DEUTSCHE POST on 1998 issued a commemorative stamp marking the 350th anniversary of the Westphalia Peace Treaty. The image used for this stamp is from an original woodcut printing, and it bears the names and faces of the signatories of this treaty.
The Peace of Westphalia (Westfälischer Friede) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed approximately eight million people. The Holy Roman Emperor (Ferdinand III of Habsburg), the Spanish Empire, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, the United Provinces (Netherlands), and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire participated in these treaties.
The four main points of the Peace of Westphalia included:
- National self-determination;
- Precedent for ending wars through diplomatic congresses;
- Peaceful coexistence among sovereign states as the norm;
- Maintained by a balance of power among sovereign states and acceptance of principle of non- interference in the internal affairs of other sovereign states.
As a result of the Treaty of Westphalia, the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, Sweden gained control of the Baltic and France was acknowledged as the preeminent Western power. The power of the Holy Roman Emperor was broken and the German states were again able to determine the religion of their lands.
Equally, perhaps more, important the Westphalian system remains the model for international politics around the world and the concept of state sovereignty, solidified by the peace, is still the basis for modem international treaties and conventions.
Source: Wikipedia
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