The Battle of White Mountain was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years.
Battle of White Mountain, oil painting by P. Snaijers
Plan of the battle from Theatrum Europaeum: Bohemians above, Imperial and Bavarian forces below
The 27 tributary crosses
Painting celebrating the Catholic victory, by Anton Stevens (c. 1610–1675). In the upper part there is Our Lady of Victory surrounded by saints; in the lower left-hand corner there is the victorious Emperor Ferdinand II with his son Ferdinand III and the Bohemian lion.
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, or disease, while parts of present-day Germany reported population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, the Torstenson War, the Dutch-Portuguese War, and the Portuguese Restoration War.
Left to right: The Defenestration of Prague (23 May 1618) The death of Gustavus Adolphus at Lützen (16 November 1632) Dutch warships prior to the Battle of the Downs (21 October 1639) The Battle of Rocroi (19 May 1643)
"Winter's King", Frederick V of the Palatinate, whose acceptance of the Bohemian Crown sparked the conflict
The Catholic counter-offensive; Tilly's campaign during the Bohemian revolt and Palatine campaign
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria whose seizure of the Palatinate expanded the war