ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, there was a subtle shift in the political landscape of Western Europe. The previous century had been dominated by three great issues: the tensions between Protestantism and Catholicism; the gradual emergence of regional and national consciousness for political action; and the rivalry between the ruling families of Spain and France for the preeminent position. In the second half of the sixteenth century, those issues had produced two grand struggles: the French Wars of Religion and the Dutch Revolt. The Thirty Years' War marks the end of one important era of military development and the beginning of a new one. Gunpowder weapons were already commonplace on the battlefields of Europe in the sixteenth century. By the end of the war, they were being deployed in innovative ways that increased firepower and made battles much bloodier affairs.
