Peace of Westphalia

Known also as the treaties of Münster and Osnabrück, The Peace of Westphalia is the series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War and officially recognized the United Provinces and Swiss Confederation. The Spanish treaty which ended the Eighty Years' War was signed on January 30, 1648. The treaty signed October 24, 1648 comprehended the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, the other German princes, France, and Sweden.

Results

The results of the treaty were wide ranging. Among other things, the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, ending the Eighty Years' War, and Sweden gained Pomerania, Wismar, Bremen and Verden. The power of the Holy Roman Emperor was broken, and the rulers of the German states were again able to determine the religion of their lands. The treaty also gave Calvinists legal recognition. Three new great Powers arose from this peace: Sweden, the United Provinces and France. Sweden's time as a Great Power was to be short lived, however.

Related Topics:
Netherlands - Eighty Years' War - Pomerania - Wismar - Bremen and Verden - Holy Roman Emperor - Calvinists - Power - Sweden - United Provinces - France

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The majority of the treaty can be attributed to the work of Cardinal Mazarin who was the de facto leader of France at the time. France came out of the war in a far better position than any other Power and was able to dictate much of the treaty.

Related Topics:
Mazarin - De facto

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Another important result of the treaty was that it laid rest to the idea of the Holy Roman Empire having secular dominion over the entire Christian world. The nation-state would be the highest level of government, subservient to no others.

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Tenets

The major tenets of the Peace of Westphalia were:

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• The Peace of Prague was incorporated into the Peace of Westphalia (which incorporated the Peace of Augsburg, though its landholdings date that was reestablished by the Peace of Prague was again reestablished from 1627 to 1624, which aided the Protestants. The Calvinists were thus recognized internationally, and the Edict of Restitution was again rescinded. The first Diet of Speyer was accepted internationally).
• There were also territorial adjustments:
• France got the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, Verdun, and all of Alsace except Strasbourg and Mulhouse. They also acquired a vote in the Imperial German Diet.
• Sweden got Western Pomerania and the bishoprics of Bremen and Stettin. They also got control of the mouth of the Oder, Elbe, and Weser Rivers. They also acquired a vote in the Imperial German Diet.
• Bavaria acquired a vote in the Imperial Council of Electors (which elected the Holy Roman Emperor).
• Brandenburg (Prussia) got Eastern Pomerania, and the bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, whose first secular governor was the Elector of Brandenburg's representative, Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal.
• Switzerland was recognized as a fully independent nation.
• The Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands (Protestant Netherlands) was recognized as an independent nation (before its rebellion a century earlier, it had been a possession of Spain and thus a property of the Habsburg family).
• The German states (about 360) were given the right to exercise their own foreign policy, but they could not wage war against the Holy Roman Emperor. The Empire as a whole still could wage wars and sign treaties.
• The election of Roman emperor vivente imperatore (election of next emperor before the death of the one who actually rules) was banned.
• The Palatinates (Pfalzgraviates of the Rhein) was divided between the re-established Elector Palatine Charles Louis (son and heir of Frederick V) and Elector-Duke Maximilian of Bavaria (thus it was split between the Protestants and the Catholics). Charles Louis obtained the Lower Palatinate (Rhenish Palatinate) and Maximilian kept the Upper Palatinate.