As part of his ambitious plan to increase Russia’s influence, czar Peter the Great was determined to expand his country’s territorial holdings. He especially coveted a section of the Baltic coastline, which would allow Russia to have year-round access to warm water ports ideally situated for international trade. However, most of the Baltic was controlled by Sweden, but Peter was not about to let that stop him. In 1700, he boldly invaded the Baltic region, issuing a direct challenge to the Swedish King Charles XII to either defend or risk losing his Baltic territory. The conflict, known as the Great Northern War, lasted for twenty-one years, and despite several crushing early losses, Peter’s forces only grew stronger as the war dragged on. The conflict finally ended in 1721, when Sweden at last capitulated. Russia gained a great deal of new territory, including parts of Finland, Estonia, Livonia, and most importantly, Peter’s long-desired Baltic coastline and lucrative warm water ports.

The majority of the Thirty Years’ War was fought in territory that comprises the modern state of Germany. Germany at the time was not a unified country, rather it was a collection of principalities and electorates, most of whom were administered under the Holy Roman Empire. The Thirty Years’ War devastated the population of Central Europe, by some estimates as many as a third of the population died as a result of the conflict.

The English Civil War was fought between 1642-1651 between forces loyal to parliament (called Parliamentarians or “Roundheads”) and forces loyal to the crown (called Royalists or “Cavaliers”). The war began during the reign of the English King Charles I. The war ended in victory for the Parliamentarians and the execution of Charles I.

The Thirty Years' War culminated in the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, which is the foundational element of the modern system of sovereign states and boundaries between nations.

The Kingdom of Kongo, in Central Africa, served as a battleground between the Portuguese and the Dutch in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Kongolese also engaged in military conflicts with the Portuguese themselves on numerous occasions, including the notable Kongo-Portuguese War of the 1620s.

The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre is the most infamous moment in the entire course of the French religious war between the Catholics and Huguenots. The Massacre occurred on August 24th, 1572, after religious conflict had been ravaging the nation off and on for the last decade. Queen Catherine de Medici had heard rumors of a planned Huguenot attack against her, as retaliation for her role in the attempted assassination of Admiral Coligny, one of the Huguenot’s main military leaders. Driven to desperation, Catherine decided that she and her Catholic forces, led by the duke of Guise, had to strike back before the Huguenot plot could occur, and so she persuaded her son, King Charles IX, to agree to a pre-emptive assault. On August 24th (aka Saint Bartholomew’s Day according to the Catholic Church calendar), Catholic forces murdered Coligny and three thousand other Huguenots in the streets of Paris. This first massacre was followed by a series of coordinated attacks all across the country, during which Catholic soldiers killed twenty thousand more Huguenots. The Massacre did not have the effect that Catherine and the other Catholic leaders had planned, however. Instead of convincing the Huguenots to back down and sue for peace, it convinced nearly every Huguenot that they had to intensify their military campaign against the French monarchy and the Catholic militias. The French religious war became a literal fight to the death, with the Huguenots more determined than ever to fight for their survival.

Sixteenth-century France’s brutal religious war between Catholics and Huguenots was finally ended by the Edict of Nantes. Passed on April 13th, 1598, the Edict of Nantes was the brainchild of King Henry IV (aka Henry of Navarre), who came to power after the assassination of King Henry III. Despite his Huguenot faith, Henry IV was a true “politique” who believed that French social and political unity should be prioritized. After decades of warfare, with numerous atrocities committed by both sides, most French people were war-weary and desperate for peace. Additionally, Henry IV enjoyed widespread public popularity, from Catholics and Huguenots alike, which certainly helped his advocacy for a ceasefire. When Henry IV assumed the throne on July 25th, 1593, he made a dramatic announcement, in which he stated that he was converting to Catholicism because it was the religion of the majority of his subjects. Perhaps surprisingly to outsiders, most of France deeply supported Henry IV’s conversion, which he publically billed as the first step towards peace. A few years later, Henry IV made the final step: his issuance of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict put an end to any further religious warfare and also granted Huguenots many religious freedoms, including the right to worship freely, to gather freely, and to remain living inside their fortified towns. This peace would last but sadly, Henry IV would not – he was assassinated by a disgruntled Catholic in 1610.

The Qing Dynasty began in 1644 when invaders from Manchuria overthrew the Ming Dynasty. It lasted until 1912 (not including an abortive restoration in 1917). It was the last dynasty in Chinese history.

While it is true that the various provinces of the Netherlands were united in their opposition to Spanish rule, they were not all united in their religious outlook. Many of the northern provinces (such as Holland and Utrecht) were almost entirely Calvinist, while the southern areas were much more Catholic-dominated. Still, the two sides managed to put aside their religious differences in favor of achieving political freedom – in 1577, every province came together to form the Union of Brussels. This Union was entirely committed to uniting the full force of Dutch military might against Spain and for almost two years, this plan worked brilliantly. However, the Union fell apart in 1579, as the Spanish army gained a stronghold in a few southern provinces, a scary reality which in turn made many Dutch Catholics begin to question the true motives of their Calvinist countrymen. In response, the southern provinces declared that they were breaking off the Union of Brussels and forming the Union of Arras instead, to wage their own fight against Spain. The northerners, led by Prince William of Orange, banded together in the new Union of Utrecht.

The English Civil War was essentially a war between the monarchy and parliament for ultimate authority over the government of England. It also featured a conflict between Anglicanism (the religion of the vast majority of Parliament) and Catholicism (the religion of the monarchy at the time). The war ended in victory for the Parliamentarians and the execution of Charles I.