Topics · AD 1648

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

The treaties signed at Münster and Osnabrück on 24 October 1648 ended the Thirty Years’ War. A separate treaty between Spain and the Dutch Republic had been signed at Münster on 30 January that year, ending the Eighty Years’ War.

The October settlements changed territorial rights and the balance of authority within the Holy Roman Empire. France and Sweden received territorial concessions, while Imperial estates secured rights to form alliances subject to treaty conditions. These agreements did not turn every German principality into a modern independent nation-state.

Open the map in Central Europe and compare 1618, 1648 and the following decades. Look for changes around the Rhine and northern Germany. The explorer shows dated border records available in its sources; missing or unchanged outlines do not establish that a treaty had no effect, and territorial outlines alone cannot show diplomatic rights.

Sources

• LWL — Negotiating the Peace of Westphalia
• Yale Avalon Project — Treaty of Westphalia
• Wikidata — Peace of Westphalia
• OpenHistoricalMap

Wikidata: (Q15099)