Suchergebnisse

The acceptance of the United Nations Charter by the overwhelming majority of the members of the family of nations brings to mind the first great European or world charter, the Peace of Westphalia. To it is traditionally attributed the importance and dignity of being the first of several attempts to establish something resembling world unity on the basis of states exercising untrammeled sovereignty over certain territories and subordinated to no earthly authority.

The treaties of Münster and Osnabrück gave to Europe a sort of international constitution which remained the basis of its public law down to the French Revolution. But it would be a serious error to assume that the international community of states as revealed to the world by the Peace of Westphalia implied the recognition of the science of international law as understood and practiced by the society of nations at the present time. The science of international law as it exists today is a result of slow historical growth and is the product of two main factors, viz., certain theories or principles on the one hand, and international practice or custom on the other. The relative value and influence of the contributions of each of these factors is so difficult to determine that they have never been thoroughly eifted or separated — a task left for the future historians of international law.

This paper explores how events surrounding the Thirty Year's War affected the political hierarchy within the Holy Roman Empire and her various states, as well as thoughts on collective security, state-sovereignty, and international relations across Europe. This essay will examine the Treaty of Westphalia, and the social and political effects that this extraordinary piece of international legislation had on major European powers. This essay will also analyze the influence the treaty would have over future disputes and conflicts arising in post-Westphalian Europe leading into the 21st Century. ; student peer reviewed journal article ; final article published