Conflicts & Resolutions · War

Thirty Years' War

1618–1648 · 17th century · Also known as Thirty Years War

The Thirty Years' War was a series of conflicts fought mainly in central Europe from 1618 to 1648, beginning as a religious struggle within the Holy Roman Empire and widening into a contest among the major European powers. It devastated large parts of Germany. Sweden's intervention under Gustavus Adolphus established the Swedish Empire as a great power, and the Peace of Westphalia further weakened imperial authority within the Holy Roman Empire.

Thirty Years' War
Image: Karl Friedrich Lessing · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 24 profiles

Holy Roman EmpireMilitary, SummarySwedish EmpireFoundation, SummaryDuchy of BavariaImpactElectoral PalatinateImpactMargraviate of MoraviaMilitaryFree Hanseatic City of BremenMilitaryFree and Hanseatic City of HamburgMilitary, SummaryKingdom of BohemiaMilitary, Impact, SummaryCounty of HohenzollernDeclineCanton of ZürichMilitaryOld Swiss ConfederacyImpactEnlightenmentbackgroundProtestant Reformationoutcomes, SummaryKingdom of DenmarkMilitaryDuchy of LorraineSocioeconomy, Military, ImpactKingdom of SwedenMilitary, Impact, SummaryDuchy of PomeraniaMilitary, Decline, SummaryMargraviate of BrandenburgSocioeconomy, MilitaryHanseatic LeagueDeclineElectorate of SaxonyMilitaryHabsburg SpainMilitaryDenmark-NorwayMilitaryHabsburg MonarchyMilitaryDuchy of Parma and PiacenzaMilitary

Battles and settlements

Mentioned in 41 state histories

Duchy of BavariaPrince-Abbey of CorveyKingdom of GermanyKingdom of SwedenElectoral PalatinateCounty of OldenburgDuchy of PomeraniaLordship of PappenheimMargraviate of BrandenburgPrince-Bishopric of VerdenPrince-Bishopric of HalberstadtKingdom of Bohemiaand 29 more

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Thirty Years' War. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thirty-years-war
MLA
“Thirty Years' War.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thirty-years-war. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Thirty Years' War.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thirty-years-war.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Thirty Years' War’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thirty-years-war (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻