Peace of Westphalia

The Peace of Westphalia, known in German as the Westfälischer Friede, refers to two separate peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties brought the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) to a close and restored peace to the Holy Roman Empire, ending a devastating period in European history that resulted in an estimated 4.5 to 8 million deaths. The main parties to the treaties were Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

The negotiations were lengthy and complicated. Talks were held in two cities because each side insisted on meeting in territory it controlled. In total, 109 delegations arrived to represent the warring states, though they were never all present at the same time. Two separate treaties were signed to end the war within the Empire: the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück. These agreements concluded the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, pitting the Habsburgs (rulers of Austria and Spain) and their Catholic allies against the Protestant powers (Sweden and certain Holy Roman principalities) allied with France—a Catholic kingdom that, under King Louis XIV, was strongly anti-Habsburg.

Many scholars of international relations view the Peace of Westphalia as the foundation for principles central to modern international relations, often called Westphalian sovereignty. However, some historians challenge this, arguing that such interpretations emerged only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, shaped by contemporary concerns about sovereignty. Regardless of whether the Peace of Westphalia was a true turning point, narratives about it have deeply influenced international legal and political thought in the centuries that followed.

**Background**

Europe had suffered greatly from both the Thirty Years' War and the overlapping Eighty Years' War (starting around 1568), which drained resources and cost countless lives. The Eighty Years' War was a long struggle for independence by the Protestant-majority Dutch Republic (modern-day Netherlands), backed by Protestant-majority England, against Catholic-dominated Spain and Portugal. The Thirty Years' War was the deadliest of the European wars of religion, centered on the Holy Roman Empire. It unfolded in four phases and involved many domestic and foreign players, who sided either with the Catholic League or the Protestant Union (later the Heilbronn League). The Peace of Prague (1635) ended most of the religious aspects of the conflict, after which the French–Habsburg rivalry took center stage. With between 4.5 million and 8 million dead from the Thirty Years' War alone, and decades of continuous fighting, the need for peace became urgent.

**Locations**

Peace talks between France and the Habsburg Emperor began in Cologne in 1636. These were initially blocked by French Cardinal Richelieu, who demanded that all his allies—whether fully sovereign countries or states within the Holy Roman Empire—be included. In Hamburg, Sweden, France, and the Holy Roman Empire negotiated a preliminary peace in December 1641. They declared that the preparations in Cologne and the Treaty of Hamburg were the groundwork for a comprehensive peace agreement.

The main negotiations took place in Westphalia, in the neighboring cities of Münster and Osnabrück. Both cities were kept neutral and demilitarized for the talks. In Münster, negotiations occurred between the Holy Roman Empire and France, as well as between the Dutch Republic and Spain, who signed a peace treaty on 30 January 1648 ending the Eighty Years' War—though this treaty was not part of the Peace of Westphalia. Münster, which had been re-Catholicized in 1535, was a strictly mono-denominational community. It housed the Chapter of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and only Roman Catholic worship was allowed; Calvinism and Lutheranism were banned. Sweden preferred to negotiate with the Holy Roman Empire in Osnabrück, which was under Protestant control. Osnabrück was a bi-denominational Lutheran and Catholic city, with two Lutheran and two Catholic churches. The city council was exclusively Lutheran, and most burghers were Lutheran, but the city also housed the Catholic Chapter of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück and had many Catholic residents. Osnabrück had been subjugated by troops of the Catholic League from 1628 to 1633 and was later taken by Lutheran Sweden.

**Delegations**

The peace negotiations had no precise start or end, as the 109 delegations never met in a single plenary session. Instead, delegations arrived between 1643 and 1646 and left between 1647 and 1649. The largest number of diplomats were present from January 1646 to July 1647. Delegations came from 16 European states, 66 Imperial States (representing the interests of 140 Imperial States), and 27 interest groups (representing 38 groups).

The French delegation was led by Henri II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville, and included the diplomats Claude d'Avaux and Abel Servien. The Swedish delegation was headed by Count Johan Oxenstierna, assisted by Baron Johan Adler Salvius. The Imperial delegation was led by Count Maximilian von Trautmansdorff, with aides in Münster—Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar and Isaak Volmar—and in Osnabrück—Johann Maximilian von Lamberg and Reichshofrat Johann Krane. Philip IV of Spain was represented by two delegations: the Spanish delegation, headed by Gaspar de Bracamonte y Guzmán, notably including the diplomats and writers Diego de Saavedra Fajardo and Bernardino de Rebolledo; and the County of Burgundy and the Spanish Netherlands, represented by Joseph de Bergaigne (who died before peace was concluded) and Antoine Brun. The papal nuncio in Cologne, Fabio Chigi, and the Venetian envoy, Alvise Contarini, acted as mediators.