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Compare and Contrasting World War One to the Thirty Years War

The Cause of War is the Preparation for War William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. Du Bois
is expressing his opinion on what is the cause of war. He says wars are caused by preparing
for other wars we think are going to happen in the near future, the tension between the
nations building up whilst preparing for the war.
In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the causes of World War One and the Thirty
Years War. The Thirty Years War was from 1618- 1648, it was primarily fought between the
Protestant nations and the Holy Roman Empire, also including the Habsburgs.
World War One took place from the years 1914- 1918, and the opposing countries were
Britain, France and Russia against Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy.

Imperialism is a term that is used to illustrate the domination of a region or province higher
than others. Prior to the outbreak of World War One, Imperialism was already an active trait
of Germany. Both France and Britain had a successful empire, that Germany envied. Britain
owned colonies around the world, Morocco being one of them before it was gifted to France.
In 1911 Germany was determined to support Morocco into achieving their independence, by
protesting against France, who was allied to Britain. None of the countries wanted to start a
war and therefor Britain, together with France, settled into giving Germany a colony in
Africa, which increased the tension between the three countries. The second example of
Imperialism in World War One would be in 1908. This was when Bosnia had been taken over
by Austria-Hungary. Serbia had also wanted possession over Bosnia and threatened Austria-
Hungary to war. At the time Serbia was allied with Russia, who had already gotten their
forces ready for war and so had Germany who was allied with Austria-Hungary. Russia then
backed down due to the level of Germanys power.

Imperialism wasnt a major cause for the Thirty Years War. The Swedish wanted to expand
their territory to northern Germany and the Habsburgs wanted their previous Dutch provinces
back. The only possible relation there could have been, was the Holy Roman Empire and the
Habsburgs as they already had multiple regions in their possession and could have easily
expanded further. This was not the case, as they had no intentions of doing this.

To summarize, Imperialism was an essential cause for World War One but it was only a
minor cause in the Thirty Years War. Events that occurred prior to World War One were
different compared to the ones happening in the Thirty Years War, as they didnt act as
strongly towards reigning countries or colonies compared to World War One. A contrast
between the two is that in the first World War they were arguing about territory, whereas in
the Thirty Years War the French and Swedish were working together to expand their empires.

Nationalism is someone being proud of their nation or country and defending it against
anybody who thinks otherwise. This was one of the main causes in the Thirty Years War. The
French had lost their two provinces, Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, which had built up
tension between the two nations. Not only were they unhappy about not having any sources
of coal income but for the major part, France still considered the regions to belong to them.
Hoping for a war against Germany to break out, leading them to be able to take Alsace and
Lorraine back. Another example of nationalism in World War One would be that a variety of
different nations lived in Serbia and Austria- Hungary, causing there to be regular tension, as
each of them wanted thought their nationality was superior.
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Nationalism in the Thirty Years War wasnt the same as in World War One, instead of
thinking their nations were better they thought that their religions was the right one and
would also do anything to prove the others wrong. When Ferdinand II, a very devoted
catholic, took over the throne of the Bohemian Kingdom he didnt accept the fact that
Protestants made up the majority of the public, which resulted in the battle of White
Mountain. The Protestants were defeated by the Catholics, however, as most of Europe
wanted their religion to be the main one, the Danish got involved to defend their religion,
Lutherans.

When comparing and contrasting the two wars, their Nationalism isnt that different. In
World War One it was about having the best and most powerful country and in the Thirty
Years War it was about having the better religion, which isnt really nationalism but can
easily be linked to it. So it is the same if you compare them in a different perspective.
Looking at them in the way they compare, they are quite similar as the opposing nations
wanted the same overall goal but for a different subject, which was national power for World
War One and religious power for the Thirty Years War.

When a country builds up their forces and armies it is known as Militarism, which is one of
the major causes of World War One. Militarism was originally used to prepare for an attack
or be ready to help your alliance at any time given. This wasnt the outcome, as it was instead
used as a competition between nations, to see who has the most powerful armies and forces.
This was still used as an advantage, because they kept on adding new weapons, so they built
up their forces over the years.

In the Thirty Years War, France had been surrounded by Habsburg regions from three sides.
Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of France, had been fearing that if they would be
successful in taking over another region, as an Imperial victory, it might be threatening for
the future of France. His predictions were accurate as Spain had seen them as a threat to their
current position as a European power, after noticing their growing power armies and forces in
militarism. Gustav Adolf, the Swedish King, was also known as the father of modern
warfare, due to him being one of the first people to ever use mobile artillery on the battle
field. With this he was able to defeat the Catholics, as he could move his heavy weapons
where he need them to go at any time.

Militarism is a very important cause in World War One compared to the Thirty Years War. In
World War One Germany, France and Britain were expanding their military armies and
forces, so that they could be better than the other countries, which then turned into a
competition on who could have the best military forces. In the Thirty Years War however the
French increased their military armies and force, because they felt surrounded by the
Habsburgs and wanted to be able to protect themselves. The Swedish King was able to build
mobile artillery and used it to his advantage against others. When contrasting the Thirty
Years War militarism to the World War One Militarism they have different reasons behind
expanding their forces.

Alliances are a form of relationship between nations that are joined together due to a mutual
benefit or common purpose. If one of the nations in the agreement needs support or help, the
others need to stand by their side and help them or in this case, fight in a war with them. The
stronger or bigger an alliance is, the higher the chance for the opposing team to back down.
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Triple Entente, which included France, Britain and Russia, and the Triple Alliance, including
Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy, were the two alliances in World War One. An example
of this would be the aftermath of Franz Ferdinands Assassination. Austria-Hungary had then
blamed the Serbians for the death of Franz Ferdinand and as a results sent them an ultimatum.
Serbia did not agree to all the terms, so Austria-Hungary declared war. Russia was prepared
to help the Serbians while the Germans, from the opposing Alliance, had declared war on the
Russians and French. They went through Belgium to attack the French, however, they were
told by Britain to retreat from Belgium, before Britain then declared war on Germany. As a
result, Austria-Hungary also declared war on Russia, which shows how the alliances stay
together and help each other out to achieve the same goal, defeating the opposing alliance.

There were Alliances in the Thirty Years War. Religions had alliances that were based on the
Protestants against the Catholics. There was never an agreement but more of helping
someone from the same religion out without them asking for the assistance, as they both
would be fighting towards the same goal. For example, as Ferdinand II declared war on the
Protestants, and then also defeated them, the Protestant, Danish King Christian IV, got
involved in the War to fight for the Protestants.

Comparing and Contrasting the Alliances in the two wars, you notice that the Alliances in
World War One are based on achieving the same final goal but compared to the Religious
Alliances, which are helping themselves whilst helping others achieve the same end goal at
their own will.

I will be answering my main research question How do the causes of World War 1 compare
to the causes of the Thirty Years War? and compare and contrast the overall causes. World
War Ones main causes were militarism, imperialism, alliances and nationalism and the main
causes for the Thirty Years War were religion, nationalism and alliances. The Nationalism of
the two wars is overall the same but the Thirty Years War has a different type of nationalism,
as the main parts of the war were based on religion, so their nationalism is based on religion
as well. Both of the parties in the wars thought that their nation or religion was strong and
better than the opposing parties. Alliances in the two wars arent the same, as in the Thirty
Years War there was never an agreement signed, the different countries helped of their own
will but in World War One an agreement was signed to become and alliance and the nations
working together are expected to help each other. When contrasting the overall causes of
theses wars the differences are that World War One is primarily based on Militarism and
Imperialism and the Thirty Years War is based on Religion, which World War One has no
similarities to at all. In conclusion, the two wars are very different and are only similar in
nationalism and their alliances.