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The '''Treaty of Westphalia''' was the treaty between [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Ferdinand III]] and King [[Louis XIV]] of [[France]] that ended the [[Thirty Years War]] in 1648. It established the modern concept of state [[sovereignty]] by drastically limiting the power of the Holy Roman Emperor, who had previously been said to be ruler of all Europe.

The '''Treaty of Westphalia''' was the treaty between [[Holy Roman Emperor]] Ferdinand III and King [[Louis XIV]] of [[France]] that ended the [[Thirty Years War]] in 1648. It established the modern concept of state [[sovereignty]] by drastically limiting the power of the Holy Roman Emperor, who had previously been said to be ruler of all Europe.

==Contents==

==Contents==

===Effects of the War===

===Effects of the War===

Property was to be restored insofar as was possible, including all lands, without respect to religion.  Even the descendants of the "Winter King", [[Frederick V]] [[Holy Roman Empire#Political|Elector]] Palatine, were to be restored to his domains and his electoral title was to be returned. (Bavaria, which had been awarded the electorate during the war, would retain a new eighth electorate as long as its line lasted.  As the Bavarian line actually outlasted the Empire, this permanently increased the Imperial electors to eight.)

Property was to be restored insofar as was possible, including all lands, without respect to religion.  Even the descendants of the "Winter King", Frederick V [[Holy Roman Empire#Political|Elector]] Palatine, were to be restored to his domains and his electoral title was to be returned. (Bavaria, which had been awarded the electorate during the war, would retain a new eighth electorate as long as its line lasted.  As the Bavarian line actually outlasted the Empire, this permanently increased the Imperial electors to eight.)

===Imperial Powers===

===Imperial Powers===

The Treaty of Westphalia ended the [[medieval]] political theories which made the Emperor sovereign over all Europe, replacing them with the modern concept of [[state sovereignty]].  The Emperor had to defer to the Imperial Diet for anything dealing with wars, whereas each individual state had total liberty to make alliances and wars whenever it pleased.<ref>Article 65</ref>  Outside the Empire, Switzerland was declared totally independent,<ref>Article 63</ref> and the King of France was implicitly declared equally sovereign to the Emperor,<ref>Article 86</ref> and he was awarded many lands along the Rhine.

The Treaty of Westphalia ended the [[medieval]] political theories which made the Emperor sovereign over all Europe, replacing them with the modern concept of [[sovereignty|state sovereignty]].  The Emperor had to defer to the Imperial Diet for anything dealing with wars, whereas each individual state had total liberty to make alliances and wars whenever it pleased.<ref>Article 65</ref>  Outside the Empire, Switzerland was declared totally independent,<ref>Article 63</ref> and the King of France was implicitly declared equally sovereign to the Emperor,<ref>Article 86</ref> and he was awarded many lands along the Rhine.

==Views of the Treaty==

==Views of the Treaty==