Why did the thirty years' war take place?

The struggle between Catholics and Protestants in Europe lasted for more than a century. It was made up to a series of great 'wars of religion', which involved countries as far apart as the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, France and England. The last and biggest of these religious wars began where the Reformation itself had begun - in the bickering states of Germany. This messy conflict became known as the Thirty Years' War. The war started in a dramatic way. Protestants in Bohemia were angry with their new king, Ferdinand. He wanted to restore Bohemia to the Catholic faith so he closed Protestant schools and ordered Protestant churches in Prague be pulled down. The Protestants banded together and threw some Catholic officials from an upstairs window in Prague Castle. This incident sparked off a civil war in Bohemia.

Fact file

This matchlock musket gun is a typical weapon used by infantry soldiers during the Thirty Years' War.

resources: Tell me why (Chancellor Press)
image 1: http://nationalinterest.org/files/styles/main_image_on_posts/public/main_images/30_year_war.jpg?itok=RRT_OinI
image 2: http://www.thefirearms.guide/wp-content/uploads/img_matchlock.jpg

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