The Thirty Years War 1618-1648

The Thirty Years War (1618-48) was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history and claimed around 8 million lives. Its causes are associated with long-term changes in European political, economic and religious life. Its settlement at the Peace of Westphalia is widely seen as the birth of the modern international order of sovereign states. While there are a large number of specialist studies of many aspects of the war, there has not been a substantial single­ authored volume in English since 1938 and general treatment in other languages is patchy. This project fills this important gap.

The book will provide comprehensive analysis of the war's causes, conduct and consequences. It will argue that it was neither a narrow 'German war', nor a general international struggle, but a distinct conflict over the political and religious balance within Central Europe that was related to other competition for regional dominance in western, northern and eastern Europe. In addition to discussing the political, military and religious dimensions, the analysis will draw on new approaches, notably the concept of 'war experience' that investigates the personal and psychological impact of fighting in early modern Europe.