(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections
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Wallenstein's Ende; Volume 2 Of Wallenstein's Ende: Ungedruckte Briefe Und Acten; Hermann Hallwich
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein (Herzog von Friedland)
Hermann Hallwich
Duncker & Humblot, 1879
Biography & Autobiography; Military; Austria; Biography & Autobiography / Military; Europe; Generals; Germany; Nobility; Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648
Ungedruckte Briefe Albrechts von Wallenstein und Gustav Adolfs des Großen: Nebst Einem Anhange Enthaltend Beiträge zur Geschichte des Dreißigjährigen Krieges (Classic Reprint) (German Edition)
(Excerpt from Ungedruckte Briefe Albrechts von Wallenstein...)
Excerpt from Ungedruckte Briefe Albrechts von Wallenstein und Gustav Adolfs des Großen: Nebst Einem Anhange Enthaltend Beiträge zur Geschichte des Dreißigjährigen Krieges
2?brecbtß von %3allenftein ze. Angebrndte 98uefe ze. Aus ben 3abren 1627 bi6 1634. ßerl. 1828 unb 29. 8. 3 Style.
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Ungedruckte, Eigenhändige Vertrauliche Briefe Und Amtliche Schreiken Aus Den Jahreu 1627 Bis 1634 an ...: Fürsten Und Feldherrn ... Zweiter Theil (German Edition)
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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Albrechts von Wallenstein, Erster Theil (German Edition)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
Albrecht von Wallenstein was a Bohemian soldier and statesman.
Background
Wallenstein was born on 24 September 1583 in Heřmanice, Bohemia, which is the easternmost and largest region in what was then the Holy Roman Empire, the present-day Czech Republic, into a poor Protestant branch of the Waldstein (Wallenstein, Valdštejn) family who owned Heřmanice castle and seven surrounding villages. His mother, Markéta Smiřická of Smiřice, died in 1593; his father, Vilém, died in 1595.
They had raised him bilingually – the father spoke German while his mother preferred Czech – yet Wallenstein in his childhood had a better command of Czech than of German.
After their deaths, Albrecht for two years lived with his maternal uncle Heinrich (Jindřich) Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk, a member of the Unity of the Brethren (Bohemian Brethren).
Education
His uncle sent him to the brethren's school at Košumberk Castle in Eastern Bohemia.
In 1597, Albrecht was sent to the Protestant Latin school at Goldberg (now Złotoryja) in Silesia, where the then-German environment led him to hone his German language skills. While German became Wallenstein's lingua franca, he is said to have continued to curse in Czech. On 29 August 1599, Wallenstein continued his education at the Protestant University of Altdorf near Nuremberg, Franconia, where he was often engaged in brawls and épée fights, leading to his imprisonment in the town prison.
In February 1600, Albrecht left Altdorf.
Career
He converted to Catholicism before 1606 and attached himself to the court of the Hapsburg archduke (later emperor) Matthias, with whom he shared a strong interest in astrology.
In 1618, when the Protestant Bohemian nobles rebelled against Matthias's aggressively pro-Catholic successor, Ferdinand II, Wallenstein remained loyal to the Hapsburgs. Although he did not participate in their decisive victory in 1620 near Prague, wholesale confiscation of rebel property enabled him to purchase the vast estates of Reichenberg and Friedland. By 1622 he was one of the largest landholders in the kingdom, a status Ferdinand II recognized in 1624 by granting him the title Duke of Friedland. Wallenstein's second marriage brought him into the Emperor's most intimate circle.
Wallenstein's astonishingly rapid acquisition of enormous wealth and influence resulted from his ability to grasp every possible advantage from a political system dependent on mercenary armies. From the beginning, he organized his own estates to provide recruiting areas and supporting industries for equipping his regiments, whose services he offered at great profit.
Wallenstein was named imperial commander against the allied Protestant German and Danish forces in 1625. His first campaigns were disappointing in spite of the astonishing speed he had shown in raising and equipping the army. In 1627, with larger forces at his disposal, he swept the Danes out of Silesia and northern Germany, and by 1629 the Emperor could impose peace on Germany. Wallenstein's price for his services included payment of his debts, large new grants of land, and the duchy of Mecklenburg, this last making him a sovereign prince of the empire.
Overestimating the security of his position in Germany, Ferdinand II dismissed Wallenstein from command in 1630. The Swedish invasion of the same year, however, undid the earlier victories, and Ferdinand II again had to call on Wallenstein's services. The Emperor was at his general's mercy, and the price was exorbitant. The terms of their agreement are still a mystery, but they included, in addition to money and new estates, virtual independence from political or religious interference in territories won back from the Protestant forces. Wallenstein began his last campaign in 1632 by driving the Saxons from Bohemia and then forcing Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus) to withdraw from Bavaria. On Nov. 16, 1632, the Swedish army struck Wallenstein's forces at Lützen. Wallenstein withdrew from the field, abandoning his artillery, but Gustavus himself was killed, and the Swedish army retired leaderless.
Wallenstein had been incredibly lucky, and at this point he contemplated using his unprecedented powers as commander in chief to impose a peace on Germany with terms which fell far short of fulfilling Ferdinand's own policies. Wallenstein's own intentions are unfathomable, but both sides feared him as both competed for his allegiance. It is quite possible that he hoped to gain the Bohemian crown for himself. Whatever his motives were, he had decided by the end of 1633 to break with Ferdinand II, and he began negotiating with the Protestant princes. The Emperor again ordered Wallenstein's dismissal in January 1634 and, to prevent betrayal, ordered loyal officers to imprison him and bring him to Vienna, or if necessary, to kill him. Worn down by illness and enmeshed in the tangle of his own conspiracies, Wallenstein could not complete his negotiations with his former enemies before he was caught by officers loyal to the Emperor at the fortress of Eger in Bohemia. These officers shot Wallenstein on the night of February 25, 1634.
Achievements
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein was one of the major figures in the Thirty Years War. His administrative and financial talents made him one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe.
He became the supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and was a major figure of the Thirty Years' War.
The Czech National Museum produced a large exhibition about Wallenstein at the Wallenstein Palace in Prague (current seat of Senate) from 15 November 2007 till 15 February 2008. He is also the subject of Calderón de la Barca's play El Prodigio de Alemania and Schiller's play trilogy Wallenstein.
One of the episodes in Erich Kästner's "The 35 May" depicts Wallenstein in his afterlife being engaged in a fierce war with Hannibal and emphasizes both generals' callous disregard for the lives of their soldiers - underlining Kästner's pacifist views. Wallenstein is also a main figure in Alfred Döblin's eponymous novel from 1920.
Composer Bedřich Smetana honored Wallenstein in his 1859 symphonic poem Wallenstein's Camp, which was originally intended as an overture to a play by Schiller.
Wallenstein has also been examined by such economists as Arthur Salz in his book Wallenstein als Merkantalist (Wallenstein as Mercantilist).
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
Religion
His parents' religious affiliations were Lutheranism and Utraquist Hussitism but he adopted his uncle's religious affiliation- Protestantism.
Reared in the Utraquist (Protestant) faith, he converted to Catholicism before 1606.
Wallenstein fought for the Catholics against the Protestant Bohemian revolt in 1618.
Politics
Wallenstein's particular genius lay in recognizing a new way for funding war: instead of merely plundering enemies, he called for a new method of systematic "war taxes". Even a city or a prince on the side of the Emperor had to pay taxes towards the war. Wallenstein understood the enormous wastage of resources that resulted from tax exactions on princes and cities of defeated enemies only, and desired to replace this with a "balanced" system of taxation; wherein both sides bore the cost of a war. He was unable to fully realize this ambition. His idea led to the random exploitation of whole populations on either side, until finally, almost fifteen years after his death, the war had become so expensive that the warring parties were forced to make peace. Wallenstein's idea reportedly inspired many, among them, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to "pluck the goose with a minimum of screeching".
Membership
Wallenstein was made a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Personality
He was coldly calculating, shrewdly acquisitive, and enormously ambitious. But his talents as a commander in the field were mediocre.
Connections
In 1609, Wallenstein married Czech Lucretia of Víckov, née Nekšová, of Landek, the wealthy widow of Arkleb of Víckov who owned the towns of Vsetín, Lukov, Rymice and Všetuly/Holešov (all in eastern Moravia). She was three years older than Wallenstein, and he inherited her estates after her death in 1614.
In 1623, Wallenstein married Isabella Katharina, daughter of Count Harrach. She bore him two children, a son who died in infancy and a surviving daughter. Examples of the couple's correspondence survive. The two marriages made him one of the wealthiest men in the Bohemian Crown.
Father:
Vilém
(died in 1595)
Mother:
Markéta Smiřická of Smiřice
( died in 1593)
Spouse:
Isabella Katharina
She was the daughter of Count Harrach.
Spouse:
Lucretia of Víckov, née Nekšová, of Landek
She was the wealthy widow of Arkleb of Víckov.
Sister:
Kateřina Anna
Uncle:
Heinrich (Jindřich) Slavata
He was a member of the Unity of the Brethren (Bohemian Brethren).
