More than three hundred and sixty years ago in the whole of Europe, tired of the long, bloody confrontation between the countries, an event occurred that not only extinguished the last sparks of war, but also determined in many respects the future of the European continent. It's about the Westphalian world. The agreement was named as it was concluded in two cities of Germany - Osnabrueck and Munster - in 1648. Both belonged to the Westphalian region. The format of such a multilateral treaty was discussed seven years ago, in 1641, in the city of Hamburg. Starting this year, negotiations were held during which the war did not stop. It ended only when the Westphalian world was accepted by all parties. Negotiations were conducted between the imperial ambassadors and the French - in Münster, and the Swedish ambassadors and imperial officials - in the city of Osnabruck.
The Peace of Westphalia was the end of the Thirty Years War, which is notable for the fact that almost all European countries, including Russia, first participated in it. The exception was Switzerland. It began as a confrontation between representatives of the two main European religions at that time - Catholicism supported by Rome and "heretical" Protestantism - and ended as resistance to the rule of the Habsburg dynasty.
The Westphalian world was notable for the fact that its adoption required the convening of virtually the first pan-European congress. On it, the Protestants received what they had dreamed of before - equal rights with Catholics, which became possible thanks to the principle of religious tolerance. As a result of this, the religious, inter-confessional factor has weakened in relations between states. The principle “whose country is faith”, which caused wars between states of different faiths, was abolished. Moreover, the hierarchical system of relations between the European heads was eliminated, according to which the German emperor played the leading role, and the kings obeyed him. This has been replaced by the principle of sovereignty of states. Each of the kings received equal rights with the emperor of Germany. The new European order originates precisely from here. It must be said that the Westphalian world completely resolved precisely those problems and contradictions that caused the long Thirty Years War.
However, this agreement became fatal for the previously powerful German Empire, which stretched in the center of Europe. The emperor of this state association was no longer the number one person in Europe, and the kings of neighboring countries received the right to conduct business and enter into unions without his agreement with a single clause - "not to the detriment of the interests of the emperor." In fact, the power of the latter in all of Europe, except Germany, was abolished. In addition, the country he directly controlled lost a number of territories and was soon fragmented into many lands, since such a division also provided for the Westphalian Peace Treaty. After all, not only kings, but also imperial ranks received the right to rule at their discretion and to enter into alliances among themselves. In fact, the country was fragmented into small independent principalities, the emperor’s power was leveled, and princely arbitrariness was practically legalized. Over time, each of the small principalities had its own currency, which caused problems with trade between these state entities. The unity of Germany was destroyed and restored only at the end of the nineteenth century. The cities of Verdun, Wismar and Bremen, as well as the mouth of the Oder River, the island of Rügen and a large part of Pomerania became the property of the Swedish crown. In addition, Switzerland gained full independence.
The Westphalian peace has become the basis for the vast majority of all subsequent peace treaties, and not only between European countries. It is unlikely that any other agreement would have had such a serious impact on the political system of Europe and many other countries. The Westphalian model of the world can be considered as a system of relations between countries in which independent powers act as objects (and sovereignty is decisive for the state, not the ruler), and as a system of world order in which independent countries are the actors.