WAR AND PEACE

Significant Military Conflicts in Modern European History

The Wars of the Lutheran Reformation

(1546-1555)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

Catholic states of Holy Roman Empire (led by Emperor Charles V)

v.

Lutheran states of the Holy Roman Empire (united in the Schmalkaldic League)

The Peace of Augsburg (1555)

• "Cuius regio, eius religio"  (whose region, his religion) -- Each ruler within the Holy Roman Empire received the right to determine whether his state would be Lutheran or Catholic

• Catholics living under Protestant ruler were free to emigrate, and vice versa

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Widespread conversion to Lutheranism by many German princes and their subjects

• Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's rejection of Lutheranism as a legitimate faith

• Desire of many German princes for greater autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire

• Protestant Reformation became an established fact within the Holy Roman Empire 

• Lutheranism become the predominant religion in the northern and eastern states of the Holy Roman Empire -- It also spread to Scandinavia

• Catholicism remained the predominant religion in the southern Holy Roman Empire and the Rhineland

• The independence of the various German states was strengthened and the unity of the Holy Roman Empire undermined

The French Wars of Religion

(1562-1589)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

The House of Valois (Moderately Catholic monarchy)

v.

The House of Bourbon (Huguenots)

v.

The House of Guise (Arch-Catholics)

• In 1589, following the assassinations of Henry of Guise and King Henry III, Henry of Navarre (Henry IV) inherited the French throne

• "Paris is worth a mass": In 1593 Henry IV decided to convert to Catholicism to better win the allegiance of his subjects, the majority of whom were Catholic

• The Edict of Nantes (1598):  Henry IV declared Catholicism to be the official religion of France, but granted toleration and significant rights to France's Huguenot minority 

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Conversion to  Calvinism by a significant minority of Frenchmen, esp. nobles who sought to reduce the power of the French monarchy

• Rivalries between the major noble families of France, each of which sought to obtain control of the French throne following the death of Henry II

• Interference of Philip II of Spain, who supported the Guise family's bid for the throne

• Bourbon dynasty established in France

• Catholic-Huguenot military conflict in Fran ce ends 

• France's economy devastated by decades of civil war

The Dutch Revolt

(1566-1609)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

The Netherlands

v.

Spain

The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

• Although the Dutch had effectively won independence in a truce they signed with the Spanish in 1609, the Peace of Westphalia formally recognized the independence of the United Provinces (the northern Netherlands) from Spain

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Dutch resentment of foreign rule by Philip II of Spain

• Philip II's efforts to suppress Calvinism, which had spread widely in the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands

• Excessive Spanish taxation of Dutch industry and trade

• A major drain on Spain's energies and resources

• Having achieved independence, the Dutch began their "Golden Age" of the 17th century, during which they dominated international trade

The Spanish Armada

(1588)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

Philip II's Spain

v.

Elizabeth I's England

N/A

(Spain lost and went home)

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Philip II's efforts to restore Catholicism in England, including support for assassination plots against Elizabeth I

• England's support for the Dutch revolt against Spain

• English privateers' (Sea Dogs) raids on Spanish gold and silver shipments from the New World

• Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in England

• English victory ensured that England would remain Protestant

• Major blow to Spanish prestige

• Often cited as beginning of Spain's decline as a major power, although many historians argue that its significance has been exaggerated 

The Thirty Years' War

(1618-1648)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

v.

Protestants of Holy Roman Empire + Allies (esp. Denmark, Sweden, and France)

The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

• France, Sweden, and Brandenburg gained territory

• German states received right to make treaties and alliances

• Peace of Augsburg settlement (cuius regio, eius religio)  was expanded to include Calvinism

• Independence of Netherlands and Switzerland recognized

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Calvinists' aspirations to be recognized as a legitimate religion within Holy Roman Empire

• Defenestration of Prague (May 1618): Bohemian Calvinists throw Catholic members of Bohemian royal council from window and depose King Ferdinand after he is elected Holy Roman Emperor

• Holy Roman Empire fragmented into numerous independent states, eroding power of Holy Roman Emperor

• German states devastated -- 1/3 of population dead and economy in ruins

• France established as predominant power in Europe

• THE LAST RELIGIOUS WAR -- Hereafter, countries of Europe would virtually never again go to war  over matters of religious doctrine and practice

The War of the Spanish Succession

(1700-1714)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

(under Louis XIV)

v.

The Grand Alliance 

(England, Holland, and the Holy Roman Empire)

Treaties of Utrecht (1713) & Rastatt (1714)

• Philip V allowed to remain king of Spain, but it was forbidden to ever unite the thrones of France and Spain

• England received Gibraltar, becoming a Mediterranean power

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Spanish king Charles II dies, leaving his throne to Louis XIV's grandson, Philip of Anjou -- Philip became King Philip V of Spain

• Holy Roman Emperor Leopold's grandson also had claim to Spanish throne

• Other states of Europe feared that with the Bourbons in control of France & Spain, they would be able to dominate Europe -- They went to war to remove Philip V from Spanish throne and preserve the Balance of Power

• Expansion of French power checked

• Marked England's emergence as the strongest power in Europe

The War of the Austrian Succession

(1740-1748)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

v.

Austria and Great Britain

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle  (1748)

• Maria Theresa recognized as heir to Austrian Habsburg territories

• Prussia allowed to keep Silesia

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Frederick II seizes Silesia from Maria Theresa's Habsburg Empire (Austria), violating the Pragmatic Sanction

• France joined the war to fight its traditional enemy, Austria, so Britain joined the war on the side of Prussia to ensure that France would not take the Low Countries

• Prussia's position as a powerful new state in Central Europe consolidated

• France, having spread its resources too thin, saw its position against the British further eroded

The Seven Years' War

(1756-1763)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

v.

France, Austria, Russia, et al.

Treaty of Paris  (1763) and Hubertusburg (1763)

• Great Britain receives most of France's possessions in North America and the West Indies

• No changes in European borders (Prussia keeps Silesia)

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Frederick II invaded Saxony in a preemptive strike against Austria and France, whom he believed were determined to crush Prussia

• Colonial rivalry between Great Britain and France in North America

• British achieve a worldwide military victory on unprecedented scale -- Great Britain was now a world power, not just a European one

• Prussia established as one of the great powers

• France no longer a great colonial power, and many in France became convinced of need for political reform

• All countries sought ways to pay off their tremendous war debts

The Wars of the French Revolution & Napoleon

(1792-1815)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

v.

England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia

 Congress of Vienna (1815)

• Restoration of Bourbon monarchy in France (and other legitimate monarchs elsewhere)

• Establishment of "buffer states" against future French aggression

• France restored to its 1790 boundaries, forced to pay indemnity, and accept an army of occupation

• Settlement preserved France as a great power to maintain the Balance of Power

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Desire of Europe's monarchies to prevent the spread of France's revolutionary ideas

• Hopes of French leadership (the Girondists) to defeat counterrevolutionaries at home and abroad

• Personal ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte

• Outbreak of war in 1792 and threat of foreign invasion radicalized the revolution in France and led to establishment of republic

• Napoleonic Wars unleashed forces of nationalism and liberalism on Europe

• Great powers became convinced of need to cooperate in order to preserve the balance of power and the conservative order

The Revolutions of 1848

(1848-1852)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlements

Paris

Vienna

Prague

Hungary

Rome

Northern Italy

Berlin

• Louis Phillipe forced to abdicated his throne in France -- He was replaced  by the short-lived Second Republic, then by the Second Empire of Napoleon III

• Most of the uprisings were eventually suppressed, and few long-term reforms were achieved -- Conservative order was restored

• One of the most common explanations for the failure of these uprisings were the divisions among the different revolutionary groups (e.g. conflicts between ethnic groups in Habsburg Empire, split between German liberals and German working classes)

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• LIBERALISM: Desire of liberals for more representative government, civil rights, and free market reforms

• NATIONALISM: Eastern European nationalities, esp. in the Habsburg Empire, sought greater autonomy

• Working class discontent caused by food shortages, poor working conditions, and unemployment

• Conservative groups in each country reestablished their dominance, but they  would ironically bring about many of the goals of the 1848 revolutionaries (e.g. Italian and German unification)

• Having defeated the nationalist and liberal uprisings of 1848, the great powers of Europe felt less need to cooperate and were more likely to pursue their own interests -- War therefore become more likely 

The Crimean War

(1853-1856)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

v.

England, France, & the Ottoman Empire

Treaty of Paris (1856)

• Russia gave up territory seized from the Ottoman Empire and accepted the neutrality of the Black Sea

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Immediate:  Turkish refusal to allow Russians to protect Christian shrines in the Holy Land

• Long-Term:  Russian ambition to secure control of the Dardanelles, and the determination of the British and French to prevent the Russians from gaining access to the Mediterranean

• "Concert of Europe" destroyed, and this end of great power cooperation made possible the unifications of Italy and Germany

• Austria and Russia now enemies because of Austria's refusal to aid Russia during the war

• Russia, humiliated, retreated from European affairs and began series of reforms (e.g. emancipation of serfs)

• Great Britain retreated into "splendid isolation"

The Franco-Prussian War

(1870-1871)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

v.

France

• Napoleon III captured and forced to abdicate -- Second French Empire replaced by Third Republic

• France forced to pay large indemnity and surrender Alsace & Lorraine

• Second German Empire proclaimed at Versailles

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Bismarck desired a war with France to complete the unification of Germany by convincing the southern German states to join the North German Confederation  (hence his editing of the "Ems telegram" to provoke war)

• Napoleon III threatened by German unification movement and sought a triumph to compensate for domestic problems

• Completion of unification made Germany the strongest power on the continent and threatened to upset the balance of power 

• France bitterly resented its humiliating defeat and loss of Alsace & Lorraine and burned for revenge

World War I

(1914-1918)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

(France, Britain, Italy, Russia, US) 

v.

The Central Powers

(Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire)

Versailles Peace Settlement (1919)

Article 231 assigns responsibility for war to Germany and its allies – On this basis, Germany ...

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Historians usually identify four primary explanations for the outbreak of WWI:

  Nationalism – Intense identification with one’s country and/or ethnic group made countries more willing to fight for national honor

  Imperialism – Conflict caused by competition to acquire colonies in Africa and Asia

  Militarism – Arms buildup and glorification of war and military service

  Entangling Alliances – Competing alliances had been established in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries (e.g. Triple Alliance, Triple Entente) that dragged many countries into war

   

• Immediate Cause: Assassination of heir to Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip

The Spanish Civil War

(1936-1939)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

(supported by monarchists, the clergy, and large landowners)

v.

The Republicans

(liberals, socialists, communists, and anarchists)

Fascists defeated Republican forces

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• A "dress rehearsal" for World War II, as Germany and Italy provided military support for Franco and the USSR supported the Republicans

• Demonstrated hesitance of Britain, France, and other democracies to become involved in war

• Reinforced European trend toward authoritarian governments

World War II

(1939-1945)

Participants & Alliances

Peace Settlement

(Great Britain, the US, the USSR, France, and China)

v.

The Axis Powers 

(Germany, Italy, and Japan)

Causes

Long-Term Significance

• Rise of fascist, militaristic regimes in Italy, Germany, and Japan dissatisfied with the status quo and determined to assert claims to greater territory and influence

• Failure of Western policy of appeasement to avoid conflict by satisfying Hitler’s demands

• Immediate Cause:  German invasion of Poland despite warnings from Britain and France that this would mean war

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