Part 1) What conditions explain the creation of the Westphalia treaty in 1648?
The Westphalia treaty of 1648 which ended the Thirty Years War, can be described as one of the prominent milestones that shaped the principle of state sovereignty. These treaties, both signed in the western cities of current day Münster and Osnabrück, Germany. This paper will describe the conditions that made it necessary for a co-existing agreement in Europe at the time, which would later become the basis of a state’s self-determination and existence. It will also include the implications that the treaty had upon Europe, and the world today. The many political principles deriving from the Westphalian treaty would become apparent in modern-day society, whether embraced fully or used as a stepping stone to considering other principles, it would influence the way that international law, politics, and diplomacy would be determined. A state is defined as a legal entity with a permanent population, a well-defined territory, and a government capable of exercising sovereignty. The definition becomes important during this time period of the signing of the Peace Treaty, and for the overall international law for years to come.
Gregory Raymond’s 2005 Westphalia excerpt describes the events and characteristics of the 1648 Westphalia Treaty by stating that, “[U]nder the terms of the peace agreements, the power of the Hapsburgs was weakened, with the Holy Roman Empire limited in its sphere of influence to
The massive amounts of reparations had to be payed by the Germans according to the Dawes plan. This plunged Germany into an economic crisis. As a result the German government had lost all it’s power. Thus the vulnerability of the nation will leave Adolf hitler a large place in government to fill in so he can bring Germany back onto it’s feet. Additionally the main cause of the compromise which is considered to be the conflict is that the Treaty was written to begin with. This caused a massive amount of humiliation to the Germans and this will leave them to believe that Hitler will bring germany back onto it’s feet.
European states ended the Thirty Years’ War with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which laid the foundations for a system of independent, competing states. They also mutually recognized their rights to organize their domestic and religious affairs and agreed that political and diplomatic affairs were to be conducted by states acting in their own interests.
What responsibility did each of the “Big Three” have for the failure of the Versailles Treaty to bring peace to Europe? Be sure to discuss what each wanted to accomplish.
Case Study 2: A Review of Comments of the German Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference on the Conditions of Peace (October 1919)
In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic experienced a Golden Age and was able to maintain security, unity, and prosperity in its society and economy. The nation was considered a leading power, especially in trade and ideas, within Europe. However, it was not long before circumstances changed and the state face many problems establishing peace and agreement. By the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries, there had been a significant change in the Dutch Republic’s power, for multiple factors and reasons. From 1650 to 1713, not only external factors such as European intervention and British trading competition, but also internal division damaged the Dutch Republic and challenged its authority as a
To help better one’s opinion, one must first understand the events leading up to the results of the treaties.
Ninety-eight years ago, after the fighting of World War I subsided, the Treaty of Versailles (“the Treaty”) was signed at the Palace of Versailles in France by the Allied powers and Germany. The compromise of the Treaty is that it ended World War I. The conflict of the Treaty is that it fed the German’s hate for the Allied Powers and, in turn, was the cause of World War II. “In their hearts was a stern resolution that the fiasco of November 11, 1918, would not be repeated for all serious people in America, as in all nations, remembered that much hailed Versailles Treaty was sown the very seeds of World War II” (Library Of Congress. Manzanar free press, November 12, 1942. 1942. Newspaper. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025948/1942-11-12/ed-1/. )
How significant was the Treaty of Versailles to Germany? This is the question that has been posed to us for our first analytical history essay. I will go into depth about my opinions on both the long-term and short-term effects of the Treaty of Versailles. I believe that the Treaty had a powerful impact on Germany- it practically ruined their economy, and gave the Germans all the more reason to hate the Allies, eventually contributing to the beginning of World War 2. Although the Allies had a right to demand certain things from Germany (as they were the instigators of the war), they should have been more lenient and taken Germany’s poor economic situation into account. The war was a mistake on the part of the German government, but it was the people who payed the price. I have taken into account Germany’s loss of territory, the war guilt, the economical effects of the Treaty, and the armaments and discussed them in this essay.
Danish, Swedish and French forces intervene in support of the Protestants while the Spanish intervene in support of the Catholics. The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years War in 1648 and recognizes all states within the Holy Roman Empire as individual, and the concept of sovereignty arises. The states no longer have the right to tell each other what they can and cannot do within their own borders. The Holy Roman Empire slowly started to fall apart as a result of the Protestant reformation. Sovereignty is seen today in western civilization, no states or countries have the right to tell one and other what to do which keeps the world on good terms (McKay). From a political stand point European Expansion gained Europe huge amounts of power. Europe was able to start trading with other nations and getting silver and gold. European Expansion allowed for Europe to become wealthy in both goods and land by exploring into the Americas and forming colonies in those new areas.
The purpose of this essay is to inform on the similarities and differences between systemic and domestic causes of war. According to World Politics by Jeffry Frieden, David Lake, and Kenneth Schultz, systemic causes deal with states that are unitary actors and their interactions with one another. It can deal with a state’s position within international organizations and also their relationships with other states. In contract, domestic causes of war pertain specifically to what goes on internally and factors within a state that may lead to war. Wars that occur between two or more states due to systemic and domestic causes are referred to as interstate wars.
The Successes and Failures of the Treaty of Versailles in Addressing the Causes of Conflict and Restoring Peace and Normality
Bismarck was the man who did the most to unify Germany. It was clear that unification was one of his major objective which he announced in his famous ‘Blood and Iron speech’. I was fascinated by how he managed to unify the so many divided states. Thus, my historical investigation examines the question, to what extent was the Franco-Prussian war Bismarck’s final step to unify Germany? To assess whether the Franco-Prussian war was Bismarck’s final step for unifying the loose net of 39 German states or not, the investigation analyses the previous steps made by Bismarck to unify Germany. It investigates the events between 1962, when Bismarck became Minister president of Prussia and 1971, when Germany became officially unified. The events analyzed are the Danish war, The Prussian Austrian war and the Franco Prussian war.
IGOs are voluntary associations of sovereign states established to pursue many objectives for which states want to cooperate through sort of formal structure and to which states are unable to realize by themselves (Miller, 1994). There are hundreds of IGOs in today's world which are significant in their respective fields. They are created by treaties and negotiations which mainly reflect preferences of stronger states. Especially stronger states create IGOs because they need them to protect their interests. By and large, decisions made by IGOs are the product of negotiations among the governmental representatives assigned to them. In general, it is not idealism, but the need of states which tend them to cooperate with other states in the context of IGOs. Therefore, they are part of the Westphalia state system in which IGOs are instruments of nation-states (Miller, 1994: 67). Regarding to the function and the purpose of IGOs, the influence of state as an actor in international relation still remains strong but in a different way, IGOs replace the original ideas of individual states but to identify states which have the same normative behavior and same ambitions to form a cooperate with each other so as to achieve the same goal. Even said so, powerful states are less constrained by the principle of IGOs than those who are relatively weak (Ataman, 2000: 152-167). This suggests that state is the key element in
The significance of the Peace of Westphalia has long been lauded as beginning of international relations as it is recognized today. Many have attributed the popularity of this belief to the article, Peace of Westphalia, 1648-1948 by Leo Gross which was published in 1948. It discusses the merits of the agreement in sparking the establishing the modern state system. A more recent piece, Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth by Andreas Osiander takes an entirely different approach by attempting to debunk what Peace of Westphalia stands for in the current world. Both articles have strongly argued for their respective views on the issue, however it is clear that when it comes to whether or not the two treaties that make up the Peace of Westphalia actually contribute as much as ???? However it is clear that Osiander is more convincing??? While both articles make strong arguments to convince the reader of their respective views, Osiander employs By
In earlier days, agreement was built on a very classic and simple basis: it is concluded at the moment that the acceptance of an offer takes place and that is all. In consequence, equal parties were non-existent and stronger parties had the possibility to impose unfair and domineering conditions upon those who were weak and vulnerable. It is in this context that both legislations and courts agreed that State action was indispensable to ensure fairness among individual parties, in an era where the exercise of law of freedom were extremely restricted.