Power of Religion: the Thirty Year War

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Power of Religion: The Thirty Year War Religion has been a beckon of hope for people in need of guidance and a need to keep a moral compass on society. Religion was also a tool to control the masses by royalty which is understandable since people who have the same morals tend to stick together. It was in the beginning of the 17th century when religion would clash from neighboring countries. No one would know at the time the effects of The Thirty Year War. Countries that wanted their religion to triumph would have not predicted a new shift of power, a massacre and new technique for future wars that could even influence the actions of today. Religion was such a powerful weapon for rulers that the Peace of Augsburg was established and obtained until the early 17th century when the imperial power became concerned over a new rising religion named Calvinism. The religion is a strain of protestant, forbidden under the peace treaty, which spread to present day Germany. “Only two churches were recognized,” under the Peace of Augsburg treaty, “the Roman Catholic and the adherents of the Augsburg Confession—i.e., the Lutherans.”[1] Calvinism started to become the majority in some states so the Peace of Augsburg was nullified. There was also a vacancy in the lineage as King in the Holy Roman Empire. There was a competition of what religion the King would be. Each religion sent an heir. Styria sent someone as the rightful ruler but was rudely thrown out. Throughout the whole ordeal the Duke of Austria got to be king. The losers would not accept it so the war broke out with Europe that split up into the Habsburg (Catholic/Imperial) vs. Protestants (Sweden and France/ Gustavas Adolphus and Bourbons.) The first period in The Thirty Year War was named the Bohemian Period that ranged from 1618-1625. When Ferdinand II became a Catholic king in the Holy Roman Empire, the
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