Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was a series of wars fought in the Holy Roman Empire, involving most of the countries within it, the war lasted for 30 years. This war massively affected Europe and created a cultural divide between Catholics and Protestants. Philip III of Spain attempted to perpetuate the foreign policy views of his father, Philip II, which essentially meant that Spain had to remain ready for war. Thus, in 1618, when Ferdinand II, heir apparent to the Bohemian throne, began to slash certain religious privileges enjoyed by his subjects there, they immediately appealed for help to Protestants in the rest of the empire and to the main foreign Protestant states: Great Britain, Dutch Republic and Denmark (Trueman). Although the war between German Catholics and German Protestants was all in the Holy Roman Empire, both Christian, it slowly expanded and became more of a struggle for the balance of power. There were two sides in the Thirty Years' War, the Protestant League and the Protestant League. Catholic League. The Protestant League was made up of Frederick of Bohemia who was the leader of the Protestant princes, Denmark led by King Christian IV, Sweden led by King Gustavus Adolphus and the Netherlands led by the House of Orange, all supported financially by the King of France Louis XIII. The Catholic League consisted of Duke Maximillian of Bavaria, the Holy Roman Empire led by Emperor Ferdinand II, and King Philip IV of Spain (Billiet). There were five major phases of the Thirty Years' War: the Bohemian Revolt, the Palatinate Phase, the Danish Intervention, the Swedish Intervention, and the French Intervention (Thomas). In the Bohemian phase, a group of Bohemian Protestants captured the governors of Prague and expelled them. from the palace with...... middle of paper ...... on both flanks, the remaining infantry moved to attack the Tercio of Naples (the best unit in the Spanish army). The German infantry failed terribly and the Spanish veterans held on with the help of musketeers in the woods. The Spanish succeeded in wounding Brunswick and drove his army from the field. The Protestants lost 3,000 people, 500 were wounded and 1,500 captured. The Spanish could not have asked for a better fight. The Spaniards deplored 300 dead and 900 wounded. The next day, Spanish cavalry annihilated the remaining Protestant infantry as they marched. Of the 24,000 men who left the Palatine that day, only 3,000 Protestant horsemen managed to reach the neighboring town (Thomas). As has been demonstrated time and time again in historical battles such as the Persians versus the Greeks, numbers do not matter, it is strategy and the will of the people to protect their way of life..