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Thirty Years War



             The Catholic Counter Reformation was making an impact on Germany, which gave another reason for fighting the war religiously. Protestant Germans were starting to worry about the influence of the Catholic Church on the Lutheran states. Cardinal Richelieu wanted to defeat the Habsburgs he began to send diplomats all over Europe to gain allies against the Habsburgs. When Adolphus began his attack on Germany, Richelieu was negotiating with the German Catholic states. He wanted to show them that if they cooperated, they would not be in trouble.
             After Ferdinand had taken Bohemia, he invaded northern Germany and this caused fear in the eyes of the Protestants. Christian IV, the king of Denmark, led an army into Germany in defense of the Protestants but was easily defeated. After defeating Christian, the Holy Roman Emperor sought to recover all church lands secularized since 1552 and establish a strong Habsburg presence in northern Germany. There were also major political motives for fighting this war. The Dynasties had goals to conquer certain lands that others had. This would evolve eventually into the major reason for fighting the war.
             When Emperor Ferdinand needed a leader to lead his private army he hired Albert of Wallenstein. Wallenstein would fight for him but over time just use the army to accomplish his own goals. He was fired as commander of the army because of the fear that he would gain too much power. The emperor would realize the mistake he made and bring Wallenstein back to lead the army once again. Wallenstein would then defeat Christian IV, which lead to Emperor Ferdinand issuing the Edict of Restitution. The land taken by the Protestants in 1552, now belonged to the Catholic Church according to the Restitution. The issuing of the Edict of Restitution began to establish the political motive for the war.
             Sweden joined the war in 1629 and Adolphus wanted control of the whole Baltic trade route.


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