Peace of Westphalia
1648 European settlement
The Peace of Westphalia refers to two treaties signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War in Europe.
The settlement established principles of state sovereignty and non-interference in domestic affairs that became foundational to modern international relations.
When scholars invoke Westphalia, they usually mean this concept of sovereign nation-states rather than the treaties themselves: The Westphalian order is being challenged by globalization.
- Eighty Years' WarDutch independence conflict against Spain
- religious warArmed conflict over faith
- SpainIberian Peninsula country
- SovereigntySupreme governing authority
- nation stateCulturally homogeneous political entity
France · Sweden · Dutch Republic · balance of power · Calvinism · Austria · religious tolerance · Lutheranism · Münster · Protestant Reformation · princes · Catholicism · Secularization · Protestant · negotiations · territorial · Netherlands · borders
- ReformationMartin Luther, John Calvin, 95 Theses, Protestant Reformation, Luther
- 1600s EuropeLouis XIV, Glorious Revolution, Versailles, William of Orange, absolutism
- Early Modern GermanyHoly Roman Empire, Protestant Reformation, Thirty Years War, Martin Luther, Brandenburg
- Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire, emperors, electors, prince-electors, Charlemagne
- Low Countries HistoryDutch Golden Age, Dutch Republic, William of Orange, Spanish Netherlands, Dutch East India Company
- Peace TreatiesTreaty of Versailles, Treaty of Paris, Versailles Treaty, Treaty of Westphalia, Treaty of Ghent
Peace of Westphaliaunconditional surrender
Yielding without any terms
conquest · Pax Romana · Treaty of Versailles · total war · Norman Conquest
Peace of WestphaliaHoly Roman Empire
Medieval Germanic political entity
papal supremacy · imperial authority · theocracy · Christendom · world government
Peace of WestphaliaThirty Years' War
1618-1648 European religious conflict
declaration of war · casus belli · invasion · World War I · conflagration