THIRTY
655
TmRTT
tiations for peace were begun and it was only by his
greatest efforts, and by his promise that France also
should declare war on Spain, that Richelieu was able
to frustrate them.
In the autumn of 1634 conclusive action was also taken in the empire. Ferdinand's son a.ssumed com- mand of the imperial troops, and Maximilian drove the Swedes out of Ratisbon. In this year the com- mand of the Bavarian army was assumed by the Duke of Lorraine who had been obliged to fly from his country. Von Arnim's attempt to take Prague a second time failed. In south-western Germany the Swedes had undoubtedly the strongest army. Early in September the imperial and Bavarian armies united at Nordlingen, which the Swedes under Hom had wished to capture, and completely destroyed (6 Sep- tember, 1634) the remainder of the finely-disciplined troops to which Gustavus Adolphus had owed his successes. After this the men who fought under the Swedish flag were only mercenaries, greedy for plunder, like those of the other armies of the time. To ijrevent the emperor from becoming absolute master in the empire, Richelieu had to declare war on him. Almost at the time of his declaration, warwasaLso proclaimed by Ferdinand and Philip IV (May, 1635).
VII. War of the Empire and Spain Against France and Sweden up to .its Turning Point. — The prospect of the interference of France had led Saxony to make friends with the emperor. Both desired by the Treaty of Prague (30 May, 1635) to lay the foundation for a general peace between the estates of the empire and the emperor and for their union against a foreign foe. To this end amnesty was to be granted to all the estates which, within a definite time, agreed to the treaty. The treaty also sought to readjust the constitutional relations between the emperor and the estates suitably to the historical development and yet so as to make the empire an organic whole. From 1555 the estates had almost forgotten the advantages of their union in the empire until the Swedish supremacy had reawakened this consciousness. France's declaration of war also aroused the sense of nationality; most of the German rulers, following the example of Brandenburg, agreed to the treaty between the emperor and Saxony. On 12 May, 1636, it was proclaimed as a peace of the empire. Some, indeed, signed it very unwillingly at Strasburg; the widowed Landgravine of Hesse Cassel put off her agreement without daring openly to reject the treaty. Finally, in December, 1636, Ferdinand's son was elected King of the Romans, and on 15 February, 1637, he succeeded his father as emperor.
The emperor, Bavaria, and Spain, decided to begin energetic ofTensive operations against France. In 1635 a combined imperial and Bavarian army forced back the French in .\lsace and Lorraine, but the commanders of these forces lacked courage and cau- tion. In 1636 the combined troops had to be with- drawn, finally, across the Rhine, after their numbers had been greatly reduced. In 1635 the Spaniards had seized and rendered powerless the Elector of Trier, and, by skilfvil Fabian movements, had de- stroyed two armies of French and Dutch which had entered the Spani.sh Netherlands. In 1636, it is true, the forces of Spain and Holland soon balanced each other. Spain now turned with superior forces against France. The German cavalry general, Jan van Werth, who shared in the direction of the cam- paign, wished to advance straight towards Paris, but the heads of the expedition allowed themselves to be detained before the small fortress Corbie, until the French had brought together .W.OOO men. This army forced the Spani.ards to withdraw once more. Saxony made an unfortunate attempt, with the aid of imperial troops, to drive the remains of the Swedi.sh forces eomi)letely out of Germany; the campaign ended in the severe defeat of the combined army by
the Swedish general, Baner, at Wittstock (4 October,
1 636) . The fantastic plan of the Spaniards to revenge
the defeat, by a combined attack of their fleet and the
imperial and Saxon land forces on Livonia so as to
strike the Swedes in the rear, failed because the fleet,
while on its way, was defeated (1639) by the Dutch
in the P^nglish Channel. By a desperate defence,
Brandenburg sought to save at least its fortresses
from the Swedes. In 1639 Baner twice made forced
marches as far as Prague, plundering and terrifying
as he went. From the close of 1536 the Habsburgs
were placed in an unfavourable defensive position
in the west. France took into its .service the army
fighting under Bernhard of S^xe- Weimar, on the upper
Rhine, and in December, 1638, Bernhard conquered
Briesach on the
right bank of the
Rhine. In 1637,
after a celebrated
siege, Holland re-
took the town of
Breda which had
been lost in 1626.
Neither the Dutch
nor the PVench
made any further
progress in the
Netherlands, nor
could they derive
the expected ad-
vantages from the
capture of Arras
(August, 1640), by
which they had
pierced the line of
fortresses protect-
ing the southern
Netherlands. Even in 1639, the Habsburgs main-
tained their superiority in numbers, but their enemies
conducted the war with greater skill. Consequently
the imperialists gained but little when Piedmont in
1639 proclaimed its independence of France.
The union of the (ierman estates consequent upon the French attack did not beget any warlike enthusi- asm. They longed for peace and hoped that the peace congress proposed in 1636 would assemble. Soon the prolongation of the war, and its disasters, aroused renewed di.scontent with the imperial policy. The complaint was e\'crywhere heard that the empe- ror was continuing the war only fi>r the advantage of Spain. The negotiations between Maximihan and France, which had been carried on almost from the beginning of the war, were renewed in 1637, although, as usual, without result. In 1639 Duke Bernhard died unexpectedly. France enlisted his troops and placed them under the command of the able General Guebriant; and in this way acquired, what it had not had before, an experienced army of its own on German soil. In the winter of 1639-40 Guebriant bol.ily forced his way into the interior of the empire intending to unite with Baner. As he advanced the Landgravine of Hesse broke off the negotiations with the emperor; thus once more for- eigners gained allies in the heart of Germany. In January, 1641, Baner planned to capture Ratisbon again, but the thaw that set in discouraged him. Guebriant also saw that he could not long maintain himself in so advanced a position; as in 1631, the imperial forces controlled the line of the Weser and threatened him on that side. In the spring of 1641 Saxony and the emperor jirepared to repeat against Sweden the offensive operations which had failed in 1663. The plan failed, owing to the simultaneous deaths of von Arnini, the Brandenburg .statesman. Count Schwarzenberg, and Baner. The young Fred- erick William became Elector of Brandenburg in De- cember, 1640, and early in the summer of 1641 issued a
