Cameron Stewart Mr. Judge APHE, 6o 10/28/09 FRQ: Thirty Year’s War Effects The Thirty Year’s War was a large influence in the turning point of European history. Leading up to the war, lasting three decades, were the religious catastrophes. Catholicism had always been the sole religion in Europe. In the sixteenth century came a catholic monk, named Martin Luther, who had some disagreements as to how the church was being run. Luther’s argument against the church was that anybody could interpret the Bible, as opposed to just the priests and Pope.
According to Lutheranism, righteousness is achieved by faith alone. He went on to revolt King Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire. Luther’s postings of the 95 Thesis attacked the Holy Roman Empire. John Calvin later came along and took the Protestant belief a step further. He argued that God chose whether a person had salvation or not long before one was created. Though Calvin was not as threatening to the Holy Roman Empire, Calvinism was eventually recognized as a major religion along the Rhine River. Following the Religious Reforms came religious wars.
France, at the time, was in the middle of Calvinists trying to expand and Catholics trying to defend the Calvinists. This brought a series of wars called the French Wars of Religion. Lack of rule from the Medici family allowed these wars to brake out. The Edict of Nantes was issued in the late sixteenth century declaring that French Calvinists, also called Huguenots, were given religious tolerance. This edict ended the French Wars, but still left a bitter taste in Europe’s religious views. In a sense, the French Wars of Religion foreshadowed the events of the Thirty Year’s War.
The most noteworthy effect of the Thirty Year’s War was the modified political governing. From now on, religious affairs are overlooked and a monarchy is responsible for the running of a country. One reason why politics were the most influenced factor in the outcome of the Thirty Year’s War was because of the economic problems that resulted. As in every battle, the cost of this war was detrimental to every country that participated. Many reasons why a country is unsuccessful in war are because the loss of money and resources needed to fund the expenses of the war.
War is tremendously expensive, especially to those countries that cannot afford the loss in the first place. The loss of peasants, who were trained soldiers that raised crops as a source of income, was the main source of economic depression. The families of the lost soldiers were no longer to pay taxes because of the lack of revenue coming from the selling of crops. Crops not being harvested became rotten, which caused the price of healthy crops to rise tremendously. Unhealthy crops lead to disease if they were consumed. Countries increased the trade for food with other countries in order to feed families.
There was a problem with this; there were taxes to these products, and because of the lack of money, this became difficult to afford. The effect of the economic problems was the diminishing of the middle class. Families could either endure the depression or decline their wealth, which spread the gap between the rich and the poor. Although the war put the involved countries in an economic crisis, is was only temporarily, unlike the political changes. Religion in Europe took a step down in its importance of affairs. The war was initially started over the religious differences.
The Defenestration of Prague triggered the beginning of the war when Protestants threw two Holy Roman officials out a window. The Peace of Westphalia ended the violence and divided the Holy Roman Empire into new religious territories. Lutheranism was given the right to dominate religion of northern Europe. Catholicism remained in the south, as it was most prevalent. And Calvinism was granted a small area along the Rhine River. Because Catholicism was now no longer the main religion, the Pope was no longer the voice of Europe. The Pope’s position lost stature because the Holy Roman Empire split.
Violence caused by religious affairs was no longer happening because of religious tolerance. Political effects of the Thirty Year’s War were significant because it changed Europe’s way of order. Before the Peace of Westphalia was issued monarchies that ruled over a country were sitting in the back seat because the Pope had authority over them. After the split of the Holy Roman Empire, monarchies finally were able to live up to their position. International affairs became secular and were fought over land. The Thirty Year’s War ended with France gaining the elite power in Europe.
France expanded from the eastern border of Spain to the English Channel. The country that had the worst outcome was the Habsburg. Switzerland and Germany subtracted the land of the Habsburgs. German rulers gained the right to ordain any of the three major religions as their official religion in the state. Each German prince became sovereign. All countries in Europe were now lead by a monarch. Due to the Thirty Year’s War, Europe was faced with political power, religious affairs, economic recession, and social unrest. However, the most important outcome of the Thirty Year’s War was the political change that occurred.
The economic depression finally grew back, the society became used to the new changes, and religion was no longer a cause for fighting in Europe. Because the changes of governing did not change, like the other outcomes, political effects were the greatest change in Europe after the Thirty Year’s War. Politics during this time became the most vital element of disputes of countries in Europe. Religious importance took a step down and allowed politics and monarchs to step forward. Works Cited “Peace of Westphalia Ends the Thirty Years War, 1643-1648. ” DISCovering World History.
Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. Smitha, Frank E. “The Thirty Year’s War. ” Fsmitha. com. 2001. Web. 16 Oct. 2009. . “Thirty Years’ War. ” Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. 6 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. “Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). “Europe, 1450 to 1789: An Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. Jonathan Dewald, ed. 6 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
