1. 30 Years’ War

2. Why war?
Voltaire: The Holy Roman Empire was “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire”
German states within the H.R.E. separate and controlled themselves
Religious differences again lead to problems.

3. Religious Tension

4. The sides North – Protestant South - Catholic Northern H.R.E. states
Sweden
France???? (How does this make sense? Isn’t France Catholic?)
South - Catholic
Southern H.R.E. states
Austria (Hapsburgs-Ferdinand)
Spain (Hapsburgs- Philip II)

5. The beginning of war
Ferdinand (Austrian Hapsburg and H.R. emperor) persecutes Protestants.
Protestant noble had enough and tossed two royal officials out of a window…this started a revolt by Protestants

6. The long, bloody war
The war raged on for 30 years and slowly became a Europe-wide war.
Many of the alliances formed were done for political purposes (Hence France on the side of Protestants)
In the end, 1/3 of the people living in the independent German states of the H.R.E. had died from war and disease.

8. Peace of Westphalia Ended the 30 years’ war Winner: Losers:
France (they expand borders on both sides)
Protestant German States (Prussia)
Losers:
Hapsburgs (they lost their empire as all the German states gained independence)
Holy Roman Empire (becomes nearly irrelevant)

9. Peace of Westphalia

10. Europe after the War