Faced with a chronology of the war, most observers will soon say, "if this is a war of religion, how come Lutheran Saxony is helping Catholic Austria and Bavaria crush Bretheran Bohemia who is allied with Calvinist Palantine? Why is Catholic France trying to stop Catholic Spain from stealing from Palantine? Why is Bavaria against spain attacking Bavarias' enemy Palantine? How come the Calvinist Dutch and Anglican English send money and good wishes to Lutheran Denmark to attack Bavaria? In other words, things are not always simple and without an understanding ot the leaders motives and a background to the conflict, no real understanding of the war is possible.

I propose to try to clear the air, but it is tought to tell the players without a score card. Modern Europe grew from the ashes of the war, and the minefields of bias in the form of religious, national, personel, historical theory, and politcal views by the writers who discuss this war cloud every account, including my own. When reading anything about this war, try to figure out the bias of the writer, and after studies from several differant points of view, you can then draw your own conclusions.

The difficulty in outlining the players in this German tragedy is breaking them down into managable groupings. The following is arbitrary, but effective. I will then examine each group.

I. First Tier Germans: Austria, Bavaria, Brandenberg, Bohemia, Saxony.

II. Second Tier Germans: Palantine, Trier, Hesse, Wurttemberg, Hanseatic League.

III. First Rank Foreign Powers: Spain, Denmark, France, Sweden, Netherlands.

IV. Dogs in the Manger: Italian States, Lorraine, Savoy, Transylvania, Hungary.

V. Military Entrepreneures: Saxe Weimar, Wallenstein, Christian of Brunwick, Mansfield.

VI. Peripheral Foreign Powers: England, Poland, Russia, Ottoman Empire.

The First Tier Germans are the largest and most powerful leaders in Germany.

More 30 Years War

Introduction
Background
Examination of the Leaders and Their Motivations
The Nations