Westphalia: The Last Christian Peace

by Derek Croxton

This sweeping, exhaustively researched history is the first comprehensive account of the Peace of Westphalia in English. Bringing together the latest scholarship with an engaging narrative, it retraces the historical origins of the Peace, exploring its political-intellectual underpinnings and placing it in a broad global and chronological context.

Genres: History, Germany

469 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Tim Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Peace of Westphalia (1648) is often described as pivotal in the emergence of international law and the concept of national sovreignty. In fact, it added very little to diplomatic theory. The main innovation was that it was the first multinational peace conference. It addressed a great many separate issues, eventually solved many of them. It brought peace between Spain and the Dutch Republic, between France and the Empire, and between Sweden and the Empire. It was also a constituent assembly resolving constitutional and religious issues within the Empire. France and Sweden gained territory, but these were very modest gains considering the length of the war. Finally, it required German cities to raise the money needed to pay off and demobilize the Swedish army.

It was an attempt to create a lasting peace, and in spite of its failure, it remains a model for all subsequent peace conferences, culminating in the brilliantly successful Congress of Vienna (1815) and the much maligned Treaty of Versailles (1919)

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great. Don't get me wrong, it is meant more an academic history than historical thriller, but it is very good at what it intends to be.

[Marcos Lázaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book to learn more about the truth behind this peace

[Kb · Rating 4 out of 5]

OH MY GOD THINGS ABOUT THE 30 YEARS WAR IN ENGLISH.