The Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648.
The term refers mainly to treaties concluded at Münster and Osnabrück that ended the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire. The agreements also ended the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch Republic.
The settlements confirmed important territorial and religious arrangements, including recognition of the independence of the Dutch Republic and Switzerland. They also reinforced the legal standing of several Christian confessions within the empire and transferred territory among European powers.
Textbooks often present Westphalia as the birth of the modern sovereign-state system. Historians debate that simplified interpretation because ideas about sovereignty developed gradually and did not suddenly appear in 1648. Even so, the treaties remain a major milestone in European diplomatic history.