Unit 1 DBQ Example Essay

In Machiavellis The Prince, he shares how it is important for belief

systems within a rulers territory to be similar for a stable political and
social situation. Before 1517 and Martin Luther starting the Protestant
Reformation, everyone throughout Europe held to the same Catholic
beliefs. Therefore Catholic beliefs contributed to the social and political
stability of the region. But by the middle of the 16th century, religious
conflict led to Emperor Charles V establishing the Peace of Augsburg in
an attempt to establish peaceful relations between Catholic and
Protestant forces. (doc 1) As his intended audience was all those in the
Holy Roman Empire who were in leadership roles, he had hoped to reestablish peace. However, this did not occur as the Thirty Years War
began in 1618 and lasted until 1648 in which religion, both Catholic and
Protestant, was the cause.

All rulers want social, political, and economic stability. Religious

conflict can create hardships for rulers, which would make them
inclined to keep a single religion in their territory. Since the Holy
Roman Empire had all been Catholic before Martin Luther, the Catholic
rulers pushed for again having a single religion. In 1609, the Catholic
League was formed by a group of French priest who warned that the
religious tension of the area could easily result in military conflict. (doc
3) This proclamation was to go to the German princes in an effort to
form an alliance to reestablish religious unity. By 1618, the religious
tension forewarned by the Catholic League came into being as Count
von Slatava was tossed out the window because he was Catholic in an
act referred to as the Defenestration of Prague. (doc 4) He clearly
hope to show how the continued growth of Protestant believers are
causing problems within the Bohemian territories. As the war
progresses, the Catholic forces begin to gain ground to the point where
Emperor Ferdinand II puts forth the Edict of Restitution. This is very
much an economic factor as this Edict would give back to the Catholics
all lands lost to the Protestants. (doc 5) The Thirty Years War had many
impacts from the religious conflict with political instability and
economic upheaval.

Just as the Catholics wanted religious unity in order to have stability,

the Protestants wanted to establish their own form of control. The

First few sentences explain how

another time period develops the
topic of the question.
Doc 1 used to explain the topic of
the DBQ. Does not quote but shows
understanding.
Shows purpose of the document,
which counts towards the POV
point.
Thesis statement that has a direct
answer to the question and shows
grouping points.

Paragraph beginning establishes

how religion is tied to other factors
and shows how the paragraph will
focus on Catholic viewpoints.
Each of the three documents are
placed in time order to show how
one idea grows from another. Also
each doc has the parenthetical after
it and starts with telling who and
what in order to effectively move
into the POV aspects.
These areas provide a POV of
purpose and intended audience of
the documents.
This final sentence clearly ties the
topic of Catholic viewpoints back to
the question what wanted to know
how religion was related to other
factor in the war.

Paragraph beginning establishes the

focus of Protestant views as

Protestant Princes first conflict with Emperor Charles V that led to the
Peace of Augsburg was one of an economic force as the German
Princes saw the move to Protestantism as a way to gain Catholic lands
and wealth. In 1608, the Protestant Princes in German established the
Protestant Union. This proclamation was to unite the Protestants into
an alliance in order to establish a power base. (doc 2) It is possible that
the Catholic League established in 1609 was created in a direct
response to the Protestant Union. But by 1629, the Catholics were
gaining ground in the war and Emperor Ferdinand wanted the
Protestants to give back their obtained land. (doc 5) However, even
those who were Catholic and close to the Emperor felt his Edict may
have gone too far. Count von Khevenhuller believes that even though
the purpose of the Edict was to reestablish economic dominance of the
Catholics that the end result may be additional economic hardship with
rich Protestants leaving the territory and taking their wealth with
them. (doc 6) Religion seems to be overshadowed by economic
concerns.

By the time the end of the Thirty Years War comes to a close, this
conflict has spread bringing in other countries such as Denmark,
Sweden, and France. (doc 7) Interestingly enough, France, which was a
Catholic nation, sides with Sweden, which is a Protestant nation, in
order to defeat the Catholic League. Ultimately, there was no winner
to this war and all sides finally determined the war was not worth the
cost and established the Peace of Westphalia, the first treaty based on
a balance of power concept. So by the end of this conflict, religion was
no longer the main focus but economic stability and political balance of
power.

connected to economic forces for

the Thirty Years War.
Each of these three documents help
develop an understanding of the
Protestant views and use the same
timeframe format to help show
connections.
These areas help establish the
purpose and POV for the
documents.

Closing sentence again ties religion

with the factor of economic stability
or lack there of.

Final document needed to ensure all

documents have been used in the
essay.
Information that ties to other items
not included in the overall topic, but
are connected to how this conflict
changed the way Europe operated.
Closing sentence that reestablishes
a connection between both topics
and the question.