Thread by @LandsknechtPike

The Thirty Years' War 1618-1648 involved almost entire Europe.

Troops from neutral countries like England, Scotland, Ireland and Poland-Lithuania also participated as mercenaries.

Practically every major Catholic/Protestant ethnicity in Europe took part in the fighting. 🧵

The Thirty Years' War was mostly fought in Germany and it's widely known that it also involved the Swedes, the French, and the Spanish..

But in this thread I will present units from other European peoples that had a presence but are not usually associated with the conflict!

Polish-Lithuanian irregular light cavalrymen known as the Lisowczyks took part as mercenaries.

They were very experienced from fighting in the east and were greatly feared!

They fought for the Imperials at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 and captured 20 enemy standards.

The local German population was terrorized by Lisowczyks who had a reputation for pillaging and committing all sorts of atrocities and were often mistaken for the dreaded Tatars.

Terrible reports that they killed even children and dogs during their raids started to spread!

The painting Polish Rider dated to 1650s and attributed to Rembrandt recalls the times when Polish Lisowczyks fought in Germany.

Emperor Ferdinand II eventually released them from service due to numerous complaints about their behavior but some stayed to serve others.

However Polish light cavalry and hussar units continued to be hired by the Habsburgs as well in 1623, 1631, 1635, 1643 and 1645.

The Polish warriors were known for their Catholic religious zeal and greatly contributed to the Imperial cause, serving until the final engagements.

The Croats were another unit of light cavalry irregulars used by the Habsburgs and recruited by the Croat nobility of the Military Frontier against the Ottomans.

The experience of frontier warfare made them exceptionally useful mobile cavalry and crucial for Imperial efforts!

The Croats were experts in what was called "kleine Krieg" (small-scale warfare), conducting daring raids deep into enemy territory, scouting and foraging.

But they could also perform as a disciplined cavalry in open battles, flanking the enemy and participating in melees.

The Croats first distinguished themselves at the White Mountain in 1620 where they attacked the enemy camp at night, causing panic and disorder which affected morale.

They were versatile and employed harquebusiers who could fight together with cuirassiers or even on foot.

First regular Croat regiments were employed by Imperial commander Wallenstein in 1625 who spoke of them very highly.

They were so good that several more regiments were raised each year and the name "Croat" became synonymous in Europe with skilled mobile light troops.

The Croats were known for making the best use of any situation in battle.

As the "Croat" units expanded, recruits started also including other groups from the Habsburg borderlands and the Balkans such as Hungarians, Serbs, Transylvanians, Wallachians, Moldavians and Albanians.

The Croats were an important part of the Imperial army and distinguished themselves in numerous battles such as the battle of Nördlingen in 1634.

Other armies also employed them or copied them and established similar units as the importance of light cavalry increased.

The Croats also developed a reputation as cruel and merciless, especially after their actions during the brutal Sack of Magdeburg in 1631, where they were apparently the most vicious together with Walloons.

Their name was used to scare little children in Germany!

The Thirty Years' War saw hardened troops from the eastern borderlands of Europe being unleashed on Germany.

All of these borderland "barbarians" struck great fear into locals, whether it was the Lisowczyks or the Croats or the Livonian and Finnish cavalry used by the Swedes.

Another borderland unit used by the Habsburgs were the Hungarian Hayduk troops as well as Croat and Polish irregulars who fought as skirmish infantry, often in support of the light cavalry.

These were also hardened from border wars with Ottomans and were very skilled troops!

Hungarian hussar light cavalry from irregulars and nobles of the Military Frontier also took part.

Already in 1619 six units of 500-1000 hussars each were raised: Esterhazy, Palffy, Forgach, Somogyi, Nadasdy, and Raab regiments.

Regular hussar regiments were formed in 1634.

The Habsburg enemies the Swedes used their own "exotic" troops that were equally feared by the Germans as the "barbarians from the north".

Lacking quality native Swedish cavalry, the Swedes employed a lot of Livonian and Finnish cavalrymen who were excellent troops!

The Livonians were an important addition in the Swedish army after Gustavus Adolphus had captured Riga in 1621.

It appears that cavalry traditions survived there since the days of the Teutonic Knights and they were able to raise good cavalry better than the Swedish mainland.

The Livonians provided the much needed cuirassier heavy cavalry as the Swedish army was lacking in that department compared to their Imperial enemies in the Thirty Years' War.

The Imperials had complete cuirassier regiments while the Swedes only had few companies of them.

Meanwhile the Finnish "Hakkapeliitta" troops served as light cavalry.

Their name came from their war cry which mean "cut them down" and they soon developed a reputation for brutality and giving no quarter such as at the Battle of Oldendorf in 1633 where they showed no mercy.

Finnish light cavalrymen were very skilled as scouts and were much needed for Swedish war effort.

Cavalry became the decisive element of the Thirty Years' War warfare due to its mobility.

As Sweden didn't have a good cavalry tradition, the Finns and Livonians filled the gap.

The Swedish army also employed Lapps from the extreme north of Scandinavia.

Various legends existed about them in Germany, where the locals saw them as dangerous spell-casting pagans, such as that they rode to battle on the backs of reindeer as depicted on this illustration.

The use of these "pagan savages from the north" by the Swedes was used in propaganda to vilify them.

Grotesque illustrations were made of "strange and bizarre peoples that are to be found with the Swedish army".

This propaganda image depicts a Lapp, a Livonian and a Scot.

The Swedish army also included many mercenaries from Britain who joined the fellow Protestant cause.

The Scots were particularly numerous in this conflict.

It is estimated that up to 50,000 Scots served in various armies during the Thirty Years' War!

A contemporary claimed that the Scots were "as ubiquitous on the battlefields of Europe as lice and rats."

Already in the 16th century the Dutch formed a special Scots Brigade which also included three English regiments.

The Irish also fought in the Thirty Years' War.

Many Irish served in the Spanish Army of Flanders which had several Irish regiments through its history, many of which greatly distinguished themselves such as Tyrone's regiment also known as the Tercio Viejo Irlandés.

One of the famous Irish mercenaries serving the Spanish was Owen Roe O'Neill who distinguished himself in the War of Flanders as the conflict became incorporated into the Thirty Years' War.

He served in the Irish tercio regiment for 36 years from 1606 to 1642!

Owen Roe O'Neill particularly distinguished himself at the Siege of Arras in 1640 where he commanded the Spanish garrison of 2,000 men (many of whom were Irish) and held out against a French army of 35,000 for 48 days.

Following the Irish Rebellion in 1641 Owen Roe O'Neill returned to Ireland in 1642 with 300 veteran Irish tercios "moved by zeal for the Catholic religion and the good of his Homeland" and participated in the subsequent Irish Confederate Wars until his death in 1647.

This represents another trend of veterans from the Thirty Years' War returning home and serving in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the British Isles.

These experienced veterans proved to be the most valuable troops and were extremely beneficial for whichever side they fought.

This is just a glimpse into how multi-ethnic the European armies were before the modern age of nationalism and "levée en masse" (mass national conscription).

Various mercenaries were employed by Europeans states and many of them ended up serving different armies in their career.