gary, shortly after which he died. The
campaign ended with the Peace of Lubeck in 1629.

The action of the Emperor Ferdinand in attempting to enforce the
restitution of Church lands in North Germany was the proximate cause
of the next great campaign, which constitutes the fourth period of the
Thirty Years' War (1630-36). The immediate occasion was, however,
Wallenstein's seizure of certain towns in Mecklenburg, over which he
claimed rights by Imperial grant two years before. This, which may be
regarded as the greatest period of the Thirty Years' War, was
characterized by the appearance on the scene of Gustavus Adolphus, the
Swedish King. He was not in time, however, to prevent the sacking of
Magdeburg by the troops of Tilly and Poppenheim. The former,
nevertheless, was defeated by the Swedes at the important battle of
Breitenfeld in 1631. The following year the Imperial army was again
defeated on the Lach. Thereupon Gustavus occupied Muenchen, though he
was subsequently compelled by Wallenstein to evacuate the city. The
last great victory of Gustavus was at Luetzen in 1632, at which battle
the great leader met his death. Wallenstein, who was now in favour of
a policy of peace and political reconstruction, was assassinated in
1634 with the connivance of the Emperor. On September 6th of the same
year the Protestant army, under Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, sustained an
overwhelming defeat at Noerdlingen, and the Peace of Prague the
following year ended the campaign.

The fifth period, from 1636 to 1648, has, as its central interest, the
active intervention of France in the Central European struggle. The
Swedes, notwithstanding the death of their King, continued to have
some notable successes, and even approached to within striking
distance of Vienna. But Richelieu now became the chief arbiter of
events. The French generals Conde and Turenne invaded Germany and the
Netherlands. Victories were won by the new armies at Rocroi,
Thionville, and at Noerdlingen, but Vienna was not captured. The
Imperial troops were, however, again defeated at Zumarshauen by Conde,
who also repelled an attempted diversion in the shape of a Spanish
invasion of France at the battle of Lens in the spring of 1648. The
Thirty Years' War was finally ended in October of the same year at
Muenster, by the celebrated Treaty of Westphalia.

The above is a skeleton sketch in a few words of the chief features of
that long and complicated series of diplomatic an