After the Holy Christian League destroyed the entire Ottoman navy, they not only had enough resources to rebuilt it, but to also capture the city of Tunis is 1574 (Sivers, 540). As the Ottomans progressed, they needed to maintain a salaried army to continue conquering, so their efforts of expansion became attributable to the search for resources. As the Ottoman empire shifted into a centralized state, it becomes clear the they were doing so for the purpose of projecting power. The Ottomans let their desire for power lead them to success in gaining multiple territories.
As the Protestant Reformation began, it became clear religion was deeply rooted in European politics, as well as deeply rooted into many European conflicts. In 1517, Martin Luther wrote 95 theses that included the selling of indulgences and branded them contrary to scripture (Sivers, 565). When news of his protest became public, the sell of indulgences immediately ceased. Luther then produced a series of writing of what he believed should be reformed in the church. In these writings, he wrote that salvation was a product of faith alone and that good deeds mean nothing, the need for the banishing of clergy who acted as mediators between god and man, and, lastly, a call to German princes to take the church reform in their own lands by means of their power over clerical appointments (Sivers, 566). Obviously this did not please neither the emperor, Charles V, or the pope, who tried to have Luther put under arrest. However, the duke of Saxony protected him from seizure. As Charles V's attention was divided among other issues, the people of Germany revolted, abandoning both Catholicism and secular obedience. This caused a brutal civil war, the "Peasants' War," from 1524-1525, and killed as many as 100,000 people (Sivers, 566). Judging by this particular instance, religion is a divider of people, when you let it be.