A framework for the causes of Early Modern wars
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Flip to reveal answersWhat are the three time-layers of causes in the war framework?
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Question
What are the three time-layers of causes in the war framework?
Answer
Long-term (underlying) causes, short-term causes, and the catalyst (spark) that triggers the war.
Question
Define a long-term (underlying) cause of war.
Answer
A deep pressure — rivalry, religious hatred, economic need — that builds over decades and makes war likely, but doesn't fix the exact timing.
Question
Define the catalyst (spark) of a war.
Answer
The single triggering event that turns tension into fighting, such as the 1618 Defenestration of Prague.
Question
What launched the Reformation, and when?
Answer
Martin Luther's challenge to the Catholic Church in 1517, which split Western Christianity into Catholics and Protestants.
Question
What is the Counter-Reformation?
Answer
The Catholic revival and fightback against Protestantism during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Question
Name the great dynastic rivalry that dominated Early Modern Europe.
Answer
The Habsburgs (Spain and Austria) versus the French Bourbon and Valois kings.
Question
How did the Sunni–Shia divide cause war?
Answer
It shaped conflict in the Islamic world, above all the long wars between the Sunni Ottoman Empire and the Shia Safavid Empire of Persia.
Question
Give three economic or territorial causes of Early Modern wars.
Answer
Control of trade routes and resources, seizing strategic frontiers and fortified borderlands, and dynastic states seeking territorial expansion.
Question
What does 'absolutist' mean?
Answer
A system where the monarch holds near-total, centralised power, as under Louis XIV of France.
Question
What is gloire, and why did it cause wars?
Answer
The glory and prestige a ruler won through success; monarchs like Louis XIV went to war to boost their reputation.
Question
How did individuals and alliances widen wars?
Answer
Ambitious rulers and ministers made bold choices, and shifting coalitions dragged outside powers in, turning local disputes into multi-state wars.
Question
Contrast dynastic and religious causes of war.
Answer
Dynastic causes are about which family should rule (rival claims, marriages); religious causes are about which faith should win (Catholic–Protestant, Sunni–Shia). They often overlapped.
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Topic 11.1 hub
Causes of conflicts
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