporters by conferring the conquered lands on them; in some of the treaties he concluded with German princes there was more than a hint that he regarded them as his feudal inferiors. An ordinance of 1617 fixed the number of estates in the Riksdag at four (nobles, clergy, burghers, and peasants) and regulated its procedures on a basis that lasted until 1866. In September John George of Saxony, provoked by violations of his neutrality, formally allied himself with Sweden. Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus II Adolphus; ruled 1611–32) was only 16 years old when his father, Charles IX, died, so the actual leadership passed to the aristocrat Axel Oxenstierna and the council. The motives prompting his intervention have long been a subject of historical controversy. Gustavus Adolphus captured Merseburg. It dragged on until ended by the Peace of Stolbova in 1617, by which time it had clearly changed its character. By the Truce of Altmark (Sept. 26, 1629), with the aid of French and British mediators, Poland made…. His territorial ambitions had embroiled him in wars with Poland, and he feared that Ferdinand's maritime designs might threaten Sweden's mastery of the Baltic. Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu “The Thirty Years’ War and Peace of Westphalia” Create and discuss two graphic organizers. For indemnity he no longer claimed monetary compensation but large territorial cessions, particularly, the transference of Pomerania to Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus Battle Song Story Out of the heroic struggles of the Thirty Years' War, which saved for the world the fruit of the sixteenth-century Reformation, there stands forth one gigantic son of the Vikings, the noble Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden. As the war with Denmark was as good as lost, he set about to end it on the best possible terms. This, however, did not happen; for the man who had drawn the charter, the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, became, in fact, the king’s closest collaborator and remained so for the whole of the reign—a great historic partnership in which the temperaments and gifts of each supplemented those of the other. level 1. Source: Wikicommons. Thus, in 1611 Gustavus had three foreign wars and a major constitutional crisis upon his hands. During his reign, Sweden became one of the primary military forces in Europe during the Thirty Years' War, helping to determine the political and religious balance of power in Europe. He saw his Polish campaigns as one aspect of the general struggle of Protestantism against the Counter-Reformation: if Sigismund were restored to the Swedish throne, the re-Catholicization of Scandinavia would follow soon after, the Habsburgs and their allies would be able to close the passage into the Baltic to Dutch shipping, and the United Netherlands might then be unable to continue their struggle against Spain. Gustavus Adolphus and Sweden. Illustrated with plans, etc‪.‬ Benjamin Chapman. The MILITARY HISTORY & WARFARE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. It is thought to have been written by a man in the entourage of Ottavio Piccolomini. By annexing Ingria and Kexholm, Sweden came to possess a continuous belt of territory connecting Finland with the Swedish province of Estonia. Gustavus Adolphus, also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was the King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, and is credited for the rise of Sweden as a great European power. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Many Germans feared, and some Swedish diplomats now believed, that a final settlement must probably entail the deposition of the German emperor Ferdinand II and the election of Gustavus as emperor in his place. It was, however, dearly bought, for while leading a cavalry charge Gustavus became separated from his men and perished in the melee. PomeraniaA region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. 96% Upvoted. It was a solution he must certainly have contemplated, but there is no firm evidence of his attitude; probably he considered it only as a last resort. 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