We're jumping back into the Thirty Years War and this is all super exciting, but to some of you guys it may also be a tad overwhelming, as a lot of unfamiliar stuff is about to be thrown at you. With that in mind, this episode is designed to familiarise you with the main themes, the most important figures, and the most active powers in Europe at the time.We'll learn a bit about the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, meet the Habsburg family, and take a gander at some other related issues in Europe at the time of the outbreak of the conflict in 1618.As we launch into this exciting new period in WDF, make sure you visit the dedicated section of our website for Thirty Years War related goods by following the link here: Take me to the Thirty Years War section This site is where you'll also be able to freely access the script for this episode, and a document detailing all of the social media posts, so don't delay if you like some context and reading!Make sure also that you sign up on Patreon to get all of the incoming episodes ad-free and complete with a script for each episode, for just $1 a month! https://www.patreon.com/WhenDiplomacyFails For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy