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Did Thirty Years ‘ War come out of blue like lightning? Or was it not for contemporaries that he would take 1618 from Prague hradčany his exit?
In pre-modern wars usually require a longer run. They had to be prepared militarily and politically: through armament, alliances and systematic propaganda, so that belligerents were not publicly branded as aggressors. And y had to be solemnly declared: in writing, while respecting form. This was missing in May 1618. The “War of wars” grew out of a network of conflicts between crowns and stalls, of confessional strife, of a constitutional paralysis of middle of Europe and of economic-social crises that struck mood: fears of future and End-times expectations spread throughout Europe.
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Fundamental to crisis was a change in meteorological climate, which was already in 16th century, “Little Ice Age”. It brought middle of Europe long, hard winters and wet summers. Crop yields decreased, cereals became scarce. Did not control authorities, rate of bread rose so that poorer strata could no longer afford ir basic food. As wages did not keep pace, even craftsmen slipped below poverty line. Many people were forced to beg. Malnutrition opened door to epidemic diseases: in years before 1618, dysentery and pest spread throughout Europe.
The unstoppable descent raised question of a guilty one. The cold and bad wear hardly brought people of early 17th century into a connection with ir misery. They were looking for “guilt” elsewhere. First with himself: in departing piety, in sins. God’s wrath seemed to be revealed in “overriding signs”: unusual cloud formations and night wisps were interpreted in this sense, as well as storm surges, floods, hail at an untimely, earthquakes, a devastating landslide. The most spectacular appearance of this species was a comet, which was observed in October 1618, by astronomers on time, throughout Central Europe. Comets were regarded as harbingers of great upheaval – in collective memory it was still present that a tail star had been observed even at beginning of peasant wars 1524.
In such impressive celestial signs, however, people recognized more than wrath of God: y interpreted it as an announcement of near world end. The idea that end times began was dominated by entire Middle Ages and early modern times – always connected with biblical prophecy that a terrible war would precede world’s ending. These eschatological fears increased in late 16th and early 17th century, when more and more computations were published, according to which apocalypse was to take place in second decade of 17th century.
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At same time, re were “more hand-firmer” ways to make out culprits for crisis: “Witches” were blackened and sent to pyre because y allegedly operated damage spells. It was also almost an Occidental tradition to persecute Jews as supposed masterminds and profiteers of any unbill and to expel m from cities. Pogroms, however, were only sporadic.
The dark prophecies also resonated at that time, because Europe had been suffering from war for years, which could be understood as foreplay of future Great War.
The struggle for emancipation of Dutch against Spain reached far into west: on Lower Rhine 1609 a succession dispute was raging over geostrategically important duchies Jülich and Berg, which was to grow into a European proxy war Threatened; On souastern flank of Europe, Venice fought with its allies against Uskoks, which threatened sea trade on Adriatic; In north, Danes and Swedes crossed ir blades. One could only speak of happiness that Ottomans, for generations of “hereditary enemy” of Christianity, had been reasonably silent since peace of Zsitvatorok 1606. As a potential danger, however, y also remained present.
