Search Results - Thirty Years' War

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The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was a religious war principally fought in Germany, where it involved most of the European powers. ^[7][8][9] The conflict began between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire, but gradually developed into a general, political war involving most of Europe.^[10] The Thirty Years' War was a continuation of the Bourbon-Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence, and in turn led to further warfare between France and the Habsburg powers.

The major impact of the Thirty Years' War, fought mostly by mercenary armies, was the extensive destruction of entire regions, denuded by the foraging armies. Episodes of famine and disease signficantly decreased the populace of the German states and the Low Countries and Italy, while bankrupting most of the combatant powers. ^[11] Some of the quarrels that provoked the war went unresolved for much a longer time. The Thirty Years' War was ended with the Treaty of Münster, a part of the wider Peace of Westphalia. ^[12]

Over the course of the war, the population of the German states was reduced by about 30%.^[13] In the territory of Brandenburg, the losses had amounted to half, while in some areas an estimated two-thirds of the population died. The male population of the German states was reduced by almost half. The population of the Czech lands declined by a third due to war, disease, famine and the expulsion of Protestant Czechs. The Swedish armies alone destroyed 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.^{[14][15][16][17]}