Murder mystery: what killed Christianity in Europe?

[abaris]

"place greater emphasis on structural causes, interpreting the war as the culmination of a ‘General Crisis of the seventeenth century’ attributed to social, economic or environmental factors. "

Yeah, and what caused these tensions? It was the struggle between protestanism and catholicism, namely Ferdinand II trying to roll back the advancement of protestanism in Bohemia as well as Germany. The defenestration of two imperial officials in 1618 was the spark lighting the already smoldering fire.

Long story short: One of the key points of the treaty of Westphalia in 1648/49 was "cuius regio, eius religio", which speaks volumes about the reasons for the war, since it was a struggle between protestanism and catholicism which neither could decide for itself.