may 23, 1618 - Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)

Description:

Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the European great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion and more of a continuation of the France–Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence. In terms of proportional German casualties and destruction, it was surpassed only by the period January to May 1945; one of its enduring results was 19th-century Pan-Germanism, when it served as an example of the dangers of a divided Germany and became a key justification for the 1871 creation of the German Empire. Ended with the Peace of Westphalia, with a reshuffling of borders and an agreemnet that each state was soverign and authorized to control religious affairs within its own territory.

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