During the seventeenth century a series of religious and political wars spread across Europe. It started as a conflict between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants, who were in the Holy Roman Empire, but it eventually became a general struggle for territory and political power. Some would argue that the Thirty Years’ War was the last of the religious wars. Others would dispute the argument stating that it was the first of the modern wars. One’s opinion is taken into account on the matter by describing the term “modern.” A modern war is one in which multiple motives are considered by both sides. Furthermore, the first modern war must be one in which unprecedented military tactics are introduced and used against the opposition. The Thirty Years’ War was the first altercation that resulted in the drastic change of all contributing parties. The consequences and results of the war were incredible even though it was a “basically meaningless conflict”(Spielvogel 405). What started out to be a religious war soon turned into a war for political and territorial gain. A true religious war would have had the pope’s counseling and advice. The Thirty Years’ War could not have

Major military developments took place during the Thirty Years’ War - possibly more so than for many centuries before hand. Historians still debate whether a “military revolution” took place during the Thirty Years’ War, but what cannot be denied is the impact these military developments had and were to have over the next centuries. The Thirty Years’ War saw a change from 'little wars' to what was effectively total war. A nation's economy was based around fighting in the war and sustaining that nation's position within the Thirty Years War. Civilian populations were adversely affected in a way not seen before. The size of armies grew massively - as did the cost of keeping those armies in the field. Armies themselves saw the first smattering of what could be called "professionalism" in the approach of Gustavus Adolphus. The size of armies grew to sizes not seen before and they became more than a mere nuisance to the civilian population of Europe. These was made worse for the civilians in that armies tried to live off the land in an effort to reduce the cost of maintaining themselves - if that meant taking livestock and grain from civilians, there so be it. In an area where armies were temporarily based, they could decimate the land before moving on - though areas just 10 miles from a battleground or from where an army was based could be unaffected by an invading army. The most common tactic used was the caracole - a combined cavalry charge assisted by firearms (Bonney 581). Eventually this was replaced by a full-scale cavalry charge. Such tactics needed well-trained and disciplined troops. The Thirty Years War saw the development of professionalism within certain armies such as the Swedes. Successful attacks were sustained and offensive tactics became the norm leaving soldiers little time to pillage as had happened in previous centuries. Those armies that still had such an approach to warfare proved unsuccessful in this war. A quick offensive campaign gave the enemy little time to prepare its defenses. Therefore, the Thirty Years War saw a move to campaigns based on professionalism, speed and offensive in nature. Gustavus ensured that his men were regularly paid and that locals were treated well. If Swedish soldiers ne

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