Representations of the Thirty Yearsâ War. After reading Grimmelshausen and von Guericke, develop some research questions on the effects of the Thirty Yearsâ War. For example, how was--and is--this war remembered? And why is it remembered in this way? How has the representation of the Thirty Yearsâ War changed over time?
There is no war more devastating than the notorious Thirty Year's War. The series of wars that occurred simultaneously in Central Europe, most notably Germany, from 1618 to 1648 between Catholics, Saxons, and Lutherans. Though it is unknown as to what was the main cause of the "war", it has been narrowed down to three reasons: religion, constitution, and European state-building. The matter of fact is, though, that soldiers themselves did not fight for those reasons, but rather a entirely different motive--money.
As gruesome as it could be for three decades long,  the "war" affected not only the soldiers, but the civilians as well. Actually, especially the civilians.This war in particular was known to "feed itself" for the soldier's only motivation was money and as long as the money kept coming in they will continue fighting for the war effort.
The war grew to be a strong force when those in charge of the mercenaries decided to allow the soldiers to leech off of every village they came in contact with to compensate for the lack of money they requested for their services. What started off as a few small subsequent wars then became to be escalated into one big war named the Thirty Years' War. There was dispute over religion such as that of the Roman Catholics and the Protestants, but as mentioned before, the ones' who fought cared little about why they were hired. The war affected those who wished not to partake in the war, the civilians, the most for they were the victims that were left to starve after the soldiers are done passing through their villages.
Those who saw "the war from above" saw it as neat and nicely organized game compared to those who saw "the war from below" and saw it for it really was, and it's brutality amongst those involved. Grimmelshausen's Der Abentheuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch is a satirical picaresque which finely demonstrates all the wrong brought upon the common people, or simpletons, through absolute ignorance. This work of literature is the "underbelly" of an epic for it does not follow a protagonist that is heroic or powerful, but rather ignorant fool and his adventures that are meant to send an ironic message.
The infamous Thirty Year's War was remembered for nearly depopulating the general regions of not only where the war took place, but also of where those villagers were left to starve. The reason why the war is remembered for the way it is because it a reminder for when our human nature was as its most dark moment and to prevent that from ever happening again. However, the silver lining of it all is the treaty of Westphalia, which took four years and 109 signatory parties to complete, as it was the founding movement of the modern international system of sovereign states. A huge milestone in the history of international law and the beginning of political modernity which made the war not a complete disaster for did war of constitution.Â
Newman, Jane O. "Exemplary Wars and (Post) War Stories/ 'Transformations'." Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 27 Oct. 2014. Lecture.
Newman, Jane O. "Reading (Hi)story." Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 29 Oct. 2014. Lecture.
Von Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Christoph, and George Behrend. The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus. 2nd, Rev. ed. Columbia: Camden House, 1993. Print.
Von Guericke, Otto. "The Siege of Magdeburg". <http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4396]>.
