Peace of Westphalia
Treaties of Osnabrück and Münster | |
---|---|
Type | Peace treaty
|
Drafted | 1646–1648 |
Signed | 24 October 1648 |
Location | Osnabrück and Münster, Westphalia, Holy Roman Empire |
Parties | 109 |
Languages | Latin |
The Peace of Westphalia (German: Westfälischer Friede, pronounced [vɛstˈfɛːlɪʃɐ ˈfʁiːdə] ⓘ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed approximately eight million people. Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, participated in the treaties.[1]
The negotiation process was lengthy and complex. Talks took place in two cities, because each side wanted to meet on territory under its own control. A total of 109 delegations arrived to represent the belligerent states, but not all delegations were present at the same time. Two treaties were signed to end the war in the Empire: the
Several scholars of
Background
Europe had been battered by both the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War, exacting a heavy toll in money and lives. The Eighty Years' War was a prolonged struggle for the independence of the Protestant-majority Dutch Republic (the modern Netherlands), supported by Protestant-majority England, against Catholic-dominated Spain and Portugal. The Thirty Years' War was the most deadly of the European wars of religion, centred on the Holy Roman Empire. The war, which developed into four phases, included a large number of domestic and foreign players, siding either with the Catholic League or the Protestant Union (later Heilbronn League). The Peace of Prague (1635) ended most religious aspects of the war, and the French–Habsburg rivalry took over prominence. With between 4.5 million and 8 million dead in the Thirty Years' War alone, and decades of constant warfare, the need for peace became increasingly clear.[6]
Locations
Peace negotiations between France and the Habsburg Emperor began in Cologne in 1636. These negotiations were initially blocked by Cardinal Richelieu of France, who insisted on the inclusion of all his allies, whether fully sovereign countries or states within the Holy Roman Empire.[7][page needed] In Hamburg, Sweden, France, and the Holy Roman Empire negotiated a preliminary peace in December 1641.[8] They declared that the preparations of Cologne and the Treaty of Hamburg were preliminaries of an overall peace agreement.[citation needed]
The main peace negotiations took place in Westphalia, in the neighbouring cities of Münster and Osnabrück. Both cities were maintained as neutral and demilitarized zones for the negotiations.[8]
In Münster, negotiations took place between the Holy Roman Empire and France, as well as between the
Sweden preferred to negotiate with the Holy Roman Empire in Osnabrück, which was controlled by Protestant forces. Osnabrück was a bi-denominational Lutheran and Catholic city, with two Lutheran churches and two Catholic churches. The city council was exclusively Lutheran, and the
Delegations
The peace negotiations had no exact beginning or end, because the 109 delegations never met in a plenary session. Instead, various delegations arrived between 1643 and 1646 and left between 1647 and 1649. The largest number of diplomats were present between January 1646 and July 1647.[12]
Delegations had been sent by 16 European states, 66 Imperial States representing the interests of 140 Imperial States, and 27 interest groups representing 38 groups.[13]
- The French delegation was headed by Claude d'Avaux and Abel Servien.
- The Swedish delegation was headed by Count Johan Oxenstierna and was assisted by Baron Johan Adler Salvius.
- The Imperial delegation was headed by Count Maximilian von Trautmansdorff. His aides were:
- In Münster, Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamarand Isaak Volmar.
- In Osnabrück, ReichshofratJohann Krane.
- In Münster,
- Philip IV of Spain was represented by two delegations:
- The Spanish delegation was headed by Gaspar de Bracamonte y Guzmán, and notably included the diplomats and writers Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, and Bernardino de Rebolledo.
- The Franche-Comté and the Spanish Netherlands were represented by Joseph de Bergaigne (who died before peace was concluded) and Antoine Brun.
- The Spanish delegation was headed by
- The , acted as mediators.
- Various Imperial States of the Holy Roman Empire also sent delegations, among these Johann Ernst Pistoris represented the Electorate of Saxony, Johann VIII. zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and Georg Christoph von Haslang the Electorate of Bavaria. Important protestant envoys were Wolfgang Conrad von Thumbshirn for Saxe-Altenburg and Jakob Lampadius for Brunswick-Lüneburg. The catholic estates were divided between those willing to compromise like Mainz represented by Hugo Eberhard Kratz von Scharfenstein, and catholic hardliner like Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg for the Electorate of Cologne.
- The Dutch Republic sent a delegation of six, including two delegates from the province of Holland, including Adriaan Pauw, and Willem Ripperda from the province of Overijssel;[14][page needed] two provinces were absent.
- The Swiss Confederacy was represented by Johann Rudolf Wettstein.
Treaties
Two separate treaties constituted the peace settlement:
- The Treaty of Münster (Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriensis, IPM),[15][16] between the Holy Roman Emperor and France, along with their respective allies
- The Treaty of Osnabrück (Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugensis, IPO),[17][18] between the Holy Roman Emperor and Sweden, along with their respective allies
Results
Internal political boundaries
The power asserted by
The
Tenets
The main tenets of the Peace of Westphalia were:
- All parties would recognise the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, in which each prince had the right to determine the religion of his own state (the principle of cuius regio, eius religio). However, the ius reformandi was removed: Subjects were no longer forced to follow the conversion of their ruler. Rulers were allowed to choose between Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism.[19][24]
- 1 January 1624 was defined as the normative date for determining the dominant religion of a state. All ecclesiastical property was to be restored to the condition of 1624. Christians living in principalities where their denomination was not the established church were guaranteed the right to practice their faith in private, as well as in public during allotted hours.[24]
- France and Sweden were recognised as guarantors of the imperial constitution with a right to intercede.[25]
Territorial adjustments
- France retained the bishoprics of .
- Sweden received an Kreistage).[27]However, the wording of the treaties was ambiguous:
- Bavaria retained the Palatinate's vote in the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which it was granted by the imperial ban on the Elector Palatine Frederick V in 1623. The Prince Palatine, Frederick's son, was given a new, eighth electoral vote.[30]
- The Palatinate was divided between the re-established Lower Palatinate, along the Rhine, while Maximilian kept the Upper Palatinate, to the north of Bavaria.[citation needed]
- Minden.
- The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück would alternate between Catholic and Lutheran bishops, with the Protestant bishops chosen from the cadets of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
- The Swiss Confederacy attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire, although it had been de facto independent since the Treaty of Basel (1499).
- Barriers to trade and commerce erected during the war were abolished, and "a degree" of free navigation was guaranteed on the Rhine.[31]
Legacy
The treaties did not entirely end conflicts arising out of the Thirty Years' War. Fighting continued between France and Spain until the
Westphalian sovereignty
Some scholars of international relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to modern
See also
- Eighty Years' War
- Freedom of religion
- History of Sweden, 1648–1700
- List of treaties
- Peace of Augsburg
- Peace of Münster
- Thirty Years' War
- Westphalian sovereignty
- Magna Carta
References
- ISBN 978-0-7864-7470-7.
- ^ "APW Einführung". www.pax-westphalica.de. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ "Peace of Westphalia | Definition, Map, Results, & Significance". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Patton, Steven (2019). "The Peace of Westphalia and it Affects on International Relations, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy". The Histories. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-0300145373.
- ISBN 978-1-137-33332-2. Archivedfrom the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7139-9592-3.
- from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ 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. 355–72, here pp. 355 seq.
- ^ Schiller, Frederick. "The Thirty Years War, Complete".
- ^ Cobban, Helena (8 May 2021). "1648: Peace of Westphalia sets inter-state rules for >370 years". Just World News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 978-0-674-04386-2. Archivedfrom the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ "Digital modern German text Treaty of Münster". lwl.org. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ Westfälischer Friede – Vertrag von Münster – Original German text Treaty of Münster digitised on German Wikisource
- ^ "Digital modern German text Treaty of Osnabrück". lwl.org. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ Westfälischer Friede – Vertrag von Osnabrück – Original German text Treaty of Osnabrück digitised on German Wikisource
- ^ a b Treaty of Münster 1648
- ^ Barro, R. J. & McCleary, R. M. "Which Countries have State Religions?" (PDF). University of Chicago. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
- ^ "This day, Mary 15, in Jewish history". Cleveland Jewish News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ^ The incipit of this brief, meaning "Zeal of the house of God", quotes from Psalm 69:9: "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me."
- ^ Larry Jay Diamond; Marc F. Plattner; Philip J. Costopoulo (2005). World religions and democracy. p. 103.
- ^ a b "The Peace of Westphalia" (PDF). University of Oregon. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ Mary Fulbrook A Concise History of Germany, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 60.
- ISBN 3-8300-0500-8.
- ^ Böhme (2001), p. 36.
- ^ Böhme (2001), p. 37.
- ^ a b c Böhme (2001), p. 38.
- ISBN 978-0-19-873101-6, archivedfrom the original on 16 January 2023, retrieved 28 April 2022
- S2CID 246010450.
- ISBN 978-0-241-00426-5.
- S2CID 145407931.
- ISBN 978-0-511-21603-9.
Further reading
- Croxton, Derek, and Anuschka Tischer. The Peace of Westphalia: A Historical Dictionary (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002).
- Croxton, Derek (1999). "The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and the Origins of Sovereignty". International History Review. 21 (3): 569–591. .
- Mowat, R. B. History of European Diplomacy, 1451–1789 (1928) pp 104–14 online Archived 20 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- Schmidt, Sebastian (2011). "To Order the Minds of Scholars: The Discourse of the Peace of Westphalia in International Relations Literature1". International Studies Quarterly. 55 (3): 601–623. . Historiography.
External links
- Texts of the Westphalian Treaties (in German) (full text in Latin, with translations to German, English, French, Italian, Swedish, and Spanish)
- Peace Treaty of Münster (full text, English translation) – Peace Treaty of Münster (full text, German translation)
- Peace Treaty of Osnabrück (full text, German translation)