Q 01/05

In which years was the war fought?

A) 1618 to 1648

B) 1620 to 1650

C) 1628 to 1658

D) 1638 to 1668

Answer · why

A) 1618 to 1648

The war's thirty years are usually dated from the Bohemian Revolt of 1618 to the Westphalian treaties signed in October 1648.

Q 02/05

Where did most of the fighting take place?

A) Iberian Peninsula

B) Central Europe

C) Scandinavia

D) The Balkans

Answer · why

B) Central Europe

Germany bore the brunt: parts of it reported population declines of more than 50 per cent.

Q 03/05

Which 1648 settlement brought the war to an end?

A) Treaty of Utrecht

B) Peace of Prague

C) Peace of Westphalia

D) Treaty of the Pyrenees

Answer · why

C) Peace of Westphalia

Its terms included greater autonomy for Bavaria and Saxony, Swedish gains in northern Germany and Spain's acceptance of Dutch independence.

Q 04/05

Which 1555 settlement split the empire into Catholic and Lutheran states?

A) Peace of Passau

B) Edict of Worms

C) Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis

D) Peace of Augsburg

Answer · why

D) Peace of Augsburg

Its principle was cuius regio, eius religio: a state's faith followed its ruler's. Calvinism, which it ignored, later undermined it.

Q 05/05

Who replaced Ferdinand II as king of Bohemia in 1619, spreading the war to the Rhineland?

A) Frederick V of the Palatinate

B) Maximilian of Bavaria

C) John George of Saxony

D) Christian IV of Denmark

Answer · why

A) Frederick V of the Palatinate

Frederick was swiftly deposed, but his involvement dragged the Palatinate, and with it Spain and the Dutch, into the fighting.