The Peace treaty of Westphalia was signed on the 24th of October marking the end of the thirty year war, The war was one of the most destructive in Europe's history. The war was more of a series connected wars rather then just one big war, it started when Austrian Hasburgs tried to impose Roman Catholicism on their Protestant subjects in Bohemia, from their things escalated and soon Catholics and Protstants were at war throughout most of Europe.
The war was largely fought on German soil and reduced the country to desolation. Pillage and famine stalked the German countryside as armies plundered through towns and villages. The awful lives that many Germans lived made many of them question whether their was a God at all: "no one could imagine that anything like this could ever happen to us, Many people say their is no God..." read an entry in a family bible. Starvation reached such a high that in Rhineland their were reports of cannibalism. Even when the war ended many smallfolk said their livelihood was gone.
The peace conference to end the war started in December 1644 in Munster and Osnabruck, 194 states took part in the peace committees. For the first six months of the meetings the leaders spent most of their time arguing about mundane things like who was going to sit where, but things begun to settle down and eventually, after four years, the peace treaty was signed.
Many states made gains from the treaty, the Swiss gained independence from Austria and the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, Sweden and gained territory and payment in cash, and many other States also benefited from the treaty.
The war had ended in Protestant victory and changed Europe forever, It sore an end to many years of Roman Catholicism and culture and a beginning to the state system in Europe, it also made many European countries allies and paved the way to future institutions like the European Union.
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