Scotland and the Thirty Years' War

Scotland and the Thirty Years' War deals with the complicated involvement of Scotland in the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648. Although not a formal belligerent in the war, Scotland and Scots were heavily entangled in both the diplomatic and military events centred on the Holy Roman Empire (modern Germany). The fate of the Scottish princess Elizabeth of Bohemia was a key concern and up to 50,000 Scottish troops, in effect mercenaries, were engaged in various European armies.

Since the Union of the Crowns of 1603 Scotland had been increasingly distanced from the Stuart regime in London, and events at home and abroad increasingly led the Scottish Parliament to pursue its own independent lines of diplomacy with mainland European states. For example, when Stuart England formally engaged in the war in 1625, Scotland did not follow suit. In addition, a large number of ambitious individual Scots in different European courts had a profound influence on the course of the war and Scotland's involvement in it.

Basis for the Covenanter armies
In the early seventeenth century relatively large numbers of Scots took service in foreign armies involved in the Thirty Years' War, with 20-30,000 in Swedish service, a Scots brigade in the Netherlands, 5-6,000 raised for Danish service in the period 1626-7, 11,000 for France and large numbers in the armies of eastern Europe, including German states, Poland and Russia.

Hundreds of Scots mercenaries returned home from foreign service, including experienced leaders like Alexander and David Leslie. These veterans played an important role in training the Covenanter recruits.

Scottish people of the Thirty Years' War
Many noted Scots participated in the Thirty Years' War, including:
 * William Baillie
 * William Balfour
 * Samuel Cockburn
 * James Douglas
 * Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Field Marshall in the Swedish army in Germany, commanded the left wing of Torstensson's army at Jankowitz
 * Alexander Forbes, Lord Forbes, Lieutenant-General in the Swedish army in Germany
 * Hugo Hamilton, 1st Baron of Deserf
 * James Hamilton, Marquis of Hamilton (later Duke of Hamilton), General in the Swedish army in Germany
 * James King, Lord Eythin, Major-General in the Swedish army in Germany, Governor of Vlotho
 * Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven, Field Marshall in the Swedish army in Germany, Governor of the Baltic Provinces
 * David Leslie, Lord Newark
 * Walter Leslie, Holy Roman Empire Field Marshal
 * George Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, General in the Swedish army in Germany
 * James Lumsden
 * Robert Monro
 * George Munro of Newmore
 * Sir Hector Munro
 * Sir Robert Munro
 * Robert Munro, Baron of Foulis
 * Andrew Rutherford, Earl of Teviot, General in the Swedish army in Germany
 * Patrick Ruthven, Earl of Forth, Field Marshall in the Swedish army in Germany, Governor of Ulm
 * Alexander Seaton
 * Sir James Spence, General in the Swedish army in Germany