Editing History of Germany (section)

=== Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648 ===
{{Main|Thirty Years' War}}
[[File:Bevölkerkungsrückgang im HRRDN nach dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg.PNG|thumb|left|Population decline in the empire as a consequence of the [[Thirty Years' War]]]]

The 1618 to 1648 [[Thirty Years' War]], that took place almost exclusively in the Holy Roman Empire has its origins, which remain widely debated, in the unsolved and recurring conflicts of the Catholic and Protestant factions. The Catholic emperor [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]] attempted to achieve the religious and political unity of the empire, while the opposing Protestant Union forces were determined to defend their religious rights. The religious motive served as the universal justification for the various territorial and foreign princes, who over the course of several stages joined either of the two warring parties in order to gain land and power.{{Sfn|Adams|1997|pp=138–191}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Peter H. |date=June 2008 |title=The Causes of the Thirty Years War 1618–1648 |journal=The English Historical Review |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=CXXIII |issue=502 |pages=554–586 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cen160}}</ref>

The conflict was sparked by the [[Bohemian Revolt|revolt of the Protestant nobility of Bohemia]] against emperor [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]' succession policies. After imperial triumph at the [[Battle of White Mountain]] and a short-lived peace, the war grew to become a political European conflict by the intervention of [[Christian IV of Denmark|King Christian IV of Denmark]] from 1625 to 1630, [[Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden]] from 1630 to 1648 and France under [[Cardinal Richelieu]] from 1635 to 1648. The conflict increasingly evolved into a struggle between the French House of Bourbon and the House of Habsburg for predominance in Europe, for which the central German territories of the empire served as the battleground.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Peter H. |title=The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy |date=2009}}</ref>

The war ranks among the most catastrophic in history as three decades of constant warfare and destruction had left the land devastated. Marauding armies incessantly pillaged the countryside, seized and levied heavy taxes on cities and indiscriminately plundered the food stocks of the peasantry. There were also the countless bands of murderous outlaws, sick, homeless, disrupted people and invalid soldiery. Overall social and economic disruption caused a dramatic decline in population as a result of pandemic murder and random rape and killings, endemic infectious diseases, crop failures, famine, declining birth rates, wanton burglary, witch-hunts and the emigration of terrified people. Estimates vary between a 38% drop from 16 million people in 1618 to 10 million by 1650 and a mere 20% drop from 20 million to 16 million. The [[Altmark]] and [[History of Württemberg|Württemberg]] regions were especially hard hit, where it took generations to fully recover.{{Sfn|Adams|1997|pp=138–191}}<ref>Geoffrey Parker, ''The Thirty Years' War'' (1997) p. 178 has 15–20% decline; Tryntje Helfferich, ''The Thirty Years' War: A Documentary History'' (2009) p. xix, estimates a 25% decline. Wilson (2009) pp. 780–795 reviews the estimates.</ref>

The war was the last major religious struggle in mainland Europe and ended in 1648 with the [[Peace of Westphalia]]. It resulted in increased autonomy for the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire, limiting the power of the emperor. Most of [[Alsace]] was ceded to France, [[Western Pomerania]] and [[Bremen-Verden]] were given to Sweden as Imperial fiefs, and the Netherlands officially left the Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Joachim |last=Whaley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiFWYsG-t7UC |title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire: Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493–1648 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-1987-3101-6 |pages=623–631}}</ref>