Quote:At the beginning there was some religious motivation there.
The rulers have their own reasons for everything but religion was a very useful tool for getting the dumber ones to gleefully kill and be killed because they thought god was on their side.
The best thing about the 30 years war is that is basically marked the beginning of the decline of jesusism in the west. Traditionally, the Age of Enlightenment is dated to the generation after the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the war in 1648 and marked the end of even the dream of catholic hegemony over Europe. But religion had been dealt a fatal blow because of the misery caused in its name.
For that, we should be thankful!
