Polity Mecklenburg-Guestrow Duchy

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Was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire located in northern Germany. It separated from the Duchy of Mecklenburg.

Establishment

  • January 1622: Establishment of the Mecklenburg-Guestrow Duchy.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. European wars of religion

Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.

1.1. Thirty Years' War

Was a war that took place mainly in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestant in the Holy Roman Empire but then escalated into a conflict for the hegemony in Europe between Habsburg Spain and Austria, Sweden and France.

1.1.1. Swedish Period

Was the third main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of Sweden.

  • May 1631: After the Swedish occupation of Frankfurt an der Oder in April 1631, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Saxony signed alliance treaties with Sweden.

1.1.2. Franco-Swedish Period

Was the fourth main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of France.

1.1.2.1. North German Front (Sweden)

Was the north German front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.

  • October 1636: The Battle of Wittstock took place during the Thirty Years' War near the town of Wittstock on October 4, 1636. A Swedish-allied army commanded jointly by Johan Banér and Alexander Leslie decisively defeated a combined Imperial-Saxon army, led by Count Melchior von Hatzfeld and the Saxon Elector John George I.
  • November 1637: After the death of Swedish King Ferdinand II, his son and successor Ferdinand III brought the Swedish troops back to Pomerania, leaving the territories occupied by Sweden in Germany.
  • November 1644: In 1644 Swedish field marshal Torstenson led his army for the third time into the heart of Germany and routed the imperials at the battle of Jüterbog.
  • July 1647: The Imperial Army liberated the fortress of Egra (today known as Cheb in the Czech Republic) from Swedish occupation.

2. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

  • January 1623: Territorial change based on available maps.

Disestablishment

  • January 1696: The Mecklenburg-Guestrow Duchy is disestablished.

Selected Sources

  • Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), p. 26-49
  • Schmidt, G. (2006): Der Dreißigjährige Krieg, Munich (Germany), p. 65