The Meaning and Chronology of the Struggle Although
Citations (1)
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers whole source · open book
The second reason for the much more widespread and interlinked pattern of warfare after 1500 was the creation of a dynastic combination, that of the Habsburgs, to form a network of territories which stretched from Gibraltar to Hungary and from Sicily to Amsterdam, exceeding in size anything which had been seen in Europe since the time of Charlemagne seven hundred years earlier. Stemming originally from Austria, Habsburg rulers had managed to get themselves regularly elected to the position of Holy Roman emperor—a title much diminished in real power since the high Middle Ages but still sought after by princes eager to play a larger role in German and general European affairs. More practically, the Habsburgs were without equal in augmenting their territories through marriage and inheritance.
chapter: The Meaning and Chronology of the Struggle