Why the Thirty Years' War Was So Devastating - European Wars of Religion
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- čas přidán 23. 11. 2020
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Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on the Thirty Years' War covered the most crucial battles of the conflict ( • Thirty Years' War - Wh... ) - White Mountain, Breitenfeld, Lützen, Rocroi, Nordlingen and others, but this war was also known for the higher civilian casualties than the previous ones. In this video, we will talk about why the Thirty Years' War was so devastating, even in comparison to other European Wars of Religion, and how it killed millions of people.
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The video was made by Lucas Silva, while the script was developed by David Munćan. This video was narrated by Officially Devin ( / @offydgg & / @gameworldnarratives )
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#Documentary #ThirtyYearsWar #30YearsWar
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Keep your work up bro we love it. ♥️
How do you manage to produce so much good and educational content at such a fast pace while making it so interesting?
Nice video and very informative and very entertaining and very satisfaction more videos.
When is your never video on the Imjin War.
I heard u guys were making a nadir Shah series, how's that going along?
This conflict should be taught as much as the world wars or crusades. One of the most important wars in early modern history.
Your profile pic is beautiful
It is, at least here in Germany.
I don't think I would put the crusades as high as importance as the world wars or the 30 years war, not to downplay it or anything.
People are teaching the crussades?
@Aleksa Petrovic i mean i live in Israel the place where it happened and that doesn't get mentioned here.
A baby born by a camp follower could be raised in a mercenary group and then finally fight as a mercenary in the exact same conflict that his father was fighting in, entire lifetimes came and went and this war still raged on.
I can't even imagine what it was like living in this time period.
Sounds like Guts from Berserk.
@Shakeel Even earlier if you add the afghan soviets war and the civil war after that.
What if the baby is a girl? Would she just be another prostitution/concubine? I really can’t see how parents would willingly let that happen
Those babies rarely survived. There is a diary from one of those soldiers still existing, and it recorded the death of all of the babies of his wife.
@Shakeel since 1978,Afghanistan his currently in 40 year long endless war
"When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers."
---Kenyan proverb
That’s a good proverb
Sounds interesting. And theirs likely some truth in that proverb.
Nice one
When humans fight , everything on earth suffers
Just how evil we are and we think Monsters are some animals
@@ex-navyspook how is this even a saying? This is common sense. Green = farmable = able to sustain more life = more value = more resources = will be targeted more. Multiple reasons a rich area would see more war than some shitty village in a desert.......
God that was depressing. The Thirty Years War is criminally under-studied. Perhaps it’s just the German in me saying this, but we need more books on this in English, rather than a 1274th book on the Civil War.
I'm applying for my Master's Degree and I really want to do research on mercenaries in Renaissance-early modern Italy and Germany. I agree, there is surprisingly little written in English on these subjects.
Also the Dutch 80 years war, which overlapped with the 30 year war.
Which civil war? The English or American?
Totally agree: one of the most important occurrences in modern European history that change the continent and influenced nearly every state
You'll gonna get your 64567th book about WW2 and you'll gonna like it
"First came the Greycoats to eat all my swine,
Next came the Bluecoats to make my sons fight,
Next came the Greencoats to make my wife whore,
Next came the Browncoats to burn down my home.
I have naught but my life, now come the Blackcoats to rob me of that."
-Anonymous Poem from the Thirty Years War
What country do each of those represent?
@@Alorand I am not 100% sure, it is hard to find consistent info. But I believe grey are the Swedish, Blue the Germans, Green were Scottish, I can't find who the browncoats might be, because all I get is Firefly results, and I think blackcoats are meant to be death itself
@@Riku-zv5dk What a great poem. The ambiguity of the different factions show that all armies fighting a prolonged war around this man's home treated the peasants poorly. just collateral damage... Any idea what language this was written originally?
@@hitchensghost what language, German!
Everyone had uniforms!
The lessons to be learned:
-End your wars quickly.
-Manage your supplies.
-Don’t hire soldiers you can’t afford.
-*Pay your goddamn soldiers.*
All of that becomes redundant when you're the kind of guy to lead a demoralized mercenary army, especially since, if you are the type of person to lead a mercenary army, you are likely to not be an especially humanist, sentimental or empathetic character to put it mildly. Peasents thought of these mercenary leaders as impersonating the devil himself for a reason.
That becomes very difficult when your enemy is ambitious and doesn't want to make peace if you don't play and access to his terms
If it were that easy
A video about a horrible catastrophe, sponsored by RAID? Makes sense
A horrible catastrophe, sponsored by another horrible catastrophe.
tasteless
Of course
Lol
all people have the right to know what hapend before and what all religion did in some periods of time
The Ottoman Empire : what the hell are they doing over there
@Aleksa Petrovic yeah
@Aleksa Petrovic Again
we should all kill our so called 'leaders', they are not worthy
Around the same time the Ottomans were engaged in their own wars against the Safavid Empire which did often take a very religious tone too.
@Aleksa Petrovic Yeah backstabbed again by their own.
I just wanted to add a small detail. In German we have the word Magdeburgisieren. It describes the siege and destruction of a city.
"They got Magdeburged"
"Maaan, that Magdeburgation was terrifying"
"One more word and I'll Magdeburg your house!"
Yeah not even gonna try to say that word.
Croatian soldiers were the most responsible for that massacre..
@@andrejvidovic1 Source: Milosevic's ghost
It was a Lifetime of War.
Yep, a whole generation saw nothing but this war, mind boggling
@@KingsandGenerals Please tell me you got the reference
@k4rlo WHO'LL FIND A WAY, TO LIVE ONE MORE DAY
@@moritamikamikara3879 THROUGH DECADES OF WAR.....
@@akhsinilhami2418
IT SPREADS LIKE DISEASE...
So during 30 years war European Kings basically hired mercenaries and then unleashed them to the territories of the enemies like starving wild dogs because they have not enough money to pay them?
No, they unleashed them on everyone. The mercenaries didn´t care where they plundered and pillaged, they just did it. I live in the City of Rostock, which is located in Mecklenburg. When the swedes arived back then, they were celebrated as liberators. Sadly they turned out to be terrible guests. Just like the Danish and imperial Army did they ravage the rural areas and blocked the harbors of coastal cities, blackmailing the Cities for money even after 1648.
Nothing changed, most wars are like that. Mercenaries killing everyone, provoking regular armies to retaliate, propaganda being pushed, and at the end few escape goats get prosecuted, to cover up what really happened, who's behind it all, and what they gained.
Arguably the war kept going in part because the pay of mercenaries was always in arrears. If you tried to disband an army that you owed a year's wages to, at best you'd create a huge mob of well armed, experienced and utterly ruthless bandits, and at worst they'd lynch you. But, if you went to plunder yet another territory, maybe you could improve state finances just enough, or at least placate the soldiers with looting opportunities.
Half the time it wasn't even the territory of their enemies -- all the neighbouring powers sent their armies into the Holy Roman Empire to fight each other, and when they weren't fighting they pillaged the countryside wherever they happened to be.
@@swatkabombonica4103 escape goats??? 😂😂😂😂 cmon man
In Germany the thirty years war is not really teached in schools. Which is a shame as it is one of the most important events in german history. Some regions never fully recovered to this day.
@moroccamman moroccanman Yes. I would need to search for some sources. But I read about it during my studies. Many areas of North-East Germany still have not reached the same population numbers before the war. Many places that were devastated were not resettled.
@@18Krieger
Maybe it has to do with - I don’t know - the many, many things that happened in the last 350 years?
I mean, Germany went through the Napoleonic Wars, Two World Wars, and Soviet domination in the meantime. Not to mention that those areas may have been depopulated due to the ever-increasing urbanization as people tends to leave the rural areas to go to the cities.
"In Germany ... is not really teached in schools."
What? It is definitely taught both in Gymnasium as well as Realschule-level. I honestly don't know if it is taught in any Hauptschule, but the mere existence of that type of school is an embarrassment for our education system to begin with.
"Some regions never fully recovered to this day."
I also very much doubt this statement and would like to have a source for it.
Even in France, we don't say one word about this war.
While we are a little bit the middle of this war.
yer swiss masters do not want it talked about
Nothing like this to feel better in 2020.
2020: "I'm not dead yet."
Creative Assembly, who makes Total War, should really do a game that takes place during this time period. Super interesting with conflicts like the 30 years war, not to mention the English Civil War, the Deluge, and 80 Years War, along with new pike-and-shot units/tactics
Preach!
I really thought they would do it when they anounced "a period we never covered before" ... and then some pseudo-bronzeage nonsense was promoted as a historical title
forget ca and total war... they will just churn out more fantasy titles as this is what their fans want and on top of that they try to reach the asian market and those guys are not interested in western history whatsoever. we will just see more warhammer and 3 kingdoms from them until the end of times.
BuT mY WaRhAmMeR
@@wernergruen3943 just because you don't like it, doesn't make it a bad game. Warhammer 1 & 2 are some of the best Total War games purely mechanically/gameplay speaking. It brought so much new to the table. I love my Historical TW games but I also love Warhammer so I guess for me it's easy :)
Still my favorite series. Well done folks.
There are some scholars who raise the point that the modern German morbidity (as in: being gloomy, having no humour, being overly stern, etc.) is a result of the 30-years war. And while the war itself is often only talked about very little in history classes, it's very much present in art and german classes via poems like "Tränen des Vaterlandes" or etchings like "Der Galgenbaum".
Stop being gloomy, damn krauts 😄
Damn, here my ignorant American ass thought is was the world wars
Catholics: hey we are winning the war
Some protestant king in the north: A time of religion and war, legend tell the tale of a lion!
A storm over Europe unleashed
Dawn of war a trail of destruction
yep, checks out
Army: *Goes to a town, loots everything and murders much of the population, then burns the town to the ground in the chaotic looting*
Army two years later: "Why isn't there a town here? We need provisions!"
Thirty Years War: When you combine Sengoku Jidai, Three Kingdoms Period and (even more) religious conflict.
Game of Thrones: The German Edition.
CA should make a Total War like this
@@tranchien1056 CA should sell their rights to Total War after Britannia, troy, Rome 2 taking 17 patches to be okay, 3 shitdoms.
@@BudMasta Rome 2 was and is amazing. The other two though I completely agree with
@@OdinsVikingr It took 17 major patches and 2 years. They should get no credit when modders patched most of the problems by that point. unpaid people did better work than a company that sold a million copies.
Ottomans were fighting Safavids for those wondering why they didn’t invade.
@Aleksa Petrovic No no clusterfuck of politics. Just kill the Sultan in 1622 and in 1648. They were fighting in a war against Safavids till 1639, which they won. And in 1645 declared war on Venice and sieged Crete.
P.S It was the longest siege in history 1645-1669 or 24 years Cretan War
@@syedazam2568 It wasn’t the longest siege in history.
@@leonrothier6638 As I have heard, it was-24 years. Anyways, can you tell me what the longest siege in history was
@@syedazam2568 The Siege of Diaoyuchen lasted over 30 years, I believe. The officers that resisted for so long requested to the Mongols that their men and people be spared, where the said officers then committed suicide.
@@leonrothier6638 Not 30-25 years and in all of them active warfare was not happening. Time to time, small battles were fought. That's why I don't think it was a whole siege, but a period of small battles
Fun(?) fact: The sack of Magdeburg was so shocking that the term _magdeburgisieren_ ("to magdeburgize") was coined to describe that kind of pillaging and massacre.
Croatian mercinarys did the worst crimes in that looting.
Wow, never heard of that before...that's hardcore.
@@andrejvidovic1 Should have payed them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm a German Catholic and hearing, watching and reading things about this (and this comment section) is still a very bitter pill. Peace, everyone!
You live in Bayern, I'm guessing?
That it super kind! Peace ✌🏼 from a German over here across the pond in the US.
@@reintaler6355 No, I'm from the Rhineland, that other very Catholic region in Germany ;-)
@@ZeekoWay Hey from Czechia, wer gonna find ground-floor office for you this time, hahahah, jk take it easy.
@@MrMajsterixx haha good one, no worries
My small hometown in the east of Germany was sacked min 5 times. The first time they resisted opening the gates, so the merceneries took the town by force and raped and plundered - later times they kept the gates open to see them plunder and rape a bit less. Until 1648 two third of the population was dead or fled the town.
and for south western Germany this was just the start of 2 centures of almost constant conflict with France. Every city and almost every city here was at some point sacked and ruined.
I'm glad your town survived the centuries.
Then later.. the RUSSIANS 💀
I wonder how different this war would've been had Gustavus Adolphus had not died in this war. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
@@superspies32 yeah if you look at a list of kings who died in war there's a huge chunk for swedish kings
@@Outspacey Huh..? I can think of two after the Kalmar union collapsed.
@@superspies32---Yeah but I asked "What If' Gustavus Adolphus hadn't died. What if he lived to see the end of the war. That's what I would like to know.
@@superspies32---Yeah some of that is sure possible.
@@brokenbridge6316 who won the thirty years' war?
"Has man gone insane?
A few will remain
Who’ll find a way
To live one more day
Through decades of war
It spreads like disease,
There’s no sign of peace
Religion and creed
Cause millions to bleed
Three decades of war"
K&G : " The destruction of thousands of villages,towns,and other smaller settlement. The years from 1632 to 1640 are considered to be the deadliest period of the war. "
Also K&G : Let's put some Epic and Glorious music with that !
@@nattygsbord That's the kind of nationalism spirit I'm looking for! /s
I grew up about 30 km southeast of the city of Magdeburg, and it's history is quite sad. For several centuries it had been one of the most important and wealthiest cities in the Holy Roman Empire, but the sacking of Magdeburg in 1631 destroyed all this, and the city never really recovered.
The vast majority of the population was dead, the number of inhabitants sank from 35000 before the war to about 450 and it took until the 19th century to recover from these losses. Today not much is left of the former glory and importance.
karma after they did the same to Constantinople after sacking it in 1204
@@testiculartorsion6047 Yeah, I'm sure the citizens of Magdeburg that died in 1631 totally sacked Constantinople in 1204. They were well known to be immortal vampires who also got around quite a bit.
Seriously, maybe try to read a history book or two instead of hitting yourself on the head with it?
Besides, the crusade that sacked Constantinople was majority French and Venetian wasn't it?
I can’t imagine a 30 year 30-years war veteran
No need to imagine... just go to afghanistan
@@abdiG10ps for them it could be even higher because of the Russian wars too
2:02 to skip raid: casino legends
You are the Legend !
Thank you
Well done for tackling this 'unglamorous' but vital topic.
King Gustavus Adolphus was a real diamond in the rough wasn't he? Courageous, good commander, one of the few commanders in this war that gave any consideration to European commoners.
The MVP of his age
But he enters the war at a completely unnecessary moment. Would he just stayed in sweden, protestants would probably lost and the war would be over. But then he came, just for personal greed for gold and glory and every german king paniced, hiring armies and commanders they could not control. Then in the middle of germany he got killed in battle leaving a giant army in a hostile area with no purpose or supplies. What is following are more or less 10 years of post-apocalyptic anarchy in the whole empire. All for the stupidity of one man. What was even his goal? In the best case he had to defeat the whole army of the Empire, kill Wallenstein, then negotiate with the emperor just to get an enclave in northern germany with people with a different language and culture with no land connection to the rest of his kingdom. But instead he died and at the end sweden got the same borders then pre-war and whole germany was destroyed. He was no diamond, he was a suicide bomber, probably the most succesfull ever lived.
@@sigmundfreude4088 But he kind of did a service to European civilization by helping to Germany divided over the next centuries and weakening it enough in the process. Or else because of its huge population, a Germany under the habsburgs would have dominated much of Europe and blocked several important events like the Enlightment, democracy etc.
@@gustavoritter7321 It's funny, considering that the "enlightenment" is a period created by pompous intellectuals and rulers who thought themselves as better than all their predecessors.l with no actual proof to back up their claim. Most of the historical myths and lies about the Middle Ages directly came from them. They literally made up stuff to make them look even worse than they were.
@@gustavoritter7321 ohh no that would be soooo bad.
Such a sad event for civilians who were innocent. Pillaging, rape, murder and disease. Is crazy how much is lost when history focus on the politics and not the suffering of the common people
Well said.
Finally. I was waiting for a 30 years war video from you. Thanks for that
I really like learning stuff like this. You usually only hear about kings and wars in history, it is nice to hear about what those wars and kings did to their peoples. I really belive that spreading the knowledge of the impacts of certain leaders and wars on common peoples can really change and educate people on why parts of the world are the way they are, and why people from one place have a different culture, identity, ethinicity than other places. Thanks for this.
Heinrich Holk: "Yes, it was good time, good time."
The Thirty Years War, War of Spanish Succession, Seven Years War and Napoleonic Wars all set up the futility and brutality of WWI & WWII.
30 years war, Seven years war, Napoleonic wars and World wars.... Humanity periodic descent onto madness.
@@Padtedesco we've always been a fucked up species. You don't take over the planet without a lot of death.
the German part of my family have been living in the Osnabruck/Saxony area for at least 700 years, so this destruction would have been seen first hand by some of my ancestors (if they weren't involved themselves). Thanks for doing this doco on this part of history, it made a massive impact on european history as a whole, and many peoples personal history.
If we know that population of Rhine Palatinate was 100 000, then only 2 thousand survived the war. Olomouc, second largest city in Moravia, had 30 000 inhabitants before the war. Only 1675 survived (respectively 1175, because another 500 died of plague). From city of Iglau (Jihlava), which had 13 000 inhabitants, had after war only 300 people. These numbers may be unbelievable, but the roaming armies, plague, famines and another terrifying things were common during thirty years war.
I just found this channel & I love it.
Thank you for all of the videos, it helps me keep learning history. Your videos are comprehensive & accurate, and explained in a way that I can understand.
Wars are not to be celebrated, but to remember how much we as humans are just engaging in friendly fire
sound of a dakkedak approaching 👀
Omry G wars are interesting so stfu
Yeah, we must band together to drive out the filthy aliens that infect our galaxy. For humanity!
"Bruh"
-The Germans talking to each other and the French Swedes Danes Dutch Spanish Czechs Slovaks and Italians
I am goinh to steal this line, and give only vague thanks to you by saying "found it on CZcams." Thanks, mate.
I was just saying the other day to a friend, that these videos are awesome, but especially for the 30 years war, they tend to skip over the abject destruction that is often wrought by armies.
Lo and behold, this beauty! everyone appreciates your efforts and thank you!
TLDW: War is hell. And we should work together and peacefully to prevent another world war ever again.
Careless greedy leaders is what made the war especially devestating. Would it have been as much of a shitshow if the officers actually properly supplied and paid their soliders their due instead of hoarding money and forcing the soliders to become directed bandits? War is hell, but extreme inequality and corruption makes everything worse. IMO
@Abdul Rahman Mohammed Because resources are limited and he who has the most 'stuff' wins at life, which means that all creatures (not just humans) will tear the shit out of one another for a scrap of food. Life is a constant struggle for survival, that's the darwinian reality. It has nothing to do with humans having some innate moral failing or because of "muh corrupt leaders" as some people say. Being greedy is a winning strategy, even if it results in bloodshed.
Praise Mutually Assured Destruction, the only thing keeping peace these days.
@@JamesTaylor-on9nzActually human corporation is a winning strategy. World advancements have comf from people who held some form of morality, not your hell hole mentality.
Conflict is inevitable but can be solved in the boardroom through talks. Enlightened Self-Interest is the name of the game these days; you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
So glad y'all fleshed out this conflict
Goodness gracious. Thank you for highlighting this! 🤙🏾
Haven't even seen the video but I am already humming Sabaton's Lifetime of War.
You are probably right that compared to its significance The Thirty Years War is probably one of the most overlooked conflicts in history. It took centuries for Central Europe to recover just from the population loss alone.
Sabaton's Lifetime of War song from their Carolus Rex Album really perfectly sums this up, both in its English and Swedish Version (They have different meaning, depends on language)
Outstanding video. With a huge emotional side. This was deeply moving.
Thanks! You've done an incredible job on this series :)
The history telling and animation is so epic
looks like Devin got his glas of water.
Not a single cough.
Great job!
Yes
Beautiful illustrations and great video, thank you
Yes more Thirty Years War content please. Awesome video
In Sweden we learn in history books that our participation was necessary to "protect protestantism" and that this war was something glorious. While in reality it's just mass murdering madness. So sad.
Do they also leave out how you bascily became France hired goons via the Treaty of Bärwalde?
imagine living in a city of 25,000 and just be left with 1,000 god damn that is devastation
Great video as always. In the future can you guys please make a video on the First/Second Boer War?
Yayy! 30 years war is back! Hopefully you’ll cover the final battles of this war, culminated in Zusmarshausen and Siege of Prague soon!
Working on it!
In my Hometown you can still see the result of the thirty years war today. The city went from a small prosperous hanseatic trade city leading within its dutchy to a so called "peaseant city" (meaning most inhabitants were making money with agriculture). After the war the city only slowly recovered and was soon overtaken as the most important city in the dutchy by a newly created residential city from the duke/count.
During the thirty year war the cities outlining villages had a small defense system agains looters. All villages within around 5km of the city were connected by a sizeable dirt wall reinforced with big headges and water blockades. This wouldnt stop an army, but be a major pain for any bandid group trying to sneak around the villages. The only entreances would be the villages which each got a small tower with a guard to control entry and keep lookout. If a bandid group was detacted the guard would signal the city guard tower to send out a patrol to drive them of. If an army was detectzed the villages would signal eachother via the towers to evacuate towards the city asap and warn the city to get ready. It served as an early warning system.
It didnt help in the end because the city was sacked by both the cathlics (the city was part of a lutheran dutchy) and the swedes. Most architecture you can visit in the citie core is from the pre thirty years war time. Only very few "fancy" buildings were constructed after it.
But well.....only shortly after the thirty years war ended the city reintroduced witch hunts under an infamous mayor. It resulted in over 200 people killed and the city becoming known as the "Witch nest" in the dutchy.
After the "Golden Age" of beeing a hanseatic city followed the catastrophe of the thirty years war and then the short return to the dark ages during the "witch hunt mayors" rule.
Those low level defence systems had names like Landhege, Landhag, Landwehr or Landgraben. In peacefull times the guards had also to controll the goods on wagons for tax and customs reason, and to have an eye, if someone looks unhealthy .
I was just thinking of searching for 30 years war but kings and generals got my back. Thanks alot kings and generals 😍😘❤
Thank you , K&G .
Extremely interesting. Keep it up!!
Man their war exhaustion must've been really high after 30 years.
20/20
It's bizarre that I was browsing books on the 30 years war and then 10 minutes later K&G uploaded a video on it 🤯
Great stuff.... thank you!
a brilliant, cold blooded analysis of one of the most destructive wars ever waged.
This war was one of the reasons why germany end up being unified by militaristic state of Prussia. Since constant devastation of the brandenburg taught germans well about the importance of having a strong army.
Forget about WW1 and WW2, this really was the time when everybody fought the Germans. Even the Germans fought the Germans.
skill issue
I like that you are doing videos lately that are not just military campaings
Top video mate. Effect on populations and economies are absent from most war reviews.
Just by pronouncing "Wallenstein" correctly as it is in Deutsch (German), you've brought this video up to another level. Good work, keep it up!
Yet he butchers Tilly. The man wasnt called Thiel
The 30-years war is definitly not taught enough, even here in Germany were it brought so much suffering.
Very good to focus specifically on the devastation caused by the Thirty Years War. It was a particularly egregious aspect of this war and so much is missed by just going over the troop movements of each operation.
Great video!!
A truly devastating war, whose devastation remained almost unmatched until WW2. Even the meat grinder of WW1 can't compared to how much civilians were persecuted and slaughtered as the 30 Years War- its extremely frustrating that many outside of Germany and Czechia do not know about it.
I'd personally argue this is the 1st true modern war- or where the early modern period was truly born and divided from the feudal age of knights before this time. Conflicts like the Hussite Wars and French Wars of religion might have tactical and regional legacies but 30 Years War was a continental War where most states around HRE throw there lot to support 1 faction or another in the empire, that's why you have Croats, Spaniards and Poles~ on behalf of the Hapsburgs fighting Swedes, English mercenaries, and Scots in the other serving the various early champions on the Protestants side.
In the political arena it is also extremely influential even today- for in the Treaty of Westphalia it determined that States/ i.e, proto- nations, rather than sovereigns and personal loyalty to said sovereigns are the ultimate representation of the state. No longer are boarders solely something of an inheritance issue, or a network of lords linked by chains of fealty but as distinct nations, each nation was empowered with an identity and set of legal rights due onto itself- such as inviolable boarders and sovereignty. The first great seeds of nationalism was born here.
Rather interesting that before this seemingly everlasting war at the heart of Europe broke out, that knights (some still armored like they are in the 15th century), great lords, and a system of Catholic supremacy waded into it, and from the other end came religious tolerance (or at least legal plurality,) early modern warfare and the foundation for the 1st nation- states. Without this war, our modern world~ and much of the key points of the last 3 centuries probably wouldn't exist.
And don't forget the illuminism.
This war kickstarted illuminist age like no other.
Isaac Newton was 6 years old when the war ended and fully utilized the new peace system brought by it.
The concept of nation state already existed in antiquity, but the Middle Ages pretty much made everyone forget about it.
The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy by Peter H. Wilson is one such good source that covers stuff like in this video. I never knew the full depth of how devastating this war was till I read this book. The book made me learn of how depopulated regions became due to migrations (from wanting to just get away from the conflict), massacres, diseases, and casualties of war that wouldn't recover for decades after the war concluded.
From a military history perspective, reading about this war is both frustrating and instructive. Army after army will march off somewhere, looking all set to tip the strategic balance, only to dissolve and often just disappear entirely from disease, starvation, and mutiny. Frustrating, but an important lesson that war is at least as much about logistics, hygiene, and politics as it is about the weapons, tactics, and generals we often prefer to focus on.
May the algorithm bless you!
I am currently doing A level in the UK and my exam board ONLY focuses on modern european history.I feel like its unfair because theres is much more history other than modern european history.
Among the many effects of the 30 years war, it sparked the ideas of basic human rights and laws of war. This eventually led to the criminilisation of systemic violence and exploitation of civilians, finally culminating in the Geneva Conventions centuries later. It also gradually led to the development of better but far from imperfect supply systems for armies. The war also greatly enforced the ideas of freedom of religion, which was to break through during the coming two centuries in the Western world. The war certainly sparked an ever growing sense of nationalism among Germans regardless of religious affiliation, as they saw the consequences of being the victims of other more centralized states preying upon them.
The practice of plunder and exploitation by armies was largely the norm throughout thousands of years of European and global warfare. However, the 30 years war took it to an entirely new level that was still quite rare in history.
The war also instilled the need for standing professional armies with standardized training and equipment and financing. Throughout history most governments up until the late 19th century have spent most of their funds on their armed forces. If from that perspective states can be seen as mostly an infrastructure for armies, then the 30 years war can largely be viewed as the embryo for modern centralized governments across much of Europe.
Keep up the good work
Aahh yes. Henry! Good to see you!
Pretty much one of my favourite periods to study. Grossly understudied in curricula in secondary schools (hell, elementary school students should be studying this too) and just overall interesting, if not utterly tragic and devastating.
Yeah
Not far from where I live there is a tree, it is called Le Chêne des Suédois, at Reyersviller. It's an incredible testimony of this war. You can find some drawing and pictures online, they speak for themselves.
Now this is excellent a like for sure
The Dutch and Spanish were already engaged in the 80 Years' War, so yeah, that's why they were able to maintain their efforts during the Thirty Years' War.
A Trauma for generations of germans, i recommend "C.V: Wedgwood, The thirty years war".
Yes ! Simplicius Simplicissimus a novel of Von grimmeslhausen who was vet during this war and portray very well the nightmare that war was !
@@DidierDidier-kc4nm yes a fantastic book, i have it here in "teutsch" and i read 30 years ago a Verion in an lowgerman dialect, not 100% sure but i think it was in Plattdeutsch/low german.
I enjoyed every version.
There was also a german TV series with 4 parts and Matthias Habicht as actor in the late 60s or early 70s
another Veteran and a good source is "Peter Hagendorf Tagebuch eines Söldners aus dem 30 jährigem Krieg"
Carpe diem + Memento mori... "seize the day" and "remember death comes for all of us"... this way of thinking is so far removed from us today but for them it was day to day life.
One of your best videos ever tbh
I am looking forward to the last video in the Thirty Years' War series!
Good video just a little correction the map at the end of the video of 1648 shows that Denmark still has plenty of regions left that actually was taken by Sweden in 1645.
Treaty of Westphalia: “Peace in Europe”
... “Peace in Europe?”
*”PEACE IN EUROPE!”*
Louis XIV: Soon...
And just a decade later the polish deluge
Very good and very somber. Is there a chance we could see more videos on the effects war has on average people in different eras such as medieval europeans or Romans?
Excellent 👍
Living in Mecklenburg, I´d like to see a video on the aftermath of the War, not just the treaties signed when peace was made, but also the actions of the participating factions. Events like the Swedish Government pressing the Duke of Mecklenburg into paying tolls to keep the harbors of coastal Tradehubs unblockaded by the Swedish Navy. Or the fact that the war has the collapse of the Hanseatic League as a result.
Just skipping my online history classes to get some better knowledge of our world history
It's an odd thing to admit but, historically speaking, the Thirty Years War is my favorite war. I have read several books in addition to your videos and I am still astonished by the devastation, deprivation and depravity of it.
Thank you for covering this angle of the war. Yes, the political and the religious angles are important, but this is in many respects the most important issue. Especially since it seems like, in many parts of the world, the drums of war are getting louder and louder.
"The means of defense against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people." -James Madison
This war is deeply engrained in German consciousness and culture unto this very day, even if they are not fully aware of it.
And it is the root of all German history that was to follow.
Can i ask how it is engrained?
@@swagkachu3784 That war echoes through all of Germany's following history:
Most obviously the split between Catholic and Protestant states, the demise of the Empire, the following French hegemony and trouble between the two countries and so on.
But especially the atrocities of the war left a deep imprint in German culture, still visible in dark folk tales and can perhaps best be seen (pictures) on the German wiki page for "Vanitas". There's no English wiki page for the concept of "vanity" and I assume is not that prevalent anywhere else on the globe. While it's always existed in German art, it peaks in the epoch of baroque after the war and keeps on lurking ever since.
Sure, the events of WW2 and the globalist culture since then began to wipe or overlay a lot of the collective memories (less so in rural areas), but it will be hard to shed off the subconscious parts.
An impressive depiction of the German mindset can be experienced in Rammstein's video "Deutschland". The more you know about German history, the better you'll understand its theme.
(Falls nötig kann ich's auch auf deutsch erklären 😉, aber es soll ja für alle lesbar sein)
@@ReadersOfTheApocalypse
wdym french domination
@@smal750 French culture and political influence dominated in the time after the war. This went so far that German nobility even spoke French instead of German.
@@ReadersOfTheApocalypse
your definitely french lmao
Your art is great and psychedelicly awesome thank u