Evaluate whether the thirty years war was fought primarily for religious or political reasons

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PROMPT: Evaluate whether the Thirty Years' War was fought primarily for religious of primarily for political reasons.

LINK TO DOCS: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap18-frq-european-history.pdf

MY DBQ:

The Reformation was the movement for religious reform during the 16th and 17th centuries. Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses against the sale of indulgences in 1517 because he was upset with the corruption taking place in the Catholic Church. This led to the formation of new Protestant religions, Lutheranism and Calvinism, which conflicted with Catholicism and its followers. Despite this underlying conflict, the Thirty Years’ War was fought primarily for political reasons. Although the war was seen as a battle for religious freedom for Protestants in Europe, the war itself was sparked by the Defenestration of Prague, a political conflict. During the Thirty Years’ War, Catholics did not want to strip the European Protestants of their religious freedoms. Matthias, the Holy Roman Emperor in 1618, explained in a letter to his Protestant subjects in Bohemia that although word was going around that they were going to abolish religious freedom for Protestants, he had no plan in doing so because he wants to keep peace in Bohemia among the growing political tensions (Doc 1). The point of view of Matthias in this situation is significant because he is the Holy Roman Emperor which means that he is a devout Catholic, so it shows that he supported Protestants instead of starting a war to drive them out. This is important because it shows that the Thirty Years’ War did not start mainly due to the religious differences between Catholics and Protestants. Bernhard Baumann, a Jesuit official in Heidelberg, reports to Elector Maximilian of Bavaria in 1628 that they are freeing the Protestant of heresy in order to encourage conversion to Catholicism, but many Protestants elected to keep the faith of their past relatives. He explains that the secular government, rather than the religious leaders, knew how to prevent this mentality, but they failed to do so (Doc 2). A piece of evidence outside the documents that should be considered is the Edict of Nantes, which was passed before the Thirty Years’ War began. Similarly to how the Catholics in Heidelberg were trying to convert Protestants peacefully, the Edict of Nantes peacefully granted religious freedom to Huguenots in order to prevent further religious uprisings. Although the Protestants in Heidelberg weren’t given complete religious freedom, it shows that the underlying conflict there was not religious because the Jesuits were trying to convert them peacefully. Some battles during the Thirty Years’ War were clearly fought with political intentions in mind. Axel Oxensteirna, a Swedish high chancellor, discussed in a confidential meeting with Sweden’s ally Brandenburg in 1633 that the late Gustavus Adolphus planned to disrupt the enemy plans on the Baltic Sea and liberate the German people stuck in the crossfire of the war (Doc 3). Similarly, Vicente Carducho, a Spanish court painter in 1633, painted the victory of the Duke of Feria leading the Spanish troops at the Swiss city of Constance (Doc 4). The purpose of this painting was to raise morality of the people in Spain so that they would feel politically powerful over the surrounding European nations. This is important because rather than the painting focus on Spain’s efforts to spread Catholicism, it simply focused on the political military victory of the Spanish leader. On the contrary, the Catholic Church in certain situations fought for religious superiority in Europe. Innocent X, the pope in 1648, explained in a papal declaration in response to the Peace of Westphalia that any terms in said treaty that go against the Catholic Church and limit its power are to be considered null and void (Doc 5). Outside evidence that supports this claim is the formation and intentions of the Schmalkaldic League. The Schmalkaldic League was formed by Lutheran princes following the Peace of Augsburg who were upset with the terms in said treaty and wanted to fight against the Catholic Church for complete religious freedom. This shows that the Thirty Years’ War was a religious conflict between the Lutherans and Catholics in Europe. Primarily political reasons were the main cause of the conflict during the Thirty Years’ War. Despite the Catholic Church’s ambitions to spread their reformed beliefs throughout Europe following the Council of Trent, the war was fought to change the European balance of power. After the Peace of Westphalia ended the war in 1648, the age of Absolutism began in Europe and would last through the 18th century. The balance of power shaped by the Thirty Years’ War encouraged leaders in Europe to rule in divine right and influenced them to gain land and power for their nations. Similarly to the Thirty Years’ War, conflict during the age of Absolutism was fueled mainly by political reasons.