Peace of Westphalia signed 378 years ago

The Peace of Westphalia, signed in Münster and Osnabrück in 1648, officially ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War. These treaties established a new model for international relations based on state sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations.

The agreements addressed religious freedom in Germany, the political organization of the Holy Roman Empire, and European peace. Key outcomes included the recognition of the independence of the Netherlands, Sweden gaining control of Western Pomerania, and France acquiring territories north of the Pyrenees from Spain. The treaties involved 109 delegations, including representatives of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and King Philip IV of Spain.