Treaty of Westphalia

Audience

The audience of this treaty were the signatories themselves. The Westphalian delegates comprised a veritable who's who of European statesmen, future heads of state, and a future pope. This, in fact, may be the reason the treaty endured and also represented a fundamental shift in modern diplomatic statecraft. For the signatories, a major consideration was the sheer expense of the conflict itself. None of the major combatant states—the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, or Sweden—had profited economically from the war. Thus, the peace would open important opportunities for commerce between at least some of the former enemies and enable the United Provinces and France to concentrate on overseas trade. The best example was the explosive growth in the second half of the century of the United Provinces into the Dutch Empire. Within a generation, however, the treaty's designs would become a source of contention. By 1672, for example, the French-Dutch War had broken out, even drawing England into the conflict. The dividend of peace was profit, and profit, like religion, was a strong motive for conflict.