Did the 30 years' war hurt Europe as badly as WWII?

Answer 1

The 30-years' war was the more devastating conflagration in terms of both percentage of population loss(15-20% of Europe's population) and recovery time for the nations involved(contrast Europe in 1955 to 1658)

Answer 2

Depends on who you ask.

The Thirty Years war involved every major power in Europe and totally changed the political landscape of many countries. It exposed Spain's declining military might and splintered Germany into numerous divided territories. It also set France up as the dominant power in Europe. Sweden emerged from the war as major force in Europe. This war also did much to end the age of mercenaries and ushered in the era of well disciplined national armies. Between the fighting and disease of war, 15-20% casualities are accepted as accurate by historians.

World War II also had high casualities and involved all major powers of Europe. Once again, many were outraged by the atrocities of the war. Out of all the European nations involved, Germany and England saw the largest political changes following the war, with the division of Germany into two nations, East & West Germany, and England losing many of colonies. The Dutch also lost colonies following the war and Russia takes control of much of Eastern Europe.

Either way, both have huge impacts on the way war is fought and on the political landscape of Europe. I don't know which I would say hurt Europe the worst, they both changed the continent in a major way.

Answer 3

Hmmm, 30 years of battles, whole cities destroyed, monarchies thrown into disarray and turmoil, and boundaries shifting on a monthly basis.
Or 6 yrs of the same thing.
I think that 30 years of this chaos would be more damaging to civilization than just 6 years, but hey, this is all relative, depending on what part of society we're talking about. To the peasants in Europe during the 30 Yrs War, it made little difference who was starving them...

Answer 4

Of course not, WWII is the largest catastrophic event in human history. Causing the lives of over 50 million people world wide. It also developed todays current foreign policy making for countries like the US, Great Britain, Russia, etc. NOTHING, comes close to WWII.