Some Achieve Greatness 75advanced into northern Germany with an army of 20,000 men, which
he had recruited and financed from his own resources. By that time
almost all his potential allies were wavering or gone. The new English
king was less supportive, and Maurice of Nassau, the captain-general of
the United Provinces, had also recently died, causing a hiatus in Dutch
policy. In the summer Gustavus went off to pursue Swedish dynastic
rivalries by renewing his recurrent war with his cousin, the king of
Poland, while under internal Catholic pressure Richelieu was forced to
distance France from Protestant-led enterprises, shifting over the next
couple of years from an anti-Spanish to an anti-English position.
Christian’s advance into Germany was not formally an act of war, as
it took him initially into the Lower Saxon Circle, where he was military
commander and responsible for defence. Although this was a transpar-
ent technicality Ferdinand hesitated, but in mid-July Maximilian took
the initiative. Acting in his capacity as commissioner appointed by the
emperor to enforce Imperial law, he instructed Tilly to put the mat-
ter to the test by himself advancing into Lower Saxon territory.^8 This
Tilly did with great caution, knowing that he had both Christian and
Mansfeld to contend with, as well as other enemies who might take
the field. Christian too was cautious, as no such support from his allies
appeared, in addition to which he himself had a serious riding accident,
the summer weather was particularly bad, and plague also started to
affect the troops and the population. Consequently only a limited war
ensued, with skirmishing and sieges but no significant engagement in
the remainder of 1625.
A general and a duke
Wallenstein watched and waited anxiously throughout 1624, as his
own lands were extremely vulnerable in the event of a coalition attack.
Not only would Bohemia be a prime target in its own right, but were
forces to advance towards Austria from the north-west along the Elbe,
and from the Baltic through Silesia, they would be likely to converge
in Bohemia, probably aiming to join up with Bethlen Gabor sweeping
in from the east through Moravia. Wallenstein had seen enough of
Vienna’s management of military affairs to know that they were likely
to do too little and too late to meet any developing threat, and that
even if they had the will they lacked the money to act promptly and
decisively. He also knew how badly organised the Imperial war effort in
1623 had been. Never one to wait helplessly for fate to catch up with
him, nor lacking confidence in his own abilities, Wallenstein realised