Kingdom of Bohemia (1623)

With John George's victory at the Second Battle of the White Mountain (1622), his position as holder of the Bohemian Crownlands was secured. Even if the Elector was coronated King of Bohemia two years prior by the Bohemian Estates, the Elector of Saxony had to fight off both Habsburg armies and Brandenburgian rapacious intents in Silesia.

## Treaty of Elbogen

The 'July Declaration' conceded Vienna to the Protestant Forces, which occupied it taking both Conti and Von Mercy as prisoners. It quickly became clear to the victors that peace would not be an easy feat. Both houses of Hohenzollern and Wettin had claimes of various nature on Bohemian crownlands, which would be solved in Dresden. The 1623 Treaty of Elbogen granted Brandenburg the two cities of Bonn and Neuss, while John George retained the rest, with the exception of Jägerndorf (the Duchy would devolve to Brandenburg at the Duke's death in 1624). In practice, this would divide Upper and Lower Lusatia between the House of Saxony and the House of Brandenburg.

## History of the Bohemian Crownlands (1623-1630)

The newly enthroned Jan II, also known as the White King, would soon oversee the situation in his domains. Moving his court to Prague, the King-Elector spent a large part of due reparations into revitalizing the Bohemian economy, administration and military.

### Creation of the Böhmische Reichspost

The "Böhmische Reichspost" was created in lieu of earlier postal services (Kaiserliche Reichspost) which were held in monopoly by the House of Thurn & Taxis. A postal agency directly controlled and financed by the Crown of Bohemia, its offices would open in Prague, Dresden, and other provincial centers within five years from its foundation. The Bohemian Estates, elated by the opportunity of gaining independence from Catholic monopolies, provided funds without question. Postmen were first recruited into the military's ranks, and later on from the wider population.

### Von Baudissin's military reforms

King Jan had saw firsthand numerous deficiencies of the Saxon and Bohemian armies. Militarily incompetent officers, lackluster equipment and training among many other flaws. In 1624 he hired Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin, former Swedish officer of Lusatian origin, to overhaul the entire Bohemian and Saxon militaries. Inspired by Gustav Adolph's reforms in Sweden, Von Baudissin encouraged a method of conscription based on parish register census. He reintroduced into the Bohemian military usage of lancers and cuirassiers meant to attack enemy lines in melee, exploiting shock value. This was done in opposition to Catholic tactics, which relied on skirmishing and caracoles (one unit famous for this behavior was Pappenheimer's Black Cuirassiers, in Austrian service during the Bohemian Phase).

Infantry tactics were modeled after the Dutch instead of the Swedes, due to presence of a stronger and larger cavalry force to augment such tactics. Infantry drilling was assigned to Johan Ernst, Count of Nassau-Siegen.

### Schleswig War

Bohemia found itself involved in the Dano-Swedish War of 1626, a part of the wider Northern Wars. Following an imperial ban on Christian IV of Denmark, general Hans Georg von Arnim led a combined Saxon-Bohemian force into Schleswig-Holstein. By June, most of the Schleswig Peninsula would fall into Imperial hands. Following a secret agreement, all territories in Holstein were devolved to Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp. In the following years, Von Arnim would dedicate himself to costly sieges in Jutland, with discrete success.

### Prelude to war (1629-1630)

Time would not be kind to the Saxon Emperor. In 1629, an imperial decree stripped the Archbishop of Cologne, Ferdinand of Bavaria, from the electoral seat, which was granted to the Principality of Calenberg (Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg). The reason is to be found in Ferdinand's aid to Spanish operations in the Low Countries. Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, one of the few 'victors' of the Bohemian War, quickly called the Catholic League to arms. Despite attempts from the Emperor to defuse the situation, all talks broke down, and Bavaria declared a state of total mobilization. In order to free his soldiers for a war in the Holy Roman Empire, John George urged Von Arnim to reach an agreement with Denmark. The 1630 Treaty of Rostock returned Holstein and Schleswig to Denmark-Norway, much to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp's displeasure.