Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Treaties
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- PART I Peace treaties and international law from Lodi to Versailles (1454–1920)
- PART II Thinking peace: voices from the past
- PART III Thinking peace: towards a better future
- PART IV Making peace: aspects of treaty practice
- 15 The ius foederis re-examined: the Peace of Westphalia and the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire
- 16 The peace treaties of the Ottoman Empire with European Christian powers
- 17 Peace and prosperity: commercial aspects of peacemaking
- 18 The 1871 Peace Treaty between France and Germany and the 1919 Peace Treaty of Versailles
- PART V Conclusion
- Appendix
- Index
15 - The ius foederis re-examined: the Peace of Westphalia and the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Treaties
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- PART I Peace treaties and international law from Lodi to Versailles (1454–1920)
- PART II Thinking peace: voices from the past
- PART III Thinking peace: towards a better future
- PART IV Making peace: aspects of treaty practice
- 15 The ius foederis re-examined: the Peace of Westphalia and the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire
- 16 The peace treaties of the Ottoman Empire with European Christian powers
- 17 Peace and prosperity: commercial aspects of peacemaking
- 18 The 1871 Peace Treaty between France and Germany and the 1919 Peace Treaty of Versailles
- PART V Conclusion
- Appendix
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The Peace of Westphalia occupies a special place among the early modern peace treaties. The agreements signed in Osnabrück and Münster on 24 October 1648 were both international contracts and fundamental laws of the Holy Roman Empire. In fact, it would be difficult to find another legal document in the early modern period in which these two aspects, domestic constitutional settlement and international agreement, are so closely combined. Of course, it is not easy to take a fresh look at this important treaty three years after the prolonged and sometimes perhaps even slightly excessive festivities which marked the 350th anniversary of the Westphalian Peace. One might very well feel that everything that could be said on this subject has indeed been said. I shall therefore try to concentrate on one aspect of the Peace Treaties, which – although frequently discussed – has remained particularly controversial: the ius foederis, the Bündnisrecht der Reichsstände. First, however, we will have to examine the character of the war which preceded the conference in Münster and Osnabrück, as the settlement achieved in 1648 can only be understood in the context of the conflict it sought to end.
The Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years War was ended by a peace conference in which most of the major European powers took part. However, the Thirty Years War had begun – at least to some extent – as an internal conflict in the Holy Roman Empire.
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- Peace Treaties and International Law in European HistoryFrom the Late Middle Ages to World War One, pp. 319 - 337Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004