The Ashgate Research Companion to the Thirty Years’ War eds. by Olaf Asbach, and Peter Schröder (review)

The Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) was a series of conflicts resulting from the struggle for the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire and the imbalance of the political and religious powers in Central Europe.

The twenty-five articles in the book are divided into five parts. Part I looks at the antecedent imperial politics surrounding the Austrian Habsburgs and the Palatinate that were eventually to ignite into conflict with the Empire. The Empire was troubled by confessional divisions between Catholics and Protestants, in addition to internal conflicts within the various Protestant groups themselves. The articles in Part II tackle the great powers and coalitions involved in the conflict. Here, the traditional picture of the two Emperors, Ferdinand II (1619–37) and Ferdinand III (1637–57), is considered, as are the roles played by other countries, such as Spain, France, and Denmark. The significance of the Ottoman Empire and the involvement of papal diplomats in negotiations are also discussed in this section.

Part III’s contributions present the various stages and theatres upon which the War was fought, the conflicting interests involved, and the alliances and loyalties that resulted from them. We learn here that the year 1635 is typically regarded as the point at which the Thirty Years’ War lost its religious and local character. The articles in Part VI examine the major religious controversies and consider how religious politics influenced the various aims of the War. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555, it is asserted, safeguarded the peace in the region for about half a century, but finally failed due to its assumption that religion should be excluded from politics. Part V’s articles describe the experience and material conditions of the War. The costs connected with supporting military activities and adapting to the disruptions caused by occupation and the movement of soldiers substantially strained the economic situation in Europe.

The complexity of the War makes it a challenging subject for both scholars and undergraduates, but this collection of articles comprehensively and authoritatively reviews current historiographical opinion to shed new light over the field.