ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Thirty Years' War from Frederick's standpoint was a constitutional conflict of colossal dimensions and importance which entailed both religious and political interests. It examines the career of Frederick V, a long neglected figure of central importance to the development of the Thirty Years' War, demands that one abandon the metaphor of the exploding teapot for describing the events that began in 1618. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 finally resolved the Palatine crisis by restoring Karl Ludwig as Elector Palatine, but his restitution was not total. The Electors were supposed to be the guarantors of peace, the protectors of the constitution, and the checks on the Emperor's power, and as long as Frederick was not recognized as the rightful Elector Palatine, he predicted that there would be no peace in the Empire. Frederick V, Ferdinand II, Maximilian I, and many, many others all share the responsibility for the perpetuation of the Thirty Years' War.
