Thirty Years' War 1618 to 1648
The Thirty Years' War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest, most destructive conflicts in European history.
Initially a war between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmenting Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe, becoming less about religion and more a continuation of the FranceHabsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence.
The war began when the Holy Roman Empire tried to impose religious uniformity on its domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights, banded together to form the League of Evangelical Union. The Empire soon crushed this perceived rebellion, but reactions around the Protestant world condemned the Emperor's action. Sweden soon intervened in 1630 and began the full scale Great war on the continent. Spain, wishing to crush the Dutch rebels, intervened under the pretext of helping their dynastic ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its border, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants to counter the Habsburgs.
Initially a war between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmenting Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe, becoming less about religion and more a continuation of the FranceHabsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence.
The war began when the Holy Roman Empire tried to impose religious uniformity on its domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights, banded together to form the League of Evangelical Union. The Empire soon crushed this perceived rebellion, but reactions around the Protestant world condemned the Emperor's action. Sweden soon intervened in 1630 and began the full scale Great war on the continent. Spain, wishing to crush the Dutch rebels, intervened under the pretext of helping their dynastic ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its border, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants to counter the Habsburgs.
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