The Thirty Years' War Quiz

As you might have guessed, the war is called the Thirty Years' War because it lasted 30 years. While some wars have gone longer, most are done within a couple of years, especially in developed areas like Europe.

The war officially began on May 23, 1618, and ended up taking place all across central Europe by a number of different participants. It was a very "modern" war for the time and is one of the longest European wars of all time.

Once he ascended to power, the leader of the Holy Roman Empire wanted to make it a rule that everyone must be Catholic. Of course, Protestants weren't a fan of this and thus begun the war.

The man who tried to impose the rule that everyone had to practice Catholicism and no other religion was Ferdinand II. He served as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1619 until he died in 1637.

The Thirty Years' War eventually came to an end in 1648, after almost 30 years of fighting. It ended due to a peace agreement that was signed, which was called Peace of Westphalia. It was made up of several different treaties.

This war is often lumped in with a number of different religious wars, but that isn't really what it was about, especially later on. The war eventually turned into a battle for power among the largest and most powerful nations in Europe.

Throughout the war, it is estimated that around 8 million people lost their lives due to this conflict. Of course, it is difficult to know exactly how many passed away as record keeping wasn't so great back then.

Because the battle took place between different states in the Holy Roman Empire, nearly 95% of all deaths were to soldiers and civilians within the Empire. As you could imagine, this had huge effects on the population, population growth, marriage rates and more.

While many different nations and areas suffered in this war, none more than the Germans. Most battles took place on German land and a huge percentage of German soldiers and civilians lost their lives.

That's right, the act that really started off this conflict was when Catholic representatives were thrown out of a window by Bohemian nobility, who were against their religious uniformity rule.

Unfortunately, most of the battles during this multi-decade long war took place in towns and villages. This left them devastated not only by fighting but also all of the plundering that took place.

Gustavus Adolphus was the King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632. He was only a teenager when he became king and went on to be one of the best military commanders of all time.

While there were a number of different weapons used during the war, the most common for infantry soldiers was the pike. If you're not familiar with a pike, it is a very long spear that is used as a thrusting weapon.

The Netherlands is now one of the best places to live in terms of income, happiness and quality of life. However, back during the early 1600s, it was controlled by Spain. They finally became independent after the war.

The French were already quite strong before this war but got even stronger after because two of their biggest rivals (Austria and Spain) both lost a lot of their power throughout the war.

Today, Sweden is a great place to live but is not exactly a world power. However, back in the mid-1600s that was a different story. Sweden had success throughout the war and established themselves as one of the strongest military groups in the world.

While records from back then aren't great, it is believed that around 20% of all German individuals within the Holy Roman Empire died during the war. While some were soldiers, many more were simply civilians.

At the time of the beginning of the war, caracole was a common turning maneuver for cavalry. However, the King of Sweden believed it was useless and instead used a charging tactic. Many historians believe this was the beginning of the end for the caracole.

While areas were granted religious freedom after the war ended, the German people and states had been through one of their worst periods in history. Many were fearful of the violence continuing, so they decided to move elsewhere, with many choosing the American colonies.

The first part of the war was often known as the Bohemian Revolt. Protestant people and states of Bohemia fought against the rule of Ferdinand II that everyone would have to become Catholic.

Despite becoming king in late 1619, Frederick V was ousted as the King of Bohemia after the Battle of White Mountain in Late 1920. His reign lasted barely a year after his coronation.

The war officially began in 1618, but it wasn't until 7 years later (in 1625) that Denmark first joined the fight. They stuck around and supported the Protestant side of the war for a couple of years.

While Denmark did originally help the Protestants, that wasn't their main reason for joining into the war. The war was a good opportunity for them to gain territory in the German states after a recent loss of land to Sweden.

Believe it or not, many of the armies were full of mercenaries, as national pride back then simply wasn't the same as it is now. So, countries paid mercenaries to fight for them.

While thousands of soldiers died, a much higher number of civilians lost their lives during the war. Many things contributed to this, including famine, disease, pillaging and more. It was not an easy life for civilians during the war.

France joined the side of the Protestants in this war. Despite the majority of France being Catholic, they were rivals of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, so they joined the battle against them.

Before this war, Spain was a world power, but this multi-decade long war really hurt that country. They were fighting many strong enemies and showed weakness in particular during the last portion of the war.

The Battle of Lutzen was among the most important battles in the entire war. While the Protestants had experienced a victory in the battle, the King of Sweden was killed.

In the Holy Roman Empire, there were several protestant states. These states banded together to create the Evangelical Union and were supported by the likes of Sweden, England and the United Provinces.

Although Poland wasn't in the Thirty Year's War at the beginning, they decided to join in once nearly every other European nation had. They pushed their own agenda when they attacked Russia and established a dictatorship in the capital.

When a nation usually joins a war, they remain on the same side for the duration of the war. However, Denmark did the exact opposite during the Thirty Years' War. They began siding with the Protestants and then switched to the Catholics.

While the violence of war killed many soldiers and civilians, so did illness and disease. One of the worst diseases at the time was typhus, which quickly spread during the war and killed at least hundreds of thousands of people.

The name of the Holy Roman emperor before Ferdinand II was Matthias, who ruled from 1612 until he died in 1619. Unlike his successor, Matthias wanted to help Catholics and Protestants to compromise in order to strengthen the Holy Roman Empire.

The date that the war officially came to an end was May 15, 1648, nearly 30 years to the date from when the war began. However, the effects of the war would be felt for many years in the future.

After Gustavus Adolphus was slain in battle, it was his daughter who was next in line for the throne and the leadership of Sweden. However, she was only a child at the time, so the government ran the country in her name until she turned 18.