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: theTreaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück.[2][3] These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, with theHabsburgs (rulers ofAustria andSpain) and their Catholic allies on one side, battling the Protestant powers (Sweden and certain Holy Roman principalities) allied with France (though Catholic, strongly anti-Habsburg under KingLouis XIV).
Several scholars ofinternational relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to modern international relations,[4] collectively known asWestphalian sovereignty. However, some historians have argued against this, suggesting that such views emerged during the nineteenth and twentieth century in relation to concerns about sovereignty during that time.[5]
Europe had been battered by both the Thirty Years' War and the overlappingEighty Years' War (begun c. 1568), exacting a heavy toll in money and lives. The Eighty Years' War was a prolonged struggle for the independence of the Protestant-majorityDutch Republic (the modern Netherlands), supported by Protestant-majorityEngland, against Catholic-dominatedSpain andPortugal. The Thirty Years' War was the most deadly of theEuropean wars of religion, centered on the Holy Roman Empire. The war, which developed into four phases, included a large number of domestic and foreign players, siding either with theCatholic League or theProtestant Union (laterHeilbronn League). ThePeace of Prague (1635) ended most religious aspects of the war, and theFrench–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]
Peace negotiations between France and theHabsburgEmperor began inCologne in 1636. These negotiations were initially blocked byCardinal Richelieu of France, who insisted on the inclusion of all his allies, whether fully sovereign countries or states within theHoly Roman Empire.[7][page needed] InHamburg, 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]
Dutch envoyAdriaan Pauw enters Münster around 1646 for the peace negotiations.
The main peace negotiations took place inWestphalia, in the neighbouring cities ofMünster andOsnabrück. 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 theDutch Republic and Spain who on 30 January 1648 signed apeace treaty ending the Eighty Years' War[9] that was not part of the Peace of Westphalia.[10] Münster had been, since its re-Catholicism in 1535, a strictly mono-denominational community. It housed the Chapter of thePrince-Bishopric of Münster. OnlyRoman Catholic worship was permitted, whileCalvinism andLutheranism were prohibited.[citation needed]
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 theburghers mostly so, but the city also housed the Catholic Chapter of thePrince-Bishopric of Osnabrück and had many other Catholic inhabitants. Osnabrück had been subjugated by troops of theCatholic League from 1628 to 1633 and was then taken by Lutheran Sweden.[11]
Sebastian Dadler undatedmedal (1648),Christina of Sweden, portrait with feathered helmet right. ObverseThe reverse of this medal: Christina of Sweden asMinerva holding an olive branch in her left arm and grasping thetree of knowledge with her right hand.Peace treaty of Osnabrück, October 24, 1648
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, 66Imperial States representing the interests of 140 Imperial States, and 27 interest groups representing 38 groups.[13]
Much of the Peace of Westphalia focused on reorganizing the Holy Roman Empire, the main battleground of the Thirty Years' War.
A common idea is that EmperorFerdinand III was stripped of power, and said power was given to the rulers of theImperial estates.[19] The extent to which Ferdinand's power was diminished is now challenged by modern research, with some saying that Ferdinand's loss of influence was overstated by older literature.[5] The emperor still maintained significant power in theImperial Diet, for example. Central authority was still maintained through institutions like theAulic Council.
Westphalia guaranteed the right to practice any of the recognized denominations:Catholicism,Lutheranism, andCalvinism. The last was finally given legal recognition as an official religion.[20] The independence of the Dutch Republic, which practiced religious tolerance, also provided a safe haven for European Jews.[21]
Contrary to common belief, the Peace of Westphalia did not necessarily reconfirm the status of thePeace of Augsburg (particularly the principle ofcuius regio, eius religio). Rather, it provided a reinterpretation.
What has been established by this treaty [of Westphalia], with the mutual agreement of the parties, concerning certain disputed articles in the Treaty of Augsburg, shall be regarded as a permanently valid interpretation of that treaty. This interpretation must be followed in court and elsewhere until religious matters can, with God’s grace, be resolved. This applies regardless of any objection or protest by anyone, whether clergy or laypeople, within or outside the Empire, at any time. All such objections are declared null and void by the terms of this treaty.[22]
Rather than confirming the Augsburg settlement's policy ofius reformandi (in which subjects were to follow their ruler's religion),[23] Westphalia replaced it with an interpretation that sovereign rulers such as princes could no longer dictate the religion of their subjects.[20] "Whatever sovereignty the electors, princes, and estates of the Holy Roman Empire enjoyed in their territories, the private exercise of religion was no longer subject to this sovereignty but had effectively been removed from the sovereign domain."[22]
TheHoly See was very displeased at the settlement, with PopeInnocent X calling it "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time" in thepapal briefZelo Domus Dei.[24][25]
The Peace of Westphalia also set up new rules for theReichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court), and stipulated that half its judges must be Protestant. Westphalia also called for 50 judges to be appointed, but this number was rarely reached due to financial issues.[20]
Ius reformandi was removed: Subjects were no longer forced to follow the religion of their ruler. Rulers were allowed to choose between Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism.[20][22][26][27]
1 January 1624 was defined as the normative date for determining the official religion of a state (though as stated above, subjects did not need to follow the designated official religion).[20] This law was engrained into Imperial law, meaning individual princes could not abolish it. Ecclesiastical property was to be restored to the condition of 1624.[27]
To escape incorporation into Swedish Bremen-Verden, the city ofBremen had claimedImperial immediacy. The emperor had granted this request and separated the city from the surrounding Bishopric of Bremen. Sweden launched theSwedish-Bremen wars in 1653/54 in a failed attempt to take the city.[31]
The treaty ruled that theDukes of Mecklenburg, owing their re-investiture to the Swedes, cedeWismar and the Mecklenburgian port tolls. While Sweden understood this to include the tolls of all Mecklenburgian ports, the Mecklenburgian dukes as well as the emperor understood this to refer to Wismar only.[32]
The treaties did not entirely end conflicts arising out of the Thirty Years' War. Fighting continued between France and Spain until theTreaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. TheDutch-Portuguese War that had begun during theIberian Union between Spain andPortugal, as part of the Eighty Years' War, went on until 1663. ThePortuguese Restoration War also continued until 1668. Nevertheless, the Peace of Westphalia did settle many outstanding European issues of the time.[citation needed]
Some scholars of international relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to moderninternational relations, including the inviolability of borders and non-interference in thedomestic affairs ofsovereign states. This system became known in the literature asWestphalian sovereignty.[36][page needed] Most modern historians have challenged the association of this system with the Peace of Westphalia, calling it the "Westphalian myth".[37] They have challenged the view that the modern European states system originated with the Westphalian treaties. The treaties do not contain anything in their text about religious freedom, sovereignty, or balance of power that can be construed as international law principles. Constitutional arrangements of theHoly Roman Empire are the only context in which sovereignty and religious equality are mentioned in the text, but they are not new ideas in this context. While the treaties do not contain the basis for the modern laws of nations themselves, they do symbolize the end of a long period ofreligious conflict in Europe.[38]
^Clodfelter, Micheal (2017).Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015. McFarland. p. 40.ISBN978-0-7864-7470-7.
^"APW Einführung".www.pax-westphalica.de.Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved2 November 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.
^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.
^Schröder, Peter (1999). "The Constitution of the Holy Roman Empire after 1648: Samuel Pufendorf's Assessment in His Monzambano".The Historical Journal.42 (4):961–983.ISSN0018-246X.JSTOR3020932.
^abcdeOsiander, Andreas (2001). "Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth".International Organization.55 (2):251–287.ISSN0020-8183.JSTOR3078632.
^Theincipit of this brief, meaning "Zeal of the house of God", quotes fromPsalm 69:9: "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me."
^Diamond, Larry Jay; Plattner, Marc F.; Costopoulo, Philip J. (2005).World religions and democracy. p. 103.
^Mary FulbrookA Concise History of Germany, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 60.
^Böhme, Klaus-R (2001). "Die sicherheitspolitische Lage Schwedens nach dem Westfälischen Frieden". In Hacker, Hans-Joachim (ed.).Der Westfälische Frieden von 1648: Wende in der Geschichte des Ostseeraums (in German). Kovač. p. 35.ISBN3-8300-0500-8.
^Randall Lesaffer (2014). "Peace treaties from Lodi to Westphalia".Peace Treaties and International Law in European History: From the Late Middle Ages to World War One. Cambridge. p. 9.ISBN978-0-511-21603-9.
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.doi:10.1080/07075332.1999.9640869.
Mowat, R. B.History of European Diplomacy, 1451–1789 (1928) pp 104–14onlineArchived 20 December 2020 at theWayback 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.doi:10.1111/j.1468-2478.2011.00667.x. Historiography.
%2c_Christina_of_Sweden%2c_Peace_of_Westphalia._Obverse.jpg)
%2c_Christina_of_Sweden%2c_Peace_of_Westphalia._Reverse.jpg)
