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The Thirty-Years War

The fact that people believe differently has been the source of several conflicts in our history. Some of these have been fought over land, others over money. Some conflicts have even been fought in the name of ideas.

One of these is known as the Thirty Years’ War, so named because it literally lasted for thirty years (1618-1648). In the early 1600's, in what was called the Holy Roman Empire, were two major faiths that were at odds with one another. On one side were the Catholics and on the other, the Protestants. The Catholics were alarmed that the Protestants were gaining too much land in the empire. The Protestants, on the other hand, were upset that the Catholics were converting some of their leaders. This tension eventually erupted when Protestants threw two officials of a Catholic ruler from a castle window. Although the men survived (they fell 70 feet), a thirty year-long war begun that ended with the deaths in Germany of maybe one-third of people in cities and two-thirds of people in the country (from war, disease, and from people being forced to move away).

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