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 The Wars of Religion 345 The Swedes did not, however, retire from Germany, but con- tinued to participate in the war, which now degenerated into a series of raids by leaders whose soldiers depopulated the land by their unspeakable atrocities. Wallenstein, who had long been detested even by the Catholics, was deserted by his soldiers and murdered (in 1634), to the great relief of all parties. 588. Richelieu re- news the Struggle of France against the Hapsburgs. At this mo- ment Richelieu (572) decided that it would be to the interest of France to renew the old struggle with the Haps- burgs by sending troops against the emperor. France was still shut in, as she had been since the time of Charles V, by the Hapsburg lands. So the war was renewed PORTRAIT OF CARDINAL RICHELIEU. (FROM in 1635, and French, A CONTEMPORANEOUS PAINTING) Swedish, Spanish, and German soldiers ravaged an already exhausted country for a decade longer. The dearth of provisions was so great that the armies had to move quickly from place to place in order to avoid starvation. 589. Close of the Thirty Years' War (i64s). The participants in the war were now so numerous and their objects so various and conflicting that it is not strange that it required some years to arrange the conditions of peace, even after everyone was ready for it. For four years the representatives of the several powers worked upon the difficult problem of satisfying everyone, but at last the treaties of Westphalia were signed late in 1648.