Thesis: The innovative leadership of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden contributed to the defeat of the Imperialist Catholic Army at Lützen in 1632. Introduction: The Thirty Years War was a European conflict during the early 1600s that was devastating for all nations involved. Millions of lives were lost, whole villages destroyed, and a continent was left in ruins. Economies were broken and the Germanic states were to remain in the hands of other nations for many years, in fact this conflict is blamed by some historians for the subsequent military buildup of the 20thcentury. Many historians discuss the basis of this war as a religious struggle between the Protestants and the Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church was losing control of some of its population with the onset of Protestantism, and this action would not be tolerated. Other major factors were the ambitions of the house of Hapsburg (Germany), territorial rivalries, and the expansion of commercial opportunities of the European countries north of Germany.

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