Philip IV of Spain - Foreign Policy and The Thirty Years' War

Foreign Policy and The Thirty Years' War

Philip was to reign through the majority of the Thirty Years' War in Europe, a turbulent period of military history. In Philip III's final years, Baltasar de Zúñiga had convinced him to intervene militarily in Bohemia and the Electorate of the Palatinate on the side of Emperor Ferdinand II. Once Philip himself came to power, he was convinced by de Zúñiga, appointed his principal foreign minister, and Olivares that he should commit Spain to a more aggressive foreign policy in alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. This would lead Philip to renew hostilities with the Dutch in 1621 in an attempt to bring the provinces to the negotiating table with the aim of achieving a peace treaty favourable to Spanish global interests. Philip's government would pursue a 'Netherlands first' strategy throughout the war until 1643. Despite this shift in policy, Philip does not seem to have been particularly bellicose; early on he noted that having inherited such a large empire, war somewhere across his domains was an inevitable condition, and he appeared genuinely upset when he came to power and contemplated how much the people of Castile had paid 'in blood' to support the wars of his royal predecessors.

The 1620s were good years for Spanish foreign policy: the war with the Dutch went well, albeit at great expense, culminating in the retaking of the key city of Breda in 1624. By the end of the decade, however, Philip's government was faced with the question of whether to prioritise the war in Flanders or Spain's relationship with France during the War of the Mantuan Succession (1628–31). Philip's advisors recommended prioritising the war in Flanders, taking action to safeguard the Spanish Road to the Netherlands but at the cost of antagonising Louis XIII. Strategically this was to prove a disaster. Despite fresh Spanish successes in the mid-1630s — in particular, the triumph of Philip's government in raising a fresh Spanish army, marching it into Germany to defeat the Swedish-lead Protestant forces at the Battle of Nördlingen in 1634 — the increased tensions with France made war between the two Catholic states increasingly inevitable. Olivares advised Philip that the coming war with France would be all or nothing; Spain would win or fall by the result.

The Spanish-French war that ensued from 1635 onwards was not a foregone conclusion. Early Spanish successes threatened Paris, and even after the Spanish defeat at Rocroi, Spain remained a strong opponent. But from 1640 onwards, a period which saw large scale revolts across Spanish territories in protest against the rising costs of the conflict, Spain was finding it difficult to sustain the war. Philip reacted to the increased French threat by finally abandoning his 'Netherlands first' strategy; resources for the Army of Flanders were savagely cut, and the fight against the French-supported rebels Catalonia took the first priority. Shortly after Rocroi, Philip — now having had to dismiss his favourite, Olivares — issued instructions to his ambassadors to seek a peace treaty. The Peace of Westphalia, delivered by Olivares' replacement Luis de Haro, resolved the long running Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands and the wars in Germany, but the conflict with France dragged on. Philip responded to the perceived weakness of France during the Fronde rebellions of 1648 by continuing the fight; he took personal responsibility for the decision to start a fresh, and ultimately successful, offensive against the French in Catalonia in 1651. True victory over France never emerged, however, and by 1658, after the loss of Dunkirk to an Anglo-French force, Philip was personally desperate for peace. The Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, and the marriage of Philip's daughter Maria Theresa to the young King Louis XIV finally brought his long running European wars to an end.