The Thirty Year’s War in Europe lasted from 1618 until 1648, and consisted of four phases: The Bohemian phase from 1618 to 1625, the Danish phase 1625 to 1629, the Swedish phase 1630 to 1635, and the French phase 1635 to 1648. As the war went on Europe, so tired of the devastation, began crying for peace. Though the Spanish and French would fight another eleven years, until 1659, the Thirty Year’s War officially ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 which changed not only borders on maps, it was also the death blow to the Counter Reformation, ushering in a new era of secularization. Though peace talks began in 1644 in Munster and Osnabruck, the actual signing of the Treaty of Westphalia occurred in 1648. The council was the largest assembly of Europeans since the council at Constance in 1414. The accomplishments of the treaty were that it divided the Holy Roman Empire in such a way that it existed in name only after negotiations. Borderlands of the Empire fell away as the Dutch and Swiss ceased to belong to it and the United Provinces and Swiss Cantons were recognized as independent. Other outlying areas were also acquired by the Empire’s French and Swedish neighbors. Another change was that both Catholics and Protestants were allowed to coexist within the new “Holy Roman Empire,” creating a polyglot community of independent, sovereign states.
An overarching theme also emerged with the treaty, and it was a theme of balancing power. Surrounding countries knew that in order to maintain a balance of power, the Holy Roman Empire would have to be kept in a state of division. This was because if the 300 principalities ever unified as one country, that country would be unstoppable and could take over the world. In order to do this, the treaty stated that each province would have the right to conduct diplomacy and make treaties with foreign powers. However, the Treaty of Westphalia further stipulated that, “no laws could be made by the Holy Roman Empire, no taxes could be raised, no soldiers could be recruited, no war could be declared or peace terms ratified without the consent of the 300-odd princes, ecclesiastics, and free cities in the Reichstag assembled” (Palmer, Colton 140). Such an agreement would be impossible, and thus, the principle of self-government was ironically used to destroy the Empire as an effective political entity. While the rest of Europe rose under royal absolutism, Germany sank into fragmentation and localism.
The diplomats who assembled at Westphalia were of many nationalities and religions. They included “electors,” the most powerful provincial leaders of the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Swedish, Dutch, Venetians, diplomats from other Italian states, and the Pope. No one at this council pretended that Europe had any real political or religious unity; rather they embraced their disunion as a sign of sovereignty, creating the modern system of sovereign states. This council also demonstrated the wave of secularization that had washed over Europe. In line with the Politique philosophy, people realized that order in the state was more important than religious difference. Thus, even though the Pope disagreed with the treaty and refused to sign it, no one truly cared. With the Treaty of Westphalia, the terms of the Peace of Augsburg were renewed, allowing each state to decide its religion, and Calvinism, Lutheranism and Catholicism all become legal faiths. This was considered the “Checkmate” to the Counter Reformation as Catholics had not succeeded in their mission to convert the entire world to the Catholic faith.
As a result of the Treaty of Westphalia, the German States, ravaged by war and politically cut to pieces, ceased for a long while to play a significant role in European affairs. However, this allowed the political and cultural growth of western societies such as England, and Denmark, but especially France which gained great power under the rule of the “Sun King” Louis XIV. With the closing of the Thirty Year’s War, the Wars of Religion also concluded and by the end of the 17th century, the division between Protestant and Catholic had become stabilized. Future wars were less about religion and more driven by politics, desire for power, and economics because secularization put the wellbeing of the state over religious allegiance. However, it is clear that the suppression of the German states by the rest of Europe would build up the resentment that would allow the despot Hitler to take power in the 20th century, all as a result of the supposed “Peace “of Westphalia three centuries earlier.