The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

The Peace of Westphalia, concluded in 1648 in Münster (Germany), marking the ended the Thirty Years' War. The Thirty Years' War, a series of wars fought by European nations for various reasons, ignited in 1618 over an attempt by the king of Bohemia (the future Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II) to impose Catholicism throughout his domains. Throughout the conflict, the Catholic Hapsburgs fought Protestant princes of Germany who were supported by France, Sweden, and Denmark.

The Swedes, the Danes, the Poles, the Russians, the Dutch and the Swiss were all dragged in or dived in. The war was largely fought on German soil and reduced the country to desolation as hordes of mercenaries, left unpaid by their masters, lived off the land.

On June 1, 1645, France and Sweden brought forward propositions of peace, which were discussed by the estates of the empire from October 1645 to April 1646.

The Peace of Westphalia is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. Diplomatic representatives from 96 different

entities were present at the negotiations which met in two cities within 30 miles of each other.

The Holy Roman Emperor (Ferdinand III), the Spanish Empire, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, the United Provinces (Netherlands), and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire participated in these treaties.

Under the terms of the peace settlement, several countries received territories or were confirmed in their sovereignty over territories. The territorial clauses all favored Sweden, France, and their allies.

As a result of the Treaty of Westphalia, the Netherlands gained independence from Spain. The German principalities secured their autonomy. Sweden gained territory and a payment in cash, Brandenburg and Bavaria made gains too, and France acquired most of Alsace-Lorraine.

The power of the Holy Roman Emperor was broken and the German states were again able to determine the religion of their lands.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

The Congress of Vienna 1814-1815

The Congress of Vienna is the landmark in the history of international negotiation. It did not meet to create peace de novo, but to carry out the terms of a preliminary agreement, which was embodied in no less than seven treaties, between France and its various allied opponent.

At the congress the victorious European powers (Austria, Britain, Prussian and Russia) set about bringing peace and order to the continent by reviving the principle of monarchic legitimacy and taking steps to forestall future French expansion.

The territorial settlement of the Congress of Vienna was composed of three agreements signed between 1814 and 1815.
*Treaty of Paris (30 May 1814)
*Final Act of the Congress of Vienna (9 June 1815)
*Second Treaty of Paris

In common understanding, the Congress of Vienna, the peace conference at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, established the principle of the ‘balance of power’. All agreed that no European state should threaten to dominate the continent as France had done.
The Congress of Vienna 1814-1815