University of Essex

HR259-5-SP-CO:
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648): A Military, Social and Cultural History

The details

Year: 2024/25

Department: Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Spring

Level: Undergraduate: Level 5

Status: Current

Start date: Monday 13 January 2025

End date: Friday 21 March 2025

Credits: 15

Last updated: 10 April 2024

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

(none)

Module description

The Thirty Years War (1618-48) was the longest and most destructive of all early modern conflicts. It was rooted in complicated religious and dynastic conflicts that drew in the rulers of most of the nascent states of early modern Europe, although it was played out mainly in the territories of early modern Germany. In this module we will assess the impact of the War in three key areas:

Military history (key debates about military enterprise, the 'military revolution', etc).

Social history (the ways in which the War was experienced by individual soldiers and civilians and the broader socio-economic impact of the War on Germany).

Cultural history (how soldiers and the War were represented in contemporary imagery and print culture; the legacy of the War in post-1648 literature and culture).

In addition to exploring key debates in the secondary literature, we will look at primary sources (all of which will be available in English). These will include eye-witness accounts of battles and sieges, images of the impact of soldiers on civilians, political propaganda, and post-1648 novels and plays.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

To familiarise students with the narrative history of the 30YW and enable them to engage with the three key areas of military, cultural and social history.

To introduce students to some of the primary sources for exploring the military, social and cultural history of the 30YW.

To familiarise students with some of the key debates in the secondary literature of the 30YW and its impact.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

Situate the key events and players of the 30YW within its broader narrative context.

Evaluate primary sources relating to the War with confidence.

Analyse critically the relevant secondary literature pertaining to the key themes.

Module information

For introductory reading, see: Richard Bonney, The Thirty Years War 1618-1648 (Osprey Essential Histories, Oxford 2002). Stephen J. Lee, The Thirty Years War (Routledge, 1991).

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via:

One 1-hour lecture each week.
One 1-hour seminar each week.

The lecture will provide essential context for the seminar topic. Students are expected to complete the essential readings for the seminars and to be ready to discuss the readings in seminars.

All module materials will be provided on Moodle and TALIS.

Bibliography

Helfferich, T. (2015) The essential Thirty Years War: a documentary history. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=964248&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Asbach, O. and Schroder, P. (2016b) The Ashgate research companion to the Thirty Years’ War. London: Routledge. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4456054.
Wilson, P.H. (2019) ‘The Thirty Years War, 1618–1648: A Quatercentenary Perspective’, German History, 37(2), pp. 227–245. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghz019.
David A. Meier (2005) ‘An Appeal for a Historiographical Renaissance: Lost Lives and the Thirty Years War’, The Historian, 67(2), pp. 254–274. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/24453233?searchText=Jacques+Callot&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Jacques+Callot&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:94d698ede4ae762fe6ef2f5332331c15&seq=15.
Adams, S. and Parker, G. (1997) The Thirty Years’ War. 2nd [rev.] ed. London: Routledge. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=152130&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Hughes, M. (1992) Early modern Germany, 1477-1806. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Benecke, G. (1978) Germany in the Thirty Years War. London: Arnold.
Gutmann, M.P. (1988) ‘The Origins of the Thirty Years’ War’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18(4). Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/204823.
Pärtel Piirimäe (2002) ‘Just War in Theory and Practice: The Legitimation of Swedish Intervention in the Thirty Years War’, The Historical Journal, 45(3), pp. 499–523. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3133494.
Peter H. Wilson (2018) Lützen: Great Battles. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5294902.
Ronald G. Asch (2000) ‘“Wo der soldat hinkombt, da ist alles sein”: Military Violence and Atrocities in the Thirty Years War Re-examined’, German History, 18(3), pp. 291–309. Available at: https://gh.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/3/291.full.pdf+html?sid=12d8b9f6-0714-4c00-8957-ad2bc876ba50.
Wilson, P.H. (2010b) The Thirty Years War: a sourcebook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/1072965.
Mortimer, G. (2002) ‘Individual Experience and Perception of the Thirty Years War in Eyewitness Personal Accounts’, German History, 20(2), pp. 141–160. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1191/0266355402gh249oa.
Diane Wolfthal (1977) ‘Jacques Callot’s Miseries of War’, The Art Bulletin, 59(2), pp. 222–233. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/3049634?searchText=Jacques+Callot’s+Miseries+of+War&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Jacques+Callot%27s+Miseries+of+War&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:7e9e27c10be068351ca8a4e6bc473e39.
Theodore K. Rabb (no date) ‘Artists and Warfare: A Study of Changing Values in Seventeenth-Century Europe’, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 75(6), pp. 79–106. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/20486642?searchText=&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Jacques+Callot’s+Miseries+of+War&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default:0f93e5691cb8ef4f3f18ac858437cfb8.
Olli Bäckström (1648) ‘INTRODUCTION: Major Problems of the Military Revolution’, in Military Revolution and the Thirty Years War 1618–1648: Aspects of Institutional Change and Decline. Helsinki University Press. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/jj.8784622.4.
‘The Military Revolution in Early Modern Europe - David Parrott on the latest state of play in this controversial debate about warfare and society’ (1992) History Today, 42. Available at: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1299048744/363F5146D2DB4DF4PQ/8?accountid=10766.
Wilson, P.H. (2010c) The Thirty Years War: a sourcebook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/1072965.
Mortimer, G. (2010) Wallenstein: the enigma of the Thirty Years War. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=668053.
Peter H. Wilson (1996) ‘German Women and War, 1500–1800’, War in History, 3(2), pp. 127–160. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/26004546?searchText=German+women+and+war&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=German+women+and+war&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:f94462f7b76ef6f7d175466f4fa3921d.
Ulinka Rublack (1997) ‘Wench and Maiden: Women, War and the Pictorial Function of the Feminine in German Cities in the Early Modern Period’, History Workshop Journal, (44), pp. 1–21. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/4289517?searchText=Ulinka+Rublack&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Ulinka+Rublack&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:60f8176849af2fe357c55b6c84fbd187.
Derek Croxton (1999) ‘The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and the Origins of Sovereignty’, The International History Review, 21(3). Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/40109077?searchText=peace+of+westphalia&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=peace+of+westphalia&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:dd84c7f855d25869dfecbc5880be2eb1&seq=3.
Mother Courage and Her Children (1995). London: Bloomsbury. Available at: https://www-dramaonlinelibrary-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/playtext-detail?docid=do-9781408163009&tocid=do-9781408163009-div-00000006&actid=do-9781408163009-div-00000015.
Olaf Asbach and Peter Schröder (eds) (2014) The Ashgate research companion to the Thirty Years’ War. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4456054.
Wilson, P.H. (2009) Europe’s tragedy: a history of the Thirty Years War. London: Allen Lane. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/299872.
Parker, G. (1997) The Thirty Years’ War. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=152130.
Asch, R.G. (1997) The Thirty Years War: the Holy Roman Empire and Europe, 1618-1648. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/1406871.
Polišenský, J.V. and Snider, F. (1978) War and society in Europe, 1618-1648. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511897016.
J. V. Polišenský (1954) ‘The Thirty Years’ War’, Past & Present, (6), pp. 31–43. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/649813?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
Hartmann, A.V. (2001) ‘Identities and mentalities in the Thirty Years war’, in A. Hartmann and B. Heuser (eds) War, peace, and world orders in European history. London: Routledge, pp. 174–184. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/reader.action?docID=167112&ppg=191.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Deadline	Coursework weighting
Coursework	Essay (3000 words)	24/04/2025	95%
Practical	Seminar Participation		5%

Exam format definitions

Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Prof Alison Rowlands, email: alisonc@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff: Professor Alison Rowlands

Contact details: History UG Administrators: hrugadmin@essex.ac.uk

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: Yes

Available to Outside Option: Yes

Available to Audit: Yes

External examiner

Name: Dr Miriam Dobson

Institution: University of Sheffield

Academic role: Reader

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: Of 20 hours, 18 (90%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

Further information

Department website: Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)

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Module Directory

HR259-5-SP-CO:The Thirty Years War (1618-1648): A Military, Social and Cultural History