How many years did the thirty years war last?

Answer 1

The Thirty Years' War began as a civil war and was fought between 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of today's Germany, and involved most of the major European continental powers. Although it was from the outset a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the rivalry between the Habsburg dynasty and other powers was also a central motive, as shown by the fact that Catholic France under the de facto rule of Cardinal Richelieu supported the Protestant side in order to weaken the Habsburgs, thereby furthering France's position as the pre-eminient continental power. This increased the France-Habsburg rivalry which led later to direct war between France and Spain.

The major impact of the Thirty Years' War, which primarily used mercenary armies who had little concern for anyone's rights or property, was to lay waste to entire regions scavenged bare by the foraging armies, causing a much higher than normal Death Rate among the civilian population, as episodes of widespread famine and disease (a starving body has little resistance to illnesses) devastated the population of The Germanies and The Low Countries, while bankrupting many of the powers involved. The war may have lasted for 30 years, but the conflicts that triggered it continued unresolved for a much longer time. The war ended with the Treaty of Münster, a part of the wider Peace of Westphalia.

Answer 2

28 years.