The 30 years War is estimated to have killed a third of Germany's population

The European continent and China are great examples of divergent civilization evolutions

With China going from several waring independent States into a United political entity

Which led to stagnation and the fear of change the industrial Revolution could have started under Song China

In stead of England in the 18th century

You could debate the pros and cons of who was the best but it's only really been the last 300 years that European

Have been on top