Thirty Years War Effects

During the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Europe was plagued with an extensive period of religious wars that would affect the course of history thereafter by permanently damaging Christendom. The Thirty Years’ War, the last and final religious war of its time period, came to be one of the most devastating conflicts in Europe and enforced a questioning of religious truth. At its conclusion, the Thirty Years’ War reconstructed the European map, laid the foundations for absolutism, and pushed European communities further towards secular ideologies.
Of the many outcomes of the Thirty Years’ War, the geographical territories of both Germany and different religious communities were drastically impacted by the conditions laid out in the Treaty of Westphalia. The Germanic states, although separated before the war even …show more content…
However, one of the crucial factors derived from the war came the emergence of absolutism. The foundations of absolutism began with the intertwining of religion and politics, as a religious strife could be used as a facade for what really was a greed for power. In this way, French Cardinal Richelieu was able to monopolize European power in favor of France, topple all other prominent forces, and set the stage for Louis XIV’s reign. By doing this, Richelieu was able to heighten France’s power above every other nation’s for years and reconstruct a new way for countries to rule. This new found set of morals within government catalyzed a new era of absolute monarchies that centralized their own power for their own ruling, and ultimately, the foundations for absolutism became one of the most important outcomes of the Thirty Years’ War. This unfamiliar type of government was unlike anything seen before, and marked the beginning of a new age for European