Peace of Westphalia

Peace of Westphalia
Treaties of Osnabrück and Münster

The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 (1648) by Gerard ter Borch

The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 (1648) by Gerard ter Borch
Type Peace treaty
Drafted 1646–1648
Signed 15 May – 24 October 1648
Location Osnabrück and Münster, Westphalia, modern-day Germany
Parties 109

The Peace of Westphalia (German: Westfälischer Friede) was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic.

The peace negotiations involved a total of 109 delegations representing European powers, including Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, Philip IV of Spain, the Kingdom of France, the Swedish Empire, the Dutch Republic, the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire and sovereigns of the free imperial cities. The treaties that comprised the peace settlement were:

The treaties did not restore peace throughout Europe, but they did create a basis for national self-determination.

The Peace of Westphalia established the precedent of peaces established by diplomatic congress,[4][5] and a new system of political order in central Europe, later called Westphalian sovereignty, based upon the concept of co-existing sovereign states. Inter-state aggression was to be held in check by a balance of power. A norm was established against interference in another state's domestic affairs. As European influence spread across the globe, these Westphalian principles, especially the concept of sovereign states, became central to international law and to the prevailing world order.[6]

Locations

Peace negotiations between France and the Habsburgs, provided by the Holy Roman Emperor and the Spanish King, were to be started in Cologne in 1641. These negotiations were initially blocked by France.

Cardinal Richelieu of France desired the inclusion of all its allies, whether sovereign or a state within the Holy Roman Empire.[7] In Hamburg and Lübeck, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire negotiated the Treaty of Hamburg. This was done with the intervention of Richelieu.

The Holy Roman Empire and Sweden declared the preparations of Cologne and the Treaty of Hamburg to be preliminaries of an overall peace agreement. This larger agreement was to be negotiated in Westphalia, in the neighbouring cities of Münster and Osnabrück. Both cities were to be maintained as neutral and demilitarized zones for the negotiations. Münster was, since its re-Catholization in 1535, a strictly mono-denominational community. It housed the Chapter of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. Only Roman Catholic worship was permitted. No places of worship were provided for Calvinists and Lutherans.

Osnabrück was a bidenominational Lutheran and Catholic city, with two Lutheran and two Catholic churches for its mostly Lutheran burghers and exclusively Lutheran city council and the Catholic Chapter of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück with pertaining other clergy and also other Catholic inhabitants. In the years of 1628–1633 Osnabrück had been subjugated by troops of the Catholic League. The Catholic Prince-Bishop Franz Wilhelm, Count of Wartenberg then imposed the Counter-Reformation onto the city with many Lutheran burgher families being exiled. While under Swedish occupation Osnabrücks's Catholics were not expelled, but the city severely suffered from Swedish war contributions. Therefore, Osnabrück hoped for a great relief becoming neutralised and demilitarised.

Both cities strove for more autonomy, aspiring to become Free Imperial Cities, so they welcomed the neutrality imposed by the peace negotiations, and the prohibition of all political influence by the warring parties including their overlords, the prince-bishops.

Since Lutheran Sweden preferred Osnabrück as a conference venue, its peace negotiations with the Empire, including the allies of both sides, took place in Osnabrück. The Empire and its opponent France, including the allies of each, as well as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and its opponent Spain (and their respective allies) negotiated in Münster.[8]

Delegations

The peace negotiations had no exact beginning and ending, because the participating total of 109 delegations never met in a plenary session, but dropped in between 1643 and 1646 and left between 1647 and 1649. Between January 1646 and July 1647 probably the largest number of diplomats were present. Delegations had been sent by 16 European states, sixty-six Imperial States, representing the interests of a total of 140 involved Imperial States, and 27 interest groups, representing the interests of a variety of a total of 38 groups.[9]

Results

Internal political boundaries

A simplified map of Europe after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Historical map
Holy Roman Empire in 1648.

The power taken by Ferdinand III in contravention of the Holy Roman Empire's constitution was stripped and returned to the rulers of the Imperial States. This rectification allowed the rulers of the Imperial States to independently decide their religious worship. Protestants and Catholics were redefined as equal before the law, and Calvinism was given legal recognition.[11][12] Independence of the Dutch Republic also provided a safe country for European Jews.[13]

The Holy See was very displeased at the settlement, with Pope Innocent X in Zelo Domus Dei reportedly calling it "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time".[14]

Tenets

The main tenets of the Peace of Westphalia were:

There were also territorial adjustments:

Legacy

The treaty did not entirely end conflicts arising out of the Thirty Years' War. Fighting continued between France and Spain until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. Nevertheless, it did settle many outstanding European issues of the time. Some of the principles developed at Westphalia, especially those relating to respecting the boundaries of sovereign states and non-interference in their domestic affairs, became central to the world order that developed over the following centuries, and remain in effect today. In several parts of the world, however, sovereign states emerged from what was once imperial territory only after the post-World War II period of decolonization.[6] More significantly, one of major principles—the balance of power—was undermined in the Twentieth century. Referring to the Soviet Union, Adolf Hitler said: Without Wehrmacht, a “wave would have swept over Europe that would have taken no care of the ridiculous British idea of the balance of power in Europe in all its banality and stupid tradition—once and for all.”[21] During World War II, the multipolar balance became bipolar, between the Axis and the Allies, followed by the United States and NATO nations against the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations during the Cold War. After the fall of the Soviet Union, power was seen as unipolar with the United States in absolute control,[22][23][24] though nuclear proliferation and the rise of Japan, the European Union, the Middle East, China, and a resurgent Russia have begun to recreate a multipolar political environment.[25][26] Instead of a traditional balance of power, inter-state aggression may now be checked by the preponderance of power,[27] a sharp contrast to the Westphalian principle.

See also

References

  1. "Original text in Dutch National Archives". beeldbank.nationaalarchief.nl.
  2. "Digital German text Treaty of Münster". lwl.org.
  3. "Digital German text Treaty of Osnabrück". lwl.org.
  4. "Principles of the State System". Faculty.unlv.edu. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  5. "Information from city of Münster". Muenster.de. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  6. 1 2 Henry Kissinger (2014). "Introduction and Chpt 1". World Order: Reflections on the Character of Nations and the Course of History. Allen Lane. ISBN 0241004268.
  7. Croxton, Derek (2013). Westphalia: The Last Christian Peace. Palgrave.
  8. Konrad Repgen, 'Negotiating the Peace of Westphalia: A Survey with an Examination of the Major Problems', In: 1648: War and Peace in Europe: 3 vols. (Catalogue of the 26th exhibition of the Council of Europe, on the Peace of Westphalia), Klaus Bußmann and Heinz Schilling (eds.) on behalf of the Veranstaltungsgesellschaft 350 Jahre Westfälischer Friede, Münster and Osnabrück: no publ., 1998, 'Essay Volume 1: Politics, Religion, Law and Society', pp. 355–372, here pp. 355 seq.
  9. Konrad Repgen, 'Negotiating the Peace of Westphalia: A Survey with an Examination of the Major Problems', In: 1648: War and Peace in Europe: 3 vols. (Catalogue of the 26th exhibition of the Council of Europe, on the Peace of Westphalia), Klaus Bußmann and Heinz Schilling (eds.) on behalf of the Veranstaltungsgesellschaft 350 Jahre Westfälischer Friede, Münster and Osnabrück: no publ., 1998, 'Essay Volume 1: Politics, Religion, Law and Society', pp. 355–372, here p. 356.
  10. Sonnino, Paul (30 June 2009). Mazarin's Quest: The Congress of Westphalia and the Coming of the Fronde. Harvard University Press.
  11. 1 2 Treaty of Münster 1648
  12. 1 2 Barro, R. J. and McCleary, R. M. "Which Countries have State Religions?" (PDF). University of Chicago. p. 5. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
  13. "This day, Mary 15, in Jewish history". Cleveland Jewish News.
  14. Larry Jay Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, Philip J. Costopoulo (2005). World religions and democracy.
  15. Section 28
  16. Böhme, Klaus-R (2001). "Die sicherheitspolitische Lage Schwedens nach dem Westfälischen Frieden". In Hacker, Hans-Joachim. Der Westfälische Frieden von 1648: Wende in der Geschichte des Ostseeraums (in German). Kovač. p. 35. ISBN 3-8300-0500-8.
  17. Böhme (2001), p. 36.
  18. Böhme (2001), p. 37.
  19. 1 2 3 Böhme (2001), p. 38.
  20. Gross, Leo (1948). "The Peace of Westphalia, 1648–1948". American Journal of International Law 42 (1): 20–41 [p. 25]. doi:10.2307/2193560.
  21. Hitler, Adolf (2004). Domarus, Max, ed. Hitler; Speeches and Proclamations (PDF) 3. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. p. 2536. ISBN 0-86516-228X.
  22. Krauthammer, Charles (1990). "The Unipolar Moment". Foreign Affairs 70/1.
  23. Wohlforth, William (1999). "The Stability of Unipolar World". International Security 24/1.
  24. Lake, David A. (2007). "Escape from the State-of-Nature: Authority and Hierarchy in World Politics". International Security 32/1.
  25. National Intelligence Council. 2025 Global Trends (PDF).
  26. Yueh, Linda. "America's place in a multi-polar world". BBC.
  27. Leffler, Melvyn P. (1992). A Preponderance of Power. Stanford University Press.

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