Thirty

and at 70 Years’ years 17. War lasted from 1618 to 1648. It was at first a religious war, Austria and the Romanist princes of Germany being on one side and the Protestant powers and France being on the other. Subsequently it lost its religious aspect, and became simply a struggle for ascendancy in Europe. The cause of it was that the Bohemian Protestants refused to be ruled by the Papist Ferdinand II., and chose as their king Frederick, the Elector of the Palatinate. The chief actors were Maximilian of Bavaria, Wal lens tein of Fried land, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and later Turenne and Condd The war was concluded by tJie Peace of Westphalia.