The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War.
The Peace of Westphalia is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed between 4.5 and 8 million people.
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, participated in the treaties.
Watch: The Peace of Westphalia: How a 1648 Treaty Created the Modern State
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Sources and further reading: Wikipedia — Peace of Westphalia, Thirty Years' War, Eighty Years' War (CC BY-SA). Images: Wikimedia Commons.
