Westphalian system

During the century following the Peace of Westphalia, the doctrine of state interest became a key principle of European diplomacy. It recognized the principle of independence and sovereignty. This meant that each party to the agreement undertook to respect the territorial rights of the other parties and not to interfere in their internal affairs. With the Peace of Westphalia, Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists were given equal rights. This was, of course, a blow to the Pope, who could not come to terms with this new reality. The Thirty Years' War was the last major religious war in Europe. Later, of course, the wars did not stop, but they already had a political or economic character. Thanks to the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia, states became the only legitimate political units. Another innovation was that Latin, the universal language of religion and diplomacy, was replaced by national languages. If until 1648 In Europe, the monarchs were at war, then after peace, the states began to war in the name of the monarchs. And the end of the "religious wars" was outlined. In general, it can be said that with the Peace of Westphalia an international system was created, the principles of which became global. And here, after the Westphalian reconciliation, France became the most powerful state on the continent and claimed dominance in Europe. France's victories also predetermined its role in diplomacy. It was during this period that French became the official language of diplomacy and international treaties. Due to its power, France fulfilled the claim of "natural borders" by annexing Alsace and Lorraine, which became the subject of a struggle between Germany and France in the following centuries.

At the same time, Sweden sought dominance in the Baltic Sea. In the 17th century, Sweden was the most powerful of the Scandinavian states, whose dream was to conquer the right bank of the Baltic Sea. With the Treaty of Westphalia, Sweden became one of the key players in European politics and got to the point where the mouths of the Eastern European rivers flowing into the Baltic and North Seas, through which the cargoes of bread from Eastern Europe went to Holland and England, ended up in its hands. And so, the great French colonial state was created in the 17th century, and the bourgeois revolution took place in England (1640-1660). A struggle for supremacy in the sea began between England and Holland. that dispute was settled in favor of England. In the 17th century, England had only one rival, France. What caused England to become a powerful state? it had a convenient geographical location. being located on islands, it was protected from attack by any European state. England was the only European state whose national interests did not require expansionism in Europe, but the maintenance of the balance of power. The goal of his policy was to find a state in Europe that would protect the interests of England against the main enemy, France of the 17th century. The mentioned contradictions were best manifested in the three biggest pan-European conflicts.

1. Thirty Years' War (1618-1648),

2. War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714),

3. Seven Years' War (1756-1763).

In the ongoing struggle between France and England, France remained the strongest state on the continent, but being unnecessarily involved in wars, especially the Seven Years' War, lost its maritime colonies, Canada and Louisiana. It should be noted that this greatly weakened France. But there was another circumstance. In France at that time, Louis XV ruled, whose policy should be referred to his "secret diplomacy". He did not trust the officials around him and created a secret cabinet apart from his ministers. Often they pursued policies at the behest of the king that conflicted with those pursued by official ambassadors. And that France suffered doubly by these acts troubled Louis XV very little. And in this struggle, at the end of the 18th century, England became not only the first maritime and colonial state in Europe, but also strove to achieve global commercial supremacy. It should be noted that in this period, the young Russian Empire, which began to gain strength in the first half of the 18th century, appeared as a participant in international relations in the east of Europe.

The significance of the Peace of Westphalia was that it finally established Germany's internal structure and reinforced its political fragmentation, effectively destroying the empire. German princes got the right to conduct independent foreign policy and sign treaties with foreign countries. Germany was finally divided after the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia. The Empire became a purely geographical concept, and Austria, Bavaria, Prussia (Brandenburg), Saxony and other small states were established as political units on its territory. In that chaotic situation, two states were stronger: Austria and Prussia. There was a long struggle between them to unify Germany, which was later succeeded by Prussia. For more than a century, the Westphalian system managed to maintain the balance of power between the great powers. But the Great French Revolution ended that balance. The point is that France, involved in the struggle for colonies and world domination against England, gradually lost its former power. As a result of all this, dissatisfaction with the domestic and foreign policy of the monarch increased in France. First of all, it was about the bourgeoisie, which was gaining strength and trying to concentrate power in its hands to satisfy its own demands, which are growing day by day. In 1789 On July 14, the French Revolution began with the capture of the Bastille, which brought representatives of the bourgeoisie to power. Shortly after coming to power, the bourgeoisie undertook wars of conquest that contradicted the ideals of "universal peace and freedom" proclaimed by the revolution. The wars waged by the bourgeoisie on the way to realizing its interests gradually undermined the balance of power that was the basis of the Westphalian system and forced the great powers to unite their efforts against France. In history, the fall of the Westphalian system is mainly associated with the French Revolution, which was already followed by the Viennese system.

Meeting place:

The reconciliation talks were held in the historic Westphalian area, in the Catholic Church of Münster and the Protestant Church of Osnabrück. The purpose was to discuss the question of religious equality between the emperor of the Roman Empire and Sweden under peaceful conditions.

Negotiations between France and the Habsburgs began in Cologne in 1636, but were stopped by Cardinal Richelieu. In Hamburg and Lübeck, Sweden and the Emperor held peace talks, but Sweden breaks them off and signs the Hamburg Agreement with France. Meanwhile, the Roman Empire and Sweden announce negotiations at Cologne, and the Treaty of Hamburg becomes the introductory part of a general settlement agreement to be concluded between the two neighboring cities of Mündter and Osnabrück, which became neutral and demilitarized during the negotiations. Münster has been a strictly Catholic city since 1535.

Peace between France and Sweden

According to the Treaty of Westphalia, the Holy Roman Empire, in addition to paying a war fine of 5 million thalers to Sweden, gave the island of Rügen, all of Western Pomerania and part of Eastern Pomerania with the city of Stettin, the city of Wismar, and the archbishopric of Bremen and the bishopric of Verdun, which were turned into secular authorities. Thus, not only the Baltic, but also the most important ports of the North Sea passed to Sweden. France finally annexed the Lorraine bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun and all of Alsace (excluding Strasbourg). The victorious powers, France and Sweden, were declared the main guarantors of the implementation of the Treaty of Westphalia. The allied German authorities of the victorious powers, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Bavaria received small territorial compensations at the expense of the secularized bishoprics and monasteries. Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate and the right to the Electorate. Switzerland and the Republic of the United States (Netherlands) were recognized independently and left the empire. The princes of Germany received complete independence both in the field of domestic and foreign policy (they could not conclude foreign alliances against the emperor and the empire). The Treaty of Westphalia strengthened and strengthened the political division of Germany. In terms of religion, the Peace of Westphalia equalized the rights of Calvinists with the rights of Catholics and Lutherans, legalized the secularization of church lands, etc. The Peace of Westphalia, consolidating the victory over the anti-Habsburg group, had great international significance. The attempt to create a world "Christian" empire under the leadership of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs and the plans to suppress the reform movements in Western Europe, as well as to subjugate the bourgeois Dutch republic, failed. In Western Europe, the long-term dominance of France was established.

Delegations

135 diplomats representing the interests of various countries, including France, Sweden, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Papal Government gathered at the Congress of Munster and Osnabrück.