Treaty of Westphalia: End of the Thirty Years War

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Peace treaties

Dates

Date of occurrence 1648-10-24

Places

France (Location)
Germany (Location)
Netherlands (Involved)
Spain (Involved)
Sweden (Involved)

The consequence of the thirty years of warfare was the ruination of Germany and major shifts in the balance of power in Europe. France gained Alsace-Lorraine and emerged very much the major power in western Europe, at the expense of Spain, which was also forced to recognise the United Provinces of the Netherlands as an independent state. Sweden gained control of the Baltic. Individual states within the Holy Roman Empire achieved full sovereignty, weakening the power of the Catholic church and the Pope. The terms of the Peace of Westphalia were as follows: (1) Sweden obtained Hither Pomerania, part of Farther Pomerania, Wismar, and gained access to mouths of Rivers Elbe, Weser and Oder as well as an indemnity of six million rix dollars, a…

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223 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Treaty of Westphalia: End of the Thirty Years War". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 January 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4169, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Treaty of Westphalia: End of the Thirty Years War

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