The war which began in the Habsburg humiliation at Prague had arguably crystallized by the late 1630s, and thus begins perhaps my favourite period of the conflict! We now have battles raging in Northern Germany, where Johan Baner's Swedish-German force faced down Matthias Gallas' Imperials. Further towards the Rhine, Octavio Piccolomini watched the border near the Spanish-Dutch war, where Spain poured its resources into a never ending grinder of men and money. With Portugal and Catalonia showing worrying signs of disloyalty, what did the future hold for Spain as the anchor of the Habsburg alliance? Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III was just 29 when he assumed the throne. His 'gift' from his foes was to learn of the new Franco-Swedish alliance, signed in Hamburg in March 1638. Meanwhile, along the upper Rhine, the capture of Breisach gave the French a crossing on the German side of the river, and threatened the integrity of Bavaria. The flag of appeal was waved at Madrid, but the Spanish had little sympathy to spare for their Austrian cousins, being demoralised and defeated by the Dutch and French foes, the latter most devastatingly at sea, in 1639. All the little wars had certainly converged into one, and it's my pleasure to take you on a journey through its most incredible and fascinating sights! Thankssss for the support and thankss for listening in!Get 50% off your first month and a week's free trial when you sign up to Perlego with my link! Use the code WDF2022 and access an incredible catalogue of academic and library books - I'd be lost without Perlego, and I think you'll be really excited and impressed when you check them out. Their history collection has saved me $ and time!**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!4) Matchlock and the Embassy, our new historical fiction novel, is out NOW! Get it here Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.