Do Now – World History
• In your own words, what is self-determination?
• (Feel free to look up, and rephrase a definition)
THE PEACE OF
WESTPHALIA
Essential Questions
• What is sovereignty?
• What political changes occurred as a result of the
Peace of Westphalia?
Effects of the Treaty
• Ended the war
Effects of the Treaty
• Started to break apart the Holy Roman Empire
Effects of the Treaty
• Established a balance of power in Europe
Effects of the Treaty
• Created the new nations of the Netherlands and
Switzerland
Effects of the Treaty
• Allowed Catholics to practice their religion freely, even
if they were in a Protestant-controlled region
Effects of the Treaty
• Created the idea of sovereignty
What is “Sovereignty”?
• the ability of an individual nation, or group of people
that share a common culture, to have self-rule
• aka: “self-determination”
• How can a ruler have self-determination?
4 Characteristics of Sovereign Nations
 A group of people with a common culture
Characteristics of Sovereign Nations
 Recognizes the difference between “foreign” and
“domestic”
Characteristics of Sovereign Nations
 Has complete control over its own territory
Characteristics of Sovereign Nations
 Is also called a “nation-state”
The Pope Challenges the Idea…
 Pope Innocent X (“the Tenth”) declared the Peace of
Westphalia null and void
 Nation-states ignored the Pope
 What social change did the reactions exemplify?
Revisiting The Essentials…
• What political changes occurred as a result of the
Peace of Westphalia?