The second phase of the war (the Danish Period) is when the war spread internationally in Europe. When various German Protestant states sought foreign assistance against resurgent Catholicism. England, France, and other western European powers were alarmed at the increasing might of the Habsburgs, but France who was catholic and England who was protestant, were then allies against Spain and refrained from immediate intervention in the war because of domestic difficulties. Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway, however, came to the aid of the German Protestants. However, Christian's intervention was really motivated by nonreligious considerations, mainly territorial ambitions in northwestern Europe and a determination to end Habsburg control of the Danish duchy of Holstein, Germany. Supported by Lutheran and Calvinist German princes, Christian mobilized a large army in the spring of 1625 and invaded Saxony. The Protestant expedition encountered little effective resistance until a year later.

So many more battles were fought as you might have guessed by now and basically the imperial or catholic side won, quite decisively.

The Bavarian Period of the war began with the battle of Pilsen. Going against their Catholic king, the Bohemian Protestants decided to call in outside help from Ferdinand of Austria. This is when the struggle began. An army of 20,000 men crossed the Bohemian border and marched on Pilsen, a Catholic stronghold 52 miles southwest of Prague. The army was under the German mercenary general, Count Ernst Von Mansfeld. In 1618, Mansfeld attacked and after 15 hours of fighting, they captured the town. After Mansfeld’s victory, the Catholics delayed their plans to seize Prague. On the following year, Mansfeld and his troops, marched toward the Catholic stronghold of Budweis, 75 miles to the southeast. After seven hours of fighting, Mansfeld withdrew at nightfall ~ he lost his baggage train and 1,500 troops in casualties or captured. This was a great Catholic victory. General Ambrogio di Spinola sent a 20,000-man army from the Spanish Netherlands to be under the direction of Gonzales de Cordoba to occupy Mainz. Kreuznach, Oppenheim and other Rhine strong points in the fall of 1621. Europe had expected that the struggle between Catholic and Protestant would be renewed in 1621, when the truce between Spain and the northern provinces of the Netherlands came to an end. But it began in the Empire several years earlier and gradually most of Europe became involved. Since Charles V, backed by the power of Spain, had been unable either to strengthen his authority at the expense of the territorial princes or to wipe out Protestantism, it was understandable that his immediate successors preferred to leave the constitutional and religious issues alone. Ferdinand I and Maximilian II devoted most of their energy to fighting the Turks.

Toward the close of 1633 Wallenstein initiated a peace movement among leading circles of the imperial armies. Removed from his command by Ferdinand on suspicion of treason, Wallenstein then entered into peace negotiations with the Protestant leaders. His

Some topics in this essay:
Period Ferdinand’s, Cordoba Tilly, Christian Brunswick, Thirty War, Ferdinand II, Prague Mansfeld, Germany Uncertainty, Von Mansfeld, Frankfurt Protestant, Netherlands Empire, thirty war, count ernst von, imperial armies, protestant forces, ernst von, count ernst, christian brunswick, period war, bavarian period, cordoba tilly, protestant army, period thirty war, margrave baden durlach, habsburg position germany, holy roman empire,