re: #4 CriticalDragon1177

Might get in trouble for saying this, but the 30 years war had the same effect across a much wider area.

So great was the devastation brought about by the war that estimates put the reduction of population in the German states at about 25 to 40 percent.[79] Some regions were affected much more than others.[80] For example, Wrttemberg lost three-quarters of its population during the war.[81] In the territory of Brandenburg, the losses had amounted to half, while in some areas an estimated two-thirds of the population died.[82] The male population of the German states was reduced by almost half.[83] The population of the Czech lands declined by a third due to war, disease, famine and the expulsion of Protestant Czechs.[84][85] Much of the destruction of civilian lives and property was caused by the cruelty and greed of mercenary soldiers.[86] Villages were especially easy prey to the marauding armies. Those that survived, like the small village of Drais near Mainz, would take almost a hundred years to recover. The Swedish armies alone may have destroyed up to 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.

This probably, in terms of proportion of population lost, was one of the biggest bloodbaths in history. And the the first War that could be categorized as a World War. It involved every major power in Europe, including the Ottomans. And fighting occurred as far afield as India and the Americas.