Treaties; Diplomacy; International Organizations - AP European History

The Peace of Westphalia (1648) is one of the most important treaties in European history. It brought to an end the brutal fighting of the Thirty Years’ War that had devastated the population of German-speaking central Europe and pitted all the major continental powers of Europe against one another. It included formal religious tolerance for all three major branches of Protestantism, including Calvinism for the first time. It provided territorial gains for the Kingdoms of France and Sweden, who both emerged as dominant European powers during this time period. Finally, it provided de jure independence for the territory of Switzerland that had previously only enjoyed de facto independence.

The Peace of Utrecht ended the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714). The War of Spanish Succession broke out when King Charles II, the last Hapsburg monarch of Spain, died childless and without a clear legitimate heir to the throne. It was Charles’ wish that the throne, and the entire Spanish colonial inheritance, be left to Philip, Duke of Anjou, who just so happened to be the grandson of the French King Louis XIV. During this time period, the Kingdom of France was growing dramatically in power and influence, and the idea of a Kingdom of France and Spain, with all their overseas holdings, all under the dominion of King Louis XIV, troubled the other ruling princes of Europe, who were worried that France would become a hegemonic power and upset the balance of power in Europe. The Peace of Utrecht allowed Philip to inherit the Spanish throne on the condition that he renounce any future claims to being King of France.

The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was issued by the Hapsburg ruler Charles VI to ensure that in the event of there being no legitimate male heir, his throne and the various inheritances of the Hapsburgs would pass to his eldest daughter Maria Theresa. Prior to the Pragmatic Sanction, ancient German law prevented a daughter from inheriting lands and titles from her father. Charles VI did indeed die without leaving a legitimate male hair and Maria Theresa did succeed him as ruler of Austria and the diverse Hapsburg lands, but her accession nonetheless resulted in the outbreak of conflict in 1740 with the War of Austrian Succession.

The term “Asiento” is a Spanish term that in British history is used to refer to an arrangement made in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht that Britain was to be given a forty-year contract to provide slaves to the Spanish colonies of the New World. The “Asiento” was an extremely lucrative contract because it gave the British a near monopoly on the valuable sale of goods and slaves to Spanish colonists.

Both Russia and Prussia had designs on Polish territory at the Congress of Vienna. Russia, and Alexander I in particular, was determined to incorporate the whole of Polish territory into the Russian Empire. Fearing Russian hegemony in Europe, the other major European powers, except for Prussia, conspired against the Tsar, and in the end, he accepted the city of Warsaw as an independent state to be concurrently ruled by the Tsar of Russia. Prussia was granted extensive territory in Saxony, as well as the Grand Duchy of Poznan.

The War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War both took place during the eighteenth century, whereas the Congress of Vienna took place in 1815, at the beginning of the nineteenth century; therefore, neither of these events contributed to the decline of the “Concert of Europe” in the time period described. The “Concert of Europe” refers to the balance of power implemented in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars designed to preserve peace and the status quo in Europe. It was negatively impacted by the Revolutions of 1848, which encouraged the rise of liberalism and democracy in Europe. It was also negatively impacted by the unifications of Germany and Italy, as two additional major powers emerged on the European scene concurrent with the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After World War Two, the governments of France and West Germany wanted to integrate their economies so heavily that a future war would not only be impractical, but an economic impossibility. To this end, they integrated their coal and steel production communities under one umbrella organization. The original treaty was signed in 1951 by six countries: West Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It can be understood as the first step in the transnationalism that later led to the creation of the European Union.

The Berlin Conference was held in 1884 and 1885. It was a formal meeting of the major European powers to regulate the wave of African colonialism that marked the era of New Imperialism. It coincided with the emergence of Germany as an imperial power with designs on control over significant portions of the African continent. Among many other things, it granted the territory of the Congo Free State to the personal control of the Belgian King Leopold II.

The Treaty of Versailles was passed in 1919 and formally dissolved the formerly massive Empire of Austria-Hungary (one of the central powers, and losers, of World War One). The territory of Austria-Hungary was divided into smaller independent nations, including Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, formally ended the hostilities of World War One. The victorious nations of France, Britain, the United States, Italy, and Japan imposed harsh terms on the defeated Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was formally dissolved, and Germany was forced to make excessive reparation payments to the Allied powers. One of the clauses of the treaty was that the territory of Alsace-Lorraine, occupied by German forces, should be returned to French control.

The Edict of Nantes sought to end the religious wars by separating religion from public life. The reasoning behind the Edict was that if protestants and Catholics were both allowed the same universal rights regardless of religion, a secular society could be built in the aftermath of the protracted, bloody religious conflict.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in 1928 by most of the major powers in the world. It formally renounced war as a means of settling international disputes. Obviously, given that the Second World War broke out just a decade later, it was not effective; however, the principal it established was influential in the formation of the United Nations following the end of World War Two.

The Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992 and formally created the European Union. It led to the widespread adoption of the euro as the single currency of most of the members of the European Union. It also codified laws that all members of the European Union are obligated to abide by.

The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923 in Switzerland, ended the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the World War I Allies. The Turks ceded much of the Ottoman Empire's territory in exchange for the Allies recognition of Turkey as a sovereign republic.

The Congress of Vienna involved the shifting of Russian and Prussian borders, the confiscation of French territory gained after 1789, a guarantee of neutrality for Switzerland, and the general balance of power in Europe. King Charles X of France was not overthrown until the July Revolution of 1830.

Germany lost Silesia, its colonies, its legal right to a substantial military, and was forced to sign the War Guilt clause of the Treaty of Versailles, which resulted in the discrediting of the German political left. While no Allied garrisons were established, France and Belgium would later occupy the Ruhr valley in 1923 to extract reparations.

Austria regained the Tyrol, Salzburg, the Illyrian Provinces and Lombardy-Venetia, among other territories. Prussia gained Westphalia, Danzig, and much of Saxony, while dividing the Duchy of Warsaw with Russia, which also was allowed to keep Finland. Britain was confirmed in control of the Cape Colony. Each of these countries was a major power during the Napoleonic Wars and a victor in the War of the Seventh Coalition which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Belgium, however, was retained in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and did not gain its independence until 1830.

The Peace of Westphalia concluded the Thirty Years War, ending conflict among most of the major European states as well as many kingdoms of the Hapsburg Empire.

The union of Lublin unified the two nations of Poland and Lithuania into one nation under the Jageillonian Dynasty