-By the seventeenth century, the Holy Roman Empire had broken into several hundred confined and separate states.
-These states were ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor, who was chosen by seven leading German princes called electors
-The Emperor had little power over the many rival princes
-This disorganized and unbalanced system led to the outbreak of the Thirty Year’s War
-Religious views further divided the German states
-The north became mainly protestant, while the south remained strictly Catholic
-The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars, beginning in Bohemia, better known today as the Czech Republic
-Ferdinand, the Catholic Hapsburg king of Bohemia aspired to suppress Protestants and to assert royal power over nobles
-The Defenestration of Prague, occurring May 1618 sparked a general revolt, which Ferdinand moved to suppress
-The Defenestration of Prague was an act where a few rebellious Protestant nobleman tossed two royal officials out of a castle window in Prague
-This minor dispute that began as a local conflict broke out into a general European war
-The following year, Ferdinand was elected Holy Roman Emperor

In Summary...