32. Gustavus Adolphus and the Thirty Years War

The 'Religious Wars' that followed the Reformation tore at the very fabric of Europe, first in France, and then in the Holy Roman Empire in a conflict that came to be called the Thirty Years War. The prospects for Protestantism were grim indeed during that protracted struggle, until the Swedish king, Gustavus Adophus, intervened bringing relief and renewed hope to the beleaguered German followers of the Reformation. As a result of his significant participation, the course of the war changed, culminating finally in the Peace of Westphalia, an agreement establishing religious tolerance across the empire and which defined a new chapter in the struggle towards religious freedom of conscience.