The Thirty Years' War originated from politically-confessional disputes in the Holy Roman Empire, but it developed into one of the greatest war catastrophes of modern times. The question of how the conflict could acquire such a destructive dynamic is at the center of the book. As a peace solution within the Empire failed to materialize, the crisis points in the European context gradually and unchecked penetrated into the Empire, ultimately turning it into a European conflict. The book provides a new and coherent answer to the question of why and how the war in Germany became inextricably linked with other profound conflicts in Europe.