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The Thirty Years' War began with the Czech
rebellion against Austrian oppression under the rule of the Habsburgers.
The Catholic League, a military alliance formed in 1609, advanced against
the Czechs. The League comprised German Catholic principalities, Austria
and Spain; the Emperor also supported it. At the beginning of the war, the
Czechs gained several victories and even took some Viennese suburbs by
force. However, the Catholic League managed to regroup its forces and
deliver a crushing blow to the enemy. In 1620, the Czech army was smashed
in the Battle of the White Mountain. All these events gave Protestant
Europe a signal to intervene. In 1625, England, the Netherlands and
Denmark offered resistance to the Catholics. France, the old rival of the
Habsburger dynasty that ruled Austria and Spain, abundantly financed the
Protestant forces. War enveloped most of Europe. The Catholics crushed the
Danish forces. England and the Netherlands could not hold back the
Catholic union, because their armies were too small and poorly organized.
France was threatened with invasion. Cunning politician Cardinal Richelieu
managed to ward off this disaster. He entered into an alliance with the
King of Sweden, Gustaf Adolf. Richelieu undertook payment of one million
livres annually for the "resurrection of free Germany". In 1630,
Gustaf Adolf's army initiated a full-scale offensive. In early 1631 they
took the whole of Pomerania. In the September of the same year, Sweden
achieved a glorious victory in the Battle of Leipzig (Breitenfeld) and the
whole of northern Germany was in their hands. In November 1632, the
Swedish army crushed forces of the Catholic League in the battle of
Luetzen. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory. A talented leader and military
reformer, Swedish king and military commander Gustaf Adolf perished in
battle. The Swedish forces were disorganized. In August 1634, the Swedish
army was defeated in the battle of Noerdlingen. Under these circumstances,
France had no choice but to wage war against Austria. The Netherlands,
Mantua, Savoy and Venice supported France. At first, the French were
forced to defend their lands from invasion, but gradually the French army
grew stronger and the battleground shifted to enemy territories. In May
1643, French forces crushed the Spanish army in the Battle of Rocroi, and
in 1648 the war ended in disaster for Austria and its allies.
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