The Thirty Years War

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The Viking
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) what do you know about it? In some aspects in might can be viewed as a world war. The main fighting occurred in central Europe, but the colonies in North America, what is Brazil today, in Indonesia, and India were dragged into the conflict.

The cause of the war was religion, a war between Catholics and Protestants, but that changed pretty fast when it went back to the basics, power and economy. The evidence of that is what France did, they supported the Protestants in their struggle against the Catholic League and the Habsburgs. France was a Catholic country.
The consequences of the war were the decline of the Habsburgs and the rise of France. Many of the small German states merged and the foundation of Germany was created. The steps toward the national state were also taken after the peace treaty of Westphalia.

Can the Thirty Years War be viewed as a World War?
 
I don't know did any major battles where many thousands or at least hundreds die occur in the far flung colonies? Or were their just a few colonial skirmishes with the major war being fought in central Europe?
 
I don't know did any major battles where many thousands or at least hundreds die occur in the far flung colonies? Or were their just a few colonial skirmishes with the major war being fought in central Europe?

Yes, especially in Brazil where the Spanish Habsburgs (Portugal didn't exist yet) controlled the colonies, they were conquered by the Dutch. Sweden lost their colony in the North America. The amount of casualties in both places is difficult to say. A few hundred maybe, I guess more in Brazil than in North America.
 
My favorite story about King Gustav II Adolph is his use of leather cannon. Yes, I said leather cannon. A thin copper tube was wrapped in wet raw hide. The raw hide shrinks when it dries. It was further bound in more leather and cord. The result was a relatively small caliber light wheeled cannon that could be manhandled around the battlefield by two men who could load and fire the piece.
Rather than a single cannon ball of, say two inch diameter ( 50 mm), it fired musket balls, rather like a big shotgun. The idea was to get the gun onto the enemy's flank and fire down the length of their firing line. So called enfilading fire.
Of course the guns only lasted a few shots, but by the time that the guns had overheated or burst, the battle was won. After the battle armorers would salvage what they could from the damaged guns, and get some of them ready for the next day. Since the inner tube was made of copper. the gun didn't burst. The copper tube simply split.
In more recent times, the Bofors Company of Sweden made a light weight version of the famous Carl Gustav 84 MM recoilless gun. It consisted of a thin steel shell wrapped in fiberglass thread. The gun had a limited service life, but the light weight was the selling point. Same principle, modern application.
 
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) what do you know about it? In some aspects in might can be viewed as a world war. The main fighting occurred in central Europe, but the colonies in North America, what is Brazil today, in Indonesia, and India were dragged into the conflict.

The cause of the war was religion, a war between Catholics and Protestants, but that changed pretty fast when it went back to the basics, power and economy. The evidence of that is what France did, they supported the Protestants in their struggle against the Catholic League and the Habsburgs. France was a Catholic country.
The consequences of the war were the decline of the Habsburgs and the rise of France. Many of the small German states merged and the foundation of Germany was created. The steps toward the national state were also taken after the peace treaty of Westphalia.

Can the Thirty Years War be viewed as a World War?
The American Revolution set off what amounted to an almost continuous world war that lasted until 1815.
 
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