Sweden's 1631 Sack of Magdeburg: Atrocity That Shook the Thirty Years' War

In May 1631, the Protestant city of Magdeburg was besieged by the Catholic Imperial army under Johann Tserclaes von Tilly. After a brutal storming, the city was set ablaze. Some 20,000 civilians died in what became known as the 'Magdeburgisation' of war. Lucas and Luna explore how this atrocity turned the tide of the Thirty Years' War, galvanised Protestant resistance, and forced Gustav II Adolf of Sweden to commit fully to the German conflict. They discuss the chaotic siege, the fire's disputed origins, the propaganda war that followed, and the massacre's legacy in international law. Specific figures include Tilly, Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, and the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. The episode also touches on the military revolution and the changing ethics of siege warfare in early modern Europe.

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