The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618

Extract

According to Geoff Mortimer, war was not inevitable, although this view still underlines many general studies on the Thirty Years War. In fact, for Mortimer, things were already getting better in the Empire in the years leading up to war. No major incident had occurred since the seizure of Donauwörth in 1608. The apparent collapse of the imperial system over religion was not the reason for the war. The proof: imperial justice continued to function in the Empire. Even though the adjudication of religious issues remained difficult, the imperial chamber court and the aulic court remained busy. An internationalist approach might be useful for explaining the escalation of the war but is not relevant for explaining the origins of the war. If there was no general crisis in confidence in the Empire, and European politics outside of the Empire did not play a decisive role, it is necessary to explain what was different in 1618. Thus, for Mortimer, if we want to understand the origins of the war, we have to understand the events in Bohemia.