Over two thousand years, the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France, was a continual invasion route for foreign troops. This continued during this period when the Protestant resistance was broken, and foreign powers intervened to save Protestantism. Count Palatine John II eventually gave up his neutrality and allied himself with Swedish King Gustav II Adolf. The combined forces, although without Gustav II Adolf (for he had been killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632, despite having been on the winning side), advanced on southern Germany in 1633. When they were beaten at the Battle of Nördlingen in 1634 and forced to withdraw, they brought death and depravity to the Glan area in 1635. Croatian mercenaries in the Imperial army advanced up the Glan by way of Meisenheim, Kusel and Sankt Wendel and grimly laid waste to the area. Kaiserslautern, Kusel and Zweibrücken were utterly destroyed and burnt down. The same fate was visited upon Konken with its church. The already thoroughly plundered and forsaken villages were also utterly destroyed.