Page "History of Europe" Paragraph 21

The Thirty Years ' War was fought between 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of today's Germany, and involved most of the major European powers.

Beginning as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Bohemia, it gradually developed into a general war involving much of Europe, for reasons not necessarily related to religion.

The major impact of the war, in which mercenary armies were extensively used, was the devastation of entire regions scavenged bare by the foraging armies.

Episodes of widespread famine and disease devastated the population of the German states and, to a lesser extent, the Low Countries, Bohemia and Italy, while bankrupting many of the regional powers involved.

Between one-fourth and one-third of the German population perished from direct military causes or from illness and starvation related to the war.

The war lasted for thirty years, but the conflicts that triggered it continued unresolved for a much longer time.