After numerous setbacks Ferdinand II was determined to turn the Habsburg Empire back into one of the most feared in the world. Ferdinand II was very influential during this time period to Austria and the spread of Catholicism by conquering mainly Protestant Bohemia. Ferdinand by brilliantly targeting the Bohemian Estates (the main religious and political power of Bohemia,) and defeating their organized uprising in 1620 at the Battle of White Mountain, crippled the country and opened it for a quick and decisive takeover, which inevitably occurred soon after. Ferdinand (an absolutist) immediately reduced the power of the Bohemian Estates to stop the possibility of an organized revolt occurring and so he could control the country more easily. Then Ferdinand II gave away large sums of land to a few Catholic nobles as well as aristocratic soldiers that had remained loyal to him as a sign of gratitude in Bohemia. These carefully planned political moves caused the Habsburgs to regain some of their power lost during the 30 Years War for a while and make Bohemia a strong but not a unified country.
Mckay, Hill, and Buckler. A History of Western Society. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
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