The Danish War in Lower Saxony and Mansfeld’s Invasion to Silesia 1625–1629

In May 1625, King Christian IV launched operations against the army of the Catholic League in Lower Saxony. The allies, however, failed to provide him the desired financial support, and the main Danish forces were defeated by the Catholic general Jean Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, in the battle at Lutter am Barenberg on 27 August 1626. The situation on another front of the Danish War was not any bette r. In the battle at the strategically important Dessau Bridge on 25 April 1616, Peter Ernest of Mansfeld and his corps took a heavy trimming from the imperial commander Albert of Wallenstein. Subsequently, Mansfeld tactically withdrew to the Brandenburg territory from where he continued in a diversionary campaign to Silesia and Moravia. By autumn 1627, the Danish troops were forced from northern Germany. In addition, the Wallenstein troops occupied Jutland. The remaining Danish regiments withdrew to the islands, and by the Treaty of Lübeck signed on 22 May 1629, Denmark officially terminated its participation in the wa r.

of Lower Saxony, the Danish and Norwegian King Christian IV could not let the region in the cold for prestigious reasons. He readily realized the imminent danger and took an immediate action, promptly mustering an army in order to sustain religious peace and the existing proprietary conditions in the land, and liberate its population from both the imperial forces and the armies of the Catholic League. This actually opened the third stage of the Thirty Years' War, sometimes called the Lower Saxony-Denmark War or, in Danish, Kejserkrig (Denmark's War against the Emperor), which also spilled over to the Czech lands and brought Albert of Wallenstein to ultimate power. 2 unexpected denouements. Those who crave deeper understanding of the described events can rely on several comprehensive and unique writings, which also contain references to more literature and sources. See the following, still relevant works: M. Ritter 1618-1648, London-New York 1997. A brief but inspiring interpretation was, most recently, provided by G. Schmidt, Der Dreißigjährige Krieg, München 1999;H. Bogdan, La Guerre de Trente Ans 1618-1648, Paris 2006In this respect, also comp. the French view of the conflict: G. Livet, La Guerre de Trente Ans, Paris 1991; on the overall situation at the related battlefields and in the contemporary diplomacy, see G. Pagès, La Guerre de Trente Ans 1618-1648, Paris 1972; idem, The Thirty Years ' War, London 1970;V.L. Tapié, La Guerre de Trente Ans, Paris 1989; an utmost interesting work is the monumental H. Sacchi, La Guerre de Trente Ans, I-III, Paris 1991. -One of the most outstanding and, at the same time, most difficult views of the vast power and political fight is P. Englund, Nepokojná léta. Historie třicetileté války, Praha 2000, originally Ofredsår. Om den svenska stormaktstiden och en man i dess mitt; the respective 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd editions of 1993,1994,1997. The work still ranks among the most exciting historical books on the Thirty Years' War. -The synopses from the hitherto historiography published in the Czech lands, which keep inspiring and providing innovative and immensely informed interpretations, are J. Polišenský, Třicetiletá válka a evropské krize 17. století, Praha 1970;idem, The Thirty Years' War and the Crises and Revolutions of Seventeenth Century Europe, "Past and Present" 1968, no. 20 (39), pp. 34-43; another useful Czech-written publication is A. Klíma, Dlouhá válka, 1618-1648, Praha 1996The Thirty Years' War was most recently explored from various aspects by Ch. Kampmann, Europa und das Reich im Dreißigjährigen Krieg, Stuttgart 2008. 2 The most comprehensive classic synthesis on the Lower-Saxon and Danish stage of the War, abounding in historical material and facts, is J.O. Opel, Der niedersächsisch-dänische Krieg, I-III, Halle-Magdeburg 1872-1894 The Spaniards moreover temporarily managed to gain control over crucial mountain crossings in the Alpine military corridor of Valtelline. However, they thus endangered the hitherto passive France where the reins of foreign policy were in 1624 taken over by the Chief Minister, Armand Jean du Plessis Richelieu. France seized the day and soon pushed the Spanish troops from the strategic point. 6 Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, did not feel comfortable in the imperial matters, either, since as far as the division of power spheres was concerned, his cabinet often had to face the inflexibility of Vienna in a situation when even the Bavarian diplomacy (along with the Polish Catholic circles) seemed to be increasingly inclined towards the French court. The differing interests among the Habsburg allies as well as the fears of the rising imperial power resulted in the pursuing the Spanish politician Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares, on a continuous basis are G. Marañón, Olivares, München 2006 andJ.H. Elliot, Richelieu andOlivares, Cambridge 1984; idem, The Count-Duke of Olivares. The Statesman in an Age of Decline, New Haven 1986. -On the syntheses still topical in capturing the Spanish share in the given war conflict, see H. Kamen, Spain 1469-1714. A Society of Conflict, London-New York 1991; idem, Imperium Hiszpańskie. Dzieje rozkwitu i upadku, Warszawa 2008 (originally Spain's Road to Empire: The Making of a World Power, London-New York 2002); J.H. Elliot, Imperial Spain, 1469-1716, London 1965(Harmondsworth 1970idem, Spain and Its World, 1500-1700, New Haven-London 1989; the more recent writings of especial significance are H. Kamen, Spain's Road to Empire…; idem, Imperio. La forja de España como potencia mundial, Madrid 2003. -On the events in Kłodzko, see most recently, R. Fukala, Falcká válka a hrdinná obrana Kladska, in: 550 let Hrabství Kladského 1459-2009. 550 lat Hrabstwa Kłodzkiego 1459-2009(miscellany), ed. V. Wolf, Trutnov 2009, pp. 171-197. 6 D.A. Parrott, Richelieu's Army. War, Government and Society in France, 1624-1642, Cambridge 2001. The list of French works discussing the entire conflict is rather extensive. As to the syntheses on the general issues of the 17 th -century French history, see e.g. Y.-M. Bercé, La naissance dramatique de l´absolutisme, 1598-1661 (Nouvelle histoire de la France moderne -3), Éditions de Seuil, 1992(Paris 2001, where also see for more bibliography. -Biographers focusing on Cardinal Richelieu are countless, and they quite vary in the quality of their outcomes. The most inspiring French editions worth mentioning are J.V. Blanchard incapability of fully coordinating the military issues. From this perspective, the Catholic camp in the German Empire suffered from numerous flaws and did not favor the Spanish hegemonic plans. 7 Representatives of the Protestant countries knew perfectly how dangerous the Habsburg power visions were and, between 1623 and 1623, initiated intensive diplomatic negotiations. Those behind the scenes whispered rumors about plans at establishing a large Protestant coalition, which would not only count on the return of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, to his lands, but would also guarantee religious freedom and, in addition, suppress the Habsburg superiority in Europe. The Netherlandish diplomacy did not remain idle this time, taking the helm, and its perseverance finally began bearing desirable fruit. In July 1624, the Hague politicians managed to form an expedient alliance with England and France, and the Netherlandish policy could thus even rely on the favor of the Pope-elect, Urban VIII, whose new political course had not always been in accord with the Spanish goals. The given events resulted in the Convention at Hague, signed on 19 December 1625 by the Netherlands, England, Denmark and several imperial dukes with Frederick V in the lead. 8 Catholic France, headed by Richelieu, could enter The Hague alliance as well, for the cardinal strenuously worked towards minimizing the power of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs and taking hold of the maritime trade. Some of those involved in the complex mesh of diplomacy calculated with the successes of the Netherlandish fleet in Peru and alongside the Brazil coastline, but also with the problems in the Spanish colonies, Cuba and Puerto Rico. 9 The an-7 The publications rich in facts are the biographies of the imperial protagonists as well as the crucial analyses employing extensive literature sources and newly discovered archive materials; see e.g. A. Kraus, Maxmilian I. Bayerns. Grosser Kurfürst, Regensburg 1990;D. Albrecht, Maximilian I. von Bayern 1573-1651, München-Wien 1998 London-New York 2010, pp. 385-409;Polish edition: idem, Wojna Trzydziestoletnia 1618-1648. Tragedia Europy, Oświęcim 2017 Spanish, Portuguese and Netherlandish maritime interests were synoptically pursued by, e.g. C.R. Boxer, Salvador de Sa and the Struggle for Brazil and Angola, 1602-1686, London 1952 ti-Habsburg bloc moreover wanted to include Savoy and Veneto, which would hence gain control over the Spanish forces on the Apennine Peninsula. The plans also counted on the sympathies of Transylvania and, hypothetically, Ottoman Empire. However, the overall plan at the division of power spheres and cooperation suffered from too serious flaws to surface in such a generous form: it simply was not realistic to bridge the fundamental variances between England and the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, and Brandenburg and Saxony, let alone the rivalry among other Lutheran and Calvinist German dukes. Sober assessment of the international situation had not offered many hopes already during the Palatine War and brought some skeptical conclusions within the ranks of experienced diplomats and politicians. 10 The Hague alliance mainly aimed at pushing the Imperial-Catholic army out of the north-German territory. The future actions of the allies were to be carefully coordinated: the Danish King Christian IV was to launch offensive in Lower Saxony, while Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the Protestant administrator of the Halberstadt diocese, was supposed to strike at Rhine, General Ernest Mansfeld in the Czech lands, and Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania, in Lower Austria. The leading position within the anti-Habsburg front fell upon Christian IV, who indulged in war preparations as soon as January 1625, having hired an array of members of the Bohemian-Moravian emigration as well as John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who had fought on the Bohemian battlefield with the Netherlandish support in 1620. 11 idem, The Dutch in Brazil, 1624-54, London 1957idem, The Portuguese Seaborne Empire 1415-1825, London 1969, and J.C. Boyajian, Portuguese Bankers at the Court of Spain 1626-1650, New Brunswick 1983, and, from among Czech scholars, by J. Polišenský et al., Dějiny Latinské Ame riky, Praha 1979, pp. 214-224. 10 J. Polišenský, J. Kollmann, Valdštejn. Ani císař, ani král, Praha 1995, esp. pp. 90-96. 11 The rendition of the atmosphere of the war and the factual account of the related events was excellently aided by the correspondence left behind by several members of the Bohemian exile and significant actors of the Bohemian and Moravian Estates' society: Moravské korespondence a akta z let 1620-1636, I-II, ed. F. Hrubý, Brno 1934-1937

Christian IV and his lands
The Danish and Norwegian king Christian IV, of the Oldenburg dynasty, was born on 12 April 1577 in Frederiksborg to the Danish and Norwegian King Frederick II, and still ranks among the most significant Danish monarchs if solely by the duration of his reign. His mother, Sophie, was the Princess of Mecklenburg and his first wife, Anna Catharina of Brandenburg, was the daughter of the Brandenburg Elector Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern, and hence the sister of the Silesian John George, Duke of Jägerndorf, as well as of the Protestant administrator of the archbishop of Magdeburg, Christian William of Brandenburg. Christian's sister, Anne of Denmark, married the English King James I, and the Danish king was therefore the uncle of the so-called Winter Queen, Elisabeth Stuart. He could moreover pride on close family ties to the Wettin dynasty of Saxony. Affiliation with many ruling houses on the Euroepan dynastic "chessboard" was naturally of crucial significance during the given period. 12 Christian became the head of the state after the 1588 death of his father, but ruled independently only after being crowned in 1596. The first half of his long reign was the prime period of the Danish history, since it went hand in hand with countless political and economic successes. Trade in his lands thrived and their population enjoyed relative prosperity. His youth, ambition and erudition also gave him strength to establish Danish colonies in the East Indies and fundamentally reform the country's judicature and administration. He would also see to utmost details in order to be perfectly familiar with the current state of affairs. An authoritative politician and proficient warrior, he commanded an effective army and excellent maritime fleet, and prided on his power representation. In addition, he initiated the construction of many extensive architectures and the establishment of many new cities, held countless court festivities, and Copenhagen under his rule became one of the centers of science and arts in Northern Europe. 13 The vigorous and smart Christian IV forged his power aspirations even despite the fact that he had come to reign in rather restless times. He declared war on Sweden when it was fighting the Polish-Lithuanian Union. The so-called Kalmar War of 1611-1613 resulted from the traditional Swedish-Danish trade rivalry at the East-European market. Denmark managed to win and conquer crucial Swedish strongholds of the towns of Kalmar and Älvsborg. Christian moreover acquired considerable financial contribution from his irreconcilable enemy. Denmark thus temporarily became the winner in the fight for dominium maris Baltici (i.e., for the dominance over the entire Baltic Sea). All merchandise transported from the European East to the West was liable to clearances in the then-Danish strait of Øresund. Prior to the Thirty Years' War, the Kingdom of Denmark was perceived as the most significant country of Northern Europe and the Danish king as one of the richest European rulers, whose treasury was completely independent of his political and military decisions. 14 Christian IV ruled Norway and Denmark and, simultaneously, was the Duke of Holstein and Schleswick, which made for his rather ambiguous position: he not only controlled his own kingdom but also could influence the interior policy of the Holy Roman Empire. At the Lauenburg assembly, held in late 1625, mainly the Protestant dukes of Meklenburg and the administrator of the Magdeburg archbishopric promoted him to the post of the Lower-Saxon Kreisoberst, i.e. the commander of the regional army. He was also appointed the general of the Lower-Saxon regional army (regional defense), planned to number 10,000 infantryand 3,000 cavalrymen. The Danish king was to form an army designed to defend the country and maintain both religious and secular peace, German freedom and overall well-being. the Lower-Saxon region and its dukes as well as its high aristocracy, clergy and burghers on the outside, hence being in control of the entire communication with the Emperor, the imperial assembly and other regions throughout the Holy Roman Empire. 15 The participation of Denmark in the Thirty Years' War during the given period could seem surprising, since the king had stubbornly avoided this power and political conflict. When the revolting Bohemian Estates asked Christian for help in March 1619, he merely dispatched his agent to the Czech lands to inform him on the real conditions in the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The subsequent report from Prague made him conclude that the local matters were nothing but a risky business and a precarious rebellion. No wonder, then, that he advised Frederick V of the Palatinate to remain on peaceful terms in negotiations with the Emperor. He nevertheless promised him the support of 200,000 imperial thalers on 20 August 1620. 16 As far as trading with colonies was concerned, it was most profitable to introduce Central-European merchandise to the global markets. However, this required gaining control over the mouths of rivers Elbe and Weser as well as over the existing Hanseatic cities. Christian IV moreover craved some territories in Northern Germany for his heirs and relatives. The edict issued by the Danish imperial assembly in 1621 thus declared the sea strip stretching from Bornholm to the Gotland Island and, finally, the Baltic province of Kurlandia Danish territorial waters. This not only concerned Mecklenburg and Pomerania, but also East Prussia, which definitely resulted in the clash between the economic interests of Denmark, Sweden and Poland. 17 15 Comp. L.E. Petersen, The Danish intermezzo, in: The Thirty Years' War, ed. G. Parker, New York 1993, pp. 71-81. 16 For the explanation of the Danish foreign policy and the ruler's relations to the Palatine diplomacy in the Bohemian milieu, see M. Hroch, Česká otázka v dánské politice 1619-1625, "Studie Muzea Kroměřížska" 1990, no. 90, pp. 67-75. 17  At the time of ratifying The Hague Coalition, Christian IV assumed that a victorious military campaign in Northern Germany could earn him exceptional position in the Empire and that Denmark would thus become one of European powers. The country would acquire the Protestant bishoprics of Bremen, Verden, Minden and Halberstadt and, no less importantly, would gain control over the big trade towns of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck. This would make Denmark an absolute winner over Sweden in the fight for dominium maris Baltici, i.e. Baltic dominance, and Christian's eternal rival, the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus, would be sidelined. 18 The Danish ruler concluded that this was the most opportune moment to come out against the Habsburgs and to change the power, political and trade conditions in Northern Europe. The subsequent developments, unfortunately, showed how fatally wrong Christian IV was in his reckonings and how much he failed in the second half of his reign. When he died in Copenhagen on 28 February 1648, he left behind an impoverished country, heavily exhausted with the wartime events.

War developments in North-West Germany in spring 1626
The military operations broke out in spring 1626, i.e. in a year that represented a decisive turning point in this stage of war. The supreme commander of the anti-Habsburg coalition, Christian IV, tried to gain control of the coastal areas between the mouths of the rivers Weser and Elbe; however, when he crossed the Elbe west of Hamburg to Weser, it had no significant military effect. thus recklessly threw away the chance exactly when the powers of the Catholic League were weakened and, moreover, when General Tilly did not intend to support Waldstein and denied the liaison between the imperial and the Catholic League armies. 19 Waldstein's imperial army pitched in north east, being scattered throughout the Halberstadt and Magdeburg regions, and Tilly's Catholic-League troops camped west of it. The two armies were separated by the mountain chain of Harz, while the main Protestant forces concentrated against them in the north. Christian's military consisted of five independently operating units. The forces of Duke John Ernest of Saxe-Weimar were close to the main army, between Elbe and Weser, and General John Philipp Fuchs of Bimbach camped east from the king's headquarters. Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Wonfenbüttel, the Protestant administrator of the Halberstadt diocese, ordered his men to take the position in Brunswick, i.e. in the duchies in North-West Germany, and General Mansfeld was in the lower Elbe since mid-February. However, the chances of the Protestant forces in the following months slowly faded. The Danish king realized how costly the military campaign actually was and how indebted he had become; in addition, the promised financial support from England and France was not arriving. It was because England alone was preoccupied with serious conflicts in its domestic policy and France had to face the outbreak of the Hugenot uprising, supported by George Villiers, Duke of Buckhingham. The Protestant Brandenburg and Saxony did not want to get involved in the new war, either. 20 Mansfeld, subordinated to the orders of the Netherlandish General Estates, planned to join the army of Duke Christian of Halberstadt against the flow of Elbe and to push the Catholic League out of Lower Saxony. Eventually, the offensive came from General Fuchs who managed to reach Tangermünde on Elbe by 17 February 1626. He was supposed to support the operations of General Mansfeld who, from early March, progressed east to Brandenburg via Boizenburg, Dömitz and Perleberg to Havelberg. Duke John Ernest of Saxe-Weimar, too, resolved to thrust in the Osnabrück direction, being soon followed by Christian of Halberstadt who tried to occupy the town of Goslar. However, he met with a stout resistance and his endeavor failed; he withdrew right on time before the arriving Waldstein and his 15,000 soldiers. As soon as General Fuchs found out that the main body of the Waldstein's army with its commander in the lead was on the Harz territory, he set off south, to Wolmirstedt, the second largest urban settlement of the Magdeburg archbishopric. On the way, he besieged and seized the Rogätz castle, mercilessly slaughtering the local imperial garrison. Waldstein, receiving the bad news, immediately turned his regiments against Fuchs's troops. By 10 April 1626, his units reached Wolmirstedt after a strenuous march, but Fuchs would not face the enemy and quickly backed off. The imperial squad pursued him as far as to Tangermünde, but his corps tactically crossed the Elbe at night and proceeded north. Waldstein's strategy, nevertheless, managed to drive Fuchs far away from Mansfeld's position and halt any joint operations of the two commanders prior to the Battle of Dessau Bridge. 21

Mansfeld's arrangements and the Battle of Dessau
The figure who re-assumed prime position within the coalition armies was the illustrious and experienced military leader, Mansfeld. The English and French kings agreed to promote him to the rank of general, which earned him an independent position and decision-making sovereignty in the framework of the Danish invasion army. The Netherlandish generals wanted him to shift the war onto the Habsburg Central-European territory, where he would encounter the army of the rather fidget Transylvanian Prince, Bethlen Gábor of Iktár. However, the spectacular plan was quite detached from the current situation as well as from its sober assessment: the conflict desperately lacked both sufficient funding and coordination among the allied commanders at the individual fronts. 22 Mansfeld and his new recruits came over from England in early 1625. The small army could at that time number about 4,000 men, and it again was a variegated international mixture of Englishmen, Scotsmen, Germans, Dutchmen and, certainly, few Bohemians. Mansfeld held an English patent and was formally accountable to Frederick, Elector Palatine, and his Netherlandish protectors. This became a sticking point for the further developments -for the quarrelsome and unscrupulous Mansfeld saw himself as a military entrepreneur and solely commanded his troops as if they were his own business. He did not feel bound by and responsible to the Danish royal headquarters and had always been reserved to and distanced from the Danish army during various operations and campaigns. The officers and soldiers of his expedition forces would in no way conform to the Danish orders. 23 Mansfeld reappeared on the stage in November 1625, this time on the north-German battlefield. His soldiers attracted considerable attention in Upper Saxony and mainly elicited fears of the local population who viewed his presence as undesirable. The count, as the general of The Hague alliance, also incorporated part of the Danish army under his commandment at the turn of the 1625 and 1626. This formally made him the superior of General Fuchs who conformed himself to the new commander unwillingly. In April 1626, Mansfeld's army campaigned south in order to occupy crucial Elbe crossings from where it could advantageously proceed to the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The next planned step was contacting the Transylvanian prince to prepare a joint sabotage in the Emperor's hereditary lands. The strategic and tactical initiative of the most dangerous opponent of the Habsburgs brought tension to Waldstein's staff, and the imperial generalissimo was firmly resolved to put Mansfeld's courageous attempts to an end. 24 The imperial commander sent his powerful army out to the territory northeast of Leipzig in two divisions. He secured the Dessau Bridge at the Elbe crossings and built field fortification on both banks of the river. The strategic position facilitated an open access to supplies for the imperial troops. In addition, the defense of the bridgehead not only blocked Mansfeld's progress to the lands of the Bohemian Crown, but also represented an advantageous platform for the imperial army to launch its own endeavors in North Germany. On 25 April 1626, an 23 The most modern and crucial biography on General Mansfeld, which should serve as an ultimate point of departure -although it, unfortunately, totally omits literature and sources of Czech and even Silesian provenance into account -is W. Krüssmann, Ernst von Mansfeld (1580-1626 unexpected spontaneous fray near the Elbe crossing between Rosslau and Dessau resulted in a field battle. The Protestant forces attempted a blockade of the bridge and seizing its forefront on the right riverbank, but he tragically lost in both attacks. Mansfeld lost some 3,000 soldiers and tactically ordered his decimated troops, the remaining 5,000 men, to withdraw to the Electorate of Brandenburg. However, Waldstein was too slow to take advantage of his victory and consistently pursue his enemy: he underestimated Mansfeld this time, since the latter general made full use of the unexpected rest and managed to form a new army of about 20,000 mercenaries in a mere six weeks. 25

Mansfeld's campaign to Silesia
None of the involved sides envisaged that these Mansfeld's forces, based on English, French and Netherlandish financial support, would in just a few months launch an extremely crucial operation in the lands of the Bohemian Crown; an operation which would immediately become a central focus of a major part of Europe. For the tireless general did not linger, reformed his dispersed troops and, on 10 July, opened "one of the most animated episodes of the Thirty Years' War". 26 The army was, on Christian IV's order, joined by the Danish contingent in the lead with Duke John Ernest of Saxe-Weimar. The two generals made sure to procure sufficient supplies to avoid wasting time by eventual plunders and sieges during the forthcoming fast march. They proceeded to the set destination in two divisions, heading from Havelberg, and on 21 July smoothly crossed the Lower-Silesian border, the front-gate to the Habsburg lands. Mansfeld initially wanted to campaign to Westphalia and Alsace, but eventually yielded to the pressing circumstances and replaced it with a risky and unusual expedition to Silesia and  Mansfeld and his contingent of 12,000 men progressed from Frankfurt an der Oder via Krosno Odrzańskie (G. Crossen) and Zielona Góra (G. Grünberg) as far as to Głogów (G. Glogau), which they did not bother besieging. The skilled strategist -disrespected by the Waldstein's staff since the April days -went on to Oleśnica (G. Oels), encountering there the 8,000 soldiers of John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, which headed southeast. Mansfeld separated from them behind Namysłów (G. Namslau) and his unimpeded progress continued near the Silesian-Polish border, via Kluczbork (G. Kreuzburg), Pszczyna (G. Pleß) and Bytom (G. Beuthen) to the Cieszyn (G. Teschen, Cz. Těšín) Duchy, where he planned to meet with the Transylvanian prince in secret for the first time. He soon not only seized Cieszyn (G. Teschen, Cz. Těšín), but also the Jablunkov Pass (P. Przełęcz Jabłonkowska), the crucial gate to Upper Hungary (today Slovakia). 28 The army of Saxe-Weimar meanwhile progressed along the Oder. The imperial response to the enemy's offensive was nothing but sluggish. Not even the Silesian Estates were clear about the overall situation, and they totally underestimated the imminent danger resulting from Waldstein's victories in Northern Germany. They imprudently dissolved the Estates' county militia and failed sufficiently defending the Jablunkov Pass. Many Silesian towns hoped for the support from the imperial army, but their hopes were vain; no wonder, then, that their subsequent resistance against Mansfeld's and Danish soldiers was weak and inadequate. The same case was Opava (G. Troppau), which turned into the main base of the Protestant military forces of The Hague Coalition and the Bohemian post-White-Mountain exile on 20 August 1626. 30 Mansfeld succeeded in occupying Frýdek (G. Friedeck, P. Frydek) in the Cieszyn (G. Teschen, Cz. Těšín) region and the duke of Saxe-Weimar managed to consolidate his power in Opava (G. Troppau) but, as far the Danish king was concerned, the war in Lower Saxony ended to his major disadvantage. On the day of his defeat at the Brunswick village of Lutter am Barenberg, 27 August 1626, the duke was in Bílovec, from where he soon joined Mansfeld near Fulnek. The two commanders could not have be informed about the crushing defeat of the main forces in Northern Germany yet, but had troubles with their Transylvanian ally, who failed to deliver the required military contingent. The allies were in discord and there was neither was any agreement in opinion between Mansfeld and Duke John Ernest. 31 The situation in Moravia did not look favorable for the imperial side, either. It faced yet another Valachian uprising in the Beskids and the united Mansfeld-Weimar army speeding up via Starý Jičín, Hranice na Moravě and Lipník nad Bečvou where it split again, with the two parts separately heading to the Hungarian border. Mansfeld progressed through Přerov, Holešov, Kroměříž and Uherský Brod to the Váh river basin, while the duke's troops took the direction via Lukov 30 The author who probably best explains the dramatic events in Upper Silesia is J. Zukal, Slezské konfiskace, 1620-1630 Opavsku v letech 1490-1631, Opava 2004 This fact is also referred to by J. Polišenský, Morava a vztahy mezi evropským Východem a Západem 1626-1627, in: K šedesátinám profesora Josefa Macůrka, "Sborník prací filosofické fakulty brněnské university" 1961, no. 10, C -8, pp. 251-265, esp. p. 255. to the Vlára Pass. 32 The military experts in Vienna must have been aware that this was not merely the enemy's tactical success but, instead, an extensive strategic operation. On top of that, there were the alarming news from Helfštejn and Hukvaldy, arriving from the Dietrichstein's officials. The situation resulted in "a dramatic manhunt for Mansfeld and his army", which attracted wide attention of the contemporaries "both due to the unorthodox military marches of the two armies and the figures of the main commanders…" 33

The end of hopes in Hungary
At the very moment when Mansfeld and Duke John Ernest had their victory and the support of the Moravian population within their grasp, the hitherto smoothly running mechanism of their campaign in the Central-European Habsburg monarchy suffered the first blow. Having crossed the Moravian-Hungarian border in September, the coalition units vainly waited near Trenčín to welcome the main troops of the Transylvanian ally. However, Bethlen was idle in Transylvania and his auxiliary Turkish troops preferred besieging Nógrád and indulging in minor clashes at Nové Zámky. This unpredictable conduct of Bethlen has been a mystery for many historians. Some discuss his decisions and motives with understanding while others are, on the contrary, skeptical. The Transylvanian duke has been criticized for being unqualified to partake in major military operations and, mainly, for his poor political purview. It actually does not matter what was behind his behavior; it is just clear that he totally wrecked the Mansfeld's offensive. 34 John Ernest re-separated from the main body of Mansfeld's army and campaigned north along River Hron. This was when Bethlen broke through to Fiľakovo and when the Turks waited out near Nógrád. Waldstein immediately utilized his enemies' hesitation to his own benefit, mercilessly pursuing them from the Silesian Nysa (G. Neisse) via Dvorce, Olomouc, Kroměříž and Uherský Brod to Nitra. He finished his hunt in the latter town, where he settled to rest and waited for the expected reinforcement. More operations followed in no time. On 25 September 1626, he gathered his forces at Nové Zámky in order to halt the progressing enemy. The town, initially designed for a decisive strike, instead became a place of playing at "hide and seek", with the two sides waiting to see which one would get exhausted first.
Waldstein's army eventually encountered the Transylvanian and Turkish forces at Drégelypalánka on 1 October. Following several minor fights, Bethlen chose the strategy of avoiding conflict and, instead, tactically abandoned the military camp. The devastation caused by epidemics and the lack of supplies on both sides was so vast that even the supreme imperial commander refused to pursue the enemy face to face the approaching winter. The adversaries thus decided to back off, which earned Waldstein harsh criticism from Vienna, mainly. 35 After the battle non-fought, the Transylvanian and Mansfeld-Weimar armies finally met at Szécsény. The commanders had their respective reasons for criticism, and judged the overall situation from their respective views. They also were already aware of the unfavorable result of the battle of Lutter am Barenberg. Mansfeld realized that the Hungarian matter was over for him and that he had become a serious obstacle for Bethlen's separate peace negotiations with the court in Vienna. He sold his canons along with the remaining weaponry to the Transylvanian duke, and simultaneously as in autumn 1623, left for the Republic of Venice in order to fight the Spanish power in Northern Italy in its service. Duke John Ernest of Saxe-Weimar vainly discouraged him and proposed that he fight in Silesia instead, with the entreats from the officers headed by Colonel John George Peblis being equally vain: the general, embittered and exhausted by tuberculosis, set off from the dangerous Upper-Hungarian territory via Dubrovnik to Italy in the company of a group of cavalrymen. However, he became seriously ill whilst in Bosnian territory and died in the village of Rakovica near Sarajevo on the night from 29 to 30 November 1626. The place of his last rest is the Dalmatian Split or, the Venetian Spalat at that time. 36 Supreme command over the remaining units fell onto Duke John Ernest, who planned to continue fighting in the following year -but he, too, unexpectedly died in the winter residence near Martin on 14 December 1626. Eight days later, the Treaty of Pressburg (Cz. Bratislava), signed by the Emperor and Bethlen, definitely served to seal the failure of the Danish campaign. 37

The withdrawal to Silesia
The beginning of 1627 evolved in the sign of the Mansfeld-Weimar army withdrawing from, what is today, the Slovak territory. The Danish contingent had lost its strategic initiative and Bethlen's conduct forced it to move off to its Opava Odry, Nový Jičín, Šternberk, Sovinec and Hranice na Moravě -allowed the Danish and emigration units to maintain contact with Brandenburg in the north and Hungary and Moravia in the south. The very center of the Habsburg statehood thus witnessed the origination of a dangerous, hostile enclave with Opava as its administration center. 38 Commandant Mitzlaff was determined to defend Opava as a crucial stronghold serving future operations of the Danish and Protestant emigration armies. The noblemen considerably engaged in his service included many aristocrats previously known from the Bohemian Estates' uprising -not only Ladislav Velen of Žerotín but also Jan of Buben the Younger, Jan Skrbenský of Hříště the Elder, Václav Bítovský of Bítov, Jan Adam of Víckov, Ondřej Kochtický of Kochtice, Jiří Soběhrd of Kozlov, Ehrnfried Berbisdorf of Berbisdorf and Jan Jakub Thurn. 39 One of the sources of the Danish occupation army's income was the introduction of fake coins into circulation. 40 In addition, the soldiers did not resist indulging in dangerous raids aimed at both close and distant territories, stealing cattle and plundering farms; all in all, the countryside suffered from widespread robberies and slaughtering even despite the countless Mitzlaff's bans. People preferred fleeing to Opava and Krnov (G. Jägerndorf), where they felt safer under the administration of the Danish commandant or, respectively, Ladislav Velen of Žerotín and his suite of exiles. Everybody who would stand the mercenaries in their way walked into almost certain death. The only asylums available for the imperial Catholic side became the towns of Racibórz (G. Ratibor) and Nysa and the Hukvaldy castle, fortified in the Beskid Mountains (Cz. Beskydy). 41 The imperial military forces did not dare to take any more energetic action strike against the Danish base in Silesia during the winter season; Waldstein opined that his regiments required some rest after the Hungarian campaign and that the overall operation had to be prepared to utmost detail. The preparatory steps aimed at arranging it culminated in spring and involved 40,000 soldiers. The supreme imperial commander left nothing to chance and personally controlled the entire invasion to Silesia, being well aware that court politicians and military experts were heavily disturbed by the critical situation in the Opole, Racibórz (G. Ratibor), Cieszyn, Krnov and, last but not least, Opava regions. Waldstein desired to repair his bruised reputation in Vienna, and therefore did not hesitate to vigorously strike against the Danes. He closed all channels of retreat, thus speedily plunging Mitzlaff's and Žerotín's units into desperate situation. Bethlen, then, did not re-launch the promised military operations in Upper Hungary, and the Danish troops of 13,000 men in Silesia turned helpless against the imperial army. In result, June saw Waldstein's units liquidating one Danish garrison after another on the Moravian-Silesian borderline, while the core of Mitzlaff's army tried to survive by swiftly withdrawing from the country. This was not any tactic of big victories, but it was sure-fire, and was very characteristic of Waldstein.
The imperial regiments and their commander set off from the episcopal Nysa on 19 June 1627 and, after a short besiege on 21 June, eventually forced the Głubczyce (G. Leobschütz) defenders to unconditionally capitulate. Głubczyce was merely a short stop for Waldstein; he soon proceeded to the princely Krnov where the garrison resolved to a several-day defense. Before everybody could pull together, Krnov fell into the imperial hands on 2 July. Following these successes, Waldstein focused on Koźle (G. Cosel) to where Mitzlaff and Žerotín had moved their corps of seven thousand men. Nobody felt like standing up against the superior enemy, and the situation thus copied the previous case. Colonel Joachim of Carpzow, an officer priding on considerable experience gained at Bohemian and Palatine battlefields, preferred to surrender under advantageous conditions on 10 June. Many Danish mercenaries, held captive in Upper Silesia, subsequently and without delay became members of Waldstein's army, where they received higher pay. 42 Ladislav Velen of Žerotín and Joachim of Mitzlaff meanwhile tried to withdraw to Hungary to the Transylvanian prince, but Waldstein got ahead of them by, among other things, ordering to occupy the Jablunkov Pass. 43 And yet, the two commanders of the dispersed units of exiled Danes turned towards Cieszyn, the defense of which was entrusted to Mikuláš Rohr of Kamen. Although he still kept resisting the pressure of the imperial troops in early July, he closed a separate secret agreement with Waldstein on 17 June 1627, further unwilling to participate in the desperate operations of the Estates' emigration and better pragmatically handing Cieszyn over to the imperial army. 44 However, this thwarted the intents of Žerotín and his companions who planned to flee to Transylvania with the torso of the Danish army. Its miserable remains stood at bay -and this marked the end of the hopes of the anti-Habsburg forces in the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The emigration had no other choice than to immediately follow the Danish commandant along the Silesian-Polish border towards North Germany. An undisciplined part of the Danish cavalry was subsequently chased down by the imperial troops in New Mark on the border with the Pomerania Duchy, where it was almost scattered in the battle of Granowo (G. Granow) of 24 July 1627. 45 The only ones escaping the grip were Colonel Wolfgang Henry of Baudissin and Mitzlaff, who subsequently provided detailed report on the entire campaign and the religious and political situation in the Opava region to the Danish king. 46 By coincidence, Ladislav Velen of Žerotín left for Košice (G. Kaschau, H. Kassa) to procure Bethlen's support to the future activities of the Bohemian-Moravian Estates' emigration. 47 Waldstein's army swept forward through the Opava region like a hurricane. The defeated towns in Moravia and Silesia had to pay contributions and extortion money, and the local settlements again languished under merciless plundering. The only town, which courageously resisted, was Opava, the front-gate to Silesia and north Moravia, and the imperial army began marching to this last Danish stronghold. The camp at Koźle served Waldstein as a starting point for yet another vigorous step towards ending the entire campaign, which he commented as follows: I believe I will be done and over with the enemy this month, too… for I already have about half-dozen pennons and cornets available. 48 The prognosis outlined by the supreme imperial commander indeed came true: from the south, he seized Hranice, Odry and Fulnek, and the general of the auxiliary imperial corps, Count Balthasar Marradas y Vique, managed to pacify the entire north-Moravian territory and the Jeseník region (Cz. Jeseníky, G. Gesenk), thus completely cutting the Opava defenders off from the environs. 49 Headed by the Holstein aristocrat, Count Markwart Rantzau, they boldly resisted the attacks of Waldstein's men for two weeks, but the lack of ammunition eventually forced Opava to capitulate on 29 June 1627. And although Ranzau and his brave soldiers could leave proudly, the Opava residents faced severe punishment in the form of forced re-Catholization, financial penalties and property confiscations. 50 waß bey gnedigst verordneter Revision Meiner Sachen die Herren Revisoren ohnbeschweret wollen in Acht nehmen, Sveriges Riksarkivet Stockholm, Biographica M 13 a.
47 On the figure of the former Moravian rebellion leader, see esp. F. Hrubý, Ladislav Velen z Žerotína, Praha 1930. 48 Albrecht z Valdštejna a jeho doba. Na základě korespondence opata strahovského Kašpara z Questenberka, ed. C. A. Straka, Praha 1911, p. 15. 49 One of the imperial commanders and the Spanish policy are discussed in J. Forbelský, Španělé, Říše a Čechy v 16. a 17. století. Osudy generála Baltasara Marradase, Praha 2006, esp. pp. 422-423. 50 Comp. e.g. the edition immensely rich in facts, Acta Publica, VI: Die Jahre 1626-1627, eds. H. Palm, J. Krebs, Breslau 1885, pp. 132-144. - Tilly kept rejecting Waldstein's proposals at the offense and better focused on besieging Göttingen. Christian IV did not help it in any way and was actually so idle that the town had to surrender on 12 August. The army of the Catholic League later turned towards Northeim and began endangering the settlement town of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. This finally made the royal general staff wake up from their inertia and launch the progress of Christian's forces to the territory between Goslar and Wolfenbüttel, from where it could help the endangered Northeim. Tilly and his troops, inferior in number, withdrew south on time and waited for Waldstein's reinforcement. The Danish general staff at that time again missed the chance and failed to halt the union between the adversary units. This fatal mistake of the Danish ruler in fact determined the result of the war in Lower Saxony and had similar consequences for Denmark as had the lost Battle of White Mountain and the disaster at Stadlohn for Friedrich Palatine. 52 King Christian initially wanted to avoid a field battle, and therefore hurriedly backed off along the western slopes of Harz to Wolfenbüttel where, however, his stronger enemy readily began pursuing his men. In the subsequent two-hour clash at Lutter am Baremberge of 27 August 1626, the main Danish army and its allies had to face a crushing defeat from the troops of the Catholic League, headed by the skilled General Tilly. It was a bloody conflict; the horse under King Christian IV fell, General Fuchs was killed, the Danish infantry was butchered and the entire artillery was done. Only the cavalry resisted and courageously fought back below the local château and its major part including the king broke through the enemy's line as far as to Wolfenbüttel, from where it marched to lower Elbe along with the remaining soldiers. This is how the Danish ruler lost almost half of his army; the sources state 2,500 captives and 6,000 dead. The lost Battle of Lutter not only determined the Danish War but also enclosed the era of the power position of the Danish monarchy at the Baltic coast. 53 While the troops of the Catholic League operated in Lower Saxony, Waldstein's army kept pursuing the enemy to the north. By autumn 1627, the Danish units had to withdraw from North Germany. August 1628, however, saw Waldstein's army, besieging the Pomeranian Stralsund, experience the first troubles. Europe also soon received reports on the destruction of the Spanish silver fleet, which had fallen to the Netherlandish admiral Piet Heyn at the Cuban seashore nearby Matanzas. In addition, the units of Frederick Henry of Nassau gradually pushed the Spanish troops out from the east of the Netherlands. These unfavorable circumstances and the eventual diplomatic wooing between Sweden and Denmark made Waldstein realize that it was unconditional to sign a peace treaty with the latter country. In addition, he did not have an appropriate navy available and his army was incapable of disembarking on the rest of the Danish seashore. Denmark concluded its engagement in the war by signing the Peace of Lübeck on 7 July 1629. The Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV could only benefit from his ratification, for he thus regained all hitherto lost domains in exchange of promising neutrality. He simultaneously completely surrendered the Church possessions on the imperial territory, subordinated to the executive of the Danish royal family, i.e. Bremen, Verden and Schwerin. And although the treaty equaled giving up power and trade interests in North Germany, Denmark neither had to pay any reparations nor suffer from major territorial losses. On the other hand, the given step terminated the Danish control over Øresund, which in result threatened the Netherlandish trade with Eastern Europe, mainly as far as the export of vitally important commodities -grain and wood -were concerned. Apart from the Atlantic, there moreover again surfaced the power of other strategic points, such as the Baltic and the occupied ports in North Germany. Forging Spanish maritime plans in the latter region stirred concordant consternation of the remaining maritime powers. The potential heart of a new conflict became Stralsund whose population had persisted in their anti-Habsburg resistance and closed an alliance with Sweden. 55 As said above, the 1629 Peace of Lübeck officially enclosed the Danish stage of the Thirty Years' War. Emperor Ferdinand II became the factual "lord" of Germany and could enforce one of his dream goals -the Edict of Restitution, which was eventually issued on 6 March 1629. It was a time when the career of the triumphant Waldstein climaxed and when he again carried the burden of realizing the Spanish northern maritime plans. As early as in April 1628, his loyal service earned him Mecklenburg and promotion to the posts of general of the entire maritime army and "Captain General of the Oceanic [today North] and Baltic Seas" (i.e. admiral of the imperial navy). The power of Albrecht of Waldstein was on incredible social, political and military rise. 56 The Peace of Lübeck moreover signaled the first serious dissention between the emperor and his supreme commander. However, with regard to the complex international situation, the hostility between the two still merely smoldered under the surface. Waldstein disapproved the War of Mantua and the support of the Polish power aspirations as well as some Spanish interventions in the Baltic, and met the emperor's wishes to dispatch part of his regiments to the Netherlandish and Italian fronts utmost unwillingly. Equally, he was rather open as to his negative standpoint to the Edit of Restitution of March 1629, which in his view would drive major part of German Protestants to the arms of the Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus. It is indisputable today that the court in Vienna tragically underestimated both the Swedish military preparations and the Protestant religious propaganda, and that the imperial generalissimo was again correct. 57 The preparatory moves of Sweden, aimed at involving the country in the so-called German War, were rather cold-blooded and carefully planned, and the arguments favoring the Swedish debarkation were numerous. The Swedish Council's participants could hear the following words: "It is better to tie our horses in the enemy's yard than letting the enemy tie them in ours." 58 The given circumstances gradually transformed minor local disputes into a vast and prolonged continental power and political conflict, when the hitherto fight was almost stealthily turning into a new, even more intensively conducted military conflict. As King Gustavus Adolphus aptly noted, "things have gone so far that all the wars fought in Europe today interconnected with one another and rolled into one". 59 Another apocalyptic storm on the European battlefield could commence, since the ambitious French diplomacy was slowly taking the reins of power and the Swedish king would hardly find better chance at crowning his military plans. 60

Abstract
In May 1625, King Christian IV launched operations against the army of the Catholic League in Lower Saxony. The allies, however, failed to provide him the desired financial support, and the main Danish forces were defeated by the Catholic general Jean Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, in the battle at Lutter am Barenberg on 27 August 1626. The situation on another front of the Danish War was not any better. In the battle at the strategically important Dessau Bridge on 25 April 1616, Peter Ernest of Mansfeld and his corps took a heavy trimming from the imperial commander Albert of Wallenstein. Subsequently, Mansfeld tactically withdrew to the Brandenburg territory from where he continued in a diversionary campaign to Silesia and Moravia. By autumn 1627, the Danish troops were forced from northern Germany. In addition, the Wallenstein troops occupied Jutland. The remaining Danish regiments withdrew to the islands, and by the Treaty of Lübeck signed on 22 May 1629, Denmark officially terminated its participation in the war.