The causes of the Thirty Years War can be traced as far back as the renaissance period. It was during the renaissance that such ideals as secularism, humanism, individualism, rationalism and above all else secularism were first apparent in main stream society. These ideas led to the protestant reformation, which is an even more direct cause of the war. The split of the Catholic Church, as a result of the protestant reformation left Europe in a state of religious turmoil and chaos. The gradual increase in intolerance and religious sectionalism that coincided with the addition of new religions and even more diversity has been marked as the main cause of the Thirty Years War. The effects of the war would prove to be devastating to most of Europe, evidenced by the sharp drop in population, but it was especially devastating to Germany. However, there were some countries and bodies of people that emerged from the conflict improved such as France, Sweden, and the religion of Calvinism. There were many territorial and dynastic issues that figured in the outbreak and conduct of the war as well, but it is believed that these factors did not become important until the middle stages of the war. The territorial and dynastic causes, which go hand in hand, did however, cause the war to continue longer than it most likely would have if religion had been the only motive. The extent of religious motives therefor is debated, but cannot be dismissed. The immediate causes of the war began with the resistance and eventual revolt of Protestant nobles in Bohemia, due to the religious intolerance mentioned before, which was under Hapsburg domination, against the Catholic king Ferdinand. The reasons and causes for its spread throughout Europe include the constitutional frailty of the Holy Roman Empire, the inability of the German states to act in concert, and the ambitions of other European powers. These were the causes that would eventually be resp...
