page_title: Treaty of Bärwalde
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Treaty of Bärwalde / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Pomerania in 1653
context_page_description: The Treaty of Bärwalde, signed on 23 January 1631, was an agreement by France to provide Sweden financial support, following its intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
  This was in line with Cardinal Richelieu's policy of avoiding direct French involvement, but weakening Habsburg Austria by backing its opponents. Under its terms, Gustavus Adolphus agreed to maintain an army of 36,000 troops, in return for an annual payment of 400,000 Reichsthalers, for a period of five years.
  France continued their support after Gustavus was killed at Lützen in November 1632. When the Swedes were defeated at Nördlingen in September 1634, most of their German allies made peace in the Treaty of Prague. Richelieu decided to intervene directly; in 1635, the Franco-Swedish Treaty of Compiègne replaced that agreed at Bärwalde.
context_section_description: The Thirty Years War began in 1618 when the Protestant Frederick, ruler of the Electoral Palatinate, accepted the crown of Bohemia. Many Germans remained neutral, viewing it as an inheritance dispute within the Holy Roman Empire, and Emperor Ferdinand quickly suppressed the Bohemian Revolt. However, Imperial forces then invaded the Palatinate, forcing Frederick into exile.  
  Depriving Frederick of his inheritance changed the nature and extent of the war, as it potentially threatened other German princes. This concern increased after Ferdinand passed the 1629 Edict of Restitution, which required all church properties transferred since 1552 be restored to their original owners; in nearly every case, this meant from Protestants to the Catholic Church, effectively undoing the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. In addition, Ferdinand financed the Imperial army by allowing it to plunder the territories they passed through, including those of his allies. 
  The combination bolstered Protestant resistance within the Empire, and drew in external players, concerned by the prospect of a Catholic Counter Reformation. In 1625, Christian IV of Denmark landed in Northern Germany and had some success, before forced to withdraw in 1629. This led to intervention by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, partly driven by a genuine desire to support his Protestant co-religionists, but also to ensure control of the Baltic trade that provided much of Sweden's income. 
  In June 1630, nearly 18,000 Swedish troops landed in the Duchy of Pomerania, occupied by Wallenstein since 1627. Gustavus signed an alliance with Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, securing his interests in Pomerania against the Catholic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, another Baltic competitor linked to Ferdinand by family and religion. 
  Despite expectations of widespread support, by the end of 1630, the only new Swedish ally was the Imperial town of Magdeburg, then besieged by the Catholic League. Despite the Edict, and the devastation inflicted on their territories by Imperial soldiers, Swedish intervention presented risks. Saxony and Brandenburg-Prussia had their own ambitions in Pomerania, while previous experience showed inviting external powers into the Empire was easier than getting them to leave. Although the Swedes expelled the Imperialists, this simply replaced one set of plunderers with another; Gustavus could not support so large an army, and his unpaid and unfed troops became increasingly mutinous and ill-disciplined. 
  In January 1631, John George of Saxony hosted a conference of German Protestant states at Leipzig, hoping to create a neutrality pact. Gustavus responded by advancing through Brandenburg, as far as Bärwalde, on the Oder, where he set up camp. This secured his rear before moving onto Magdeburg, while making a clear point to those meeting in Leipzig.
caption: Sweden's acquisition of West Pomerania (in blue) was confirmed in 1653, and although later diminished by territorial losses to Brandenburg, retained until 1815
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