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Peace of Westphalia

Definition

The Peace of Westphalia refers to a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic.

Analogy

Think of it like a group project where everyone has been arguing for what feels like forever. Finally, you all sit down, hash out your differences, assign roles, and agree on how to move forward. That's essentially what happened with the Peace of Westphalia - it was Europe's way of saying "let's stop fighting and figure this out."

Related terms

Thirty Years' War: A war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648; one of the longest, most destructive conflicts in European history.

Treaty: A formally concluded agreement between countries or parties.

Sovereignty: The authority of a state to govern itself or another state; a key principle established by the Peace of Westphalia.