The Two Westphalias - A History of the Westphalia Peace Treaties and their Manipulation

Abstract

The year 1648 is one that most students and scholars of international relations will know by heart. Seen as the birth of the concept of state sovereignty, the Peace of Westphalia is commonly believed to be one of the most pivotal moments in the history of international relations and the year zero of such academic field. This, however, is historically inaccurate and numerous studies have proven that the notion of Westphalia as the birth of "the normative structure […] of the modern world order " is just a myth. The aim of this research is that of continuing the work of those academics who have criticised the blind acceptance of Westphalia as the starting point of the modern international society by offering a slightly different analysis of the events and of their manipulation. Rather than trying to find answers to the daunting questions that the removal of Westphalia as the starting point of international relations poses (such as "which date or event can then be seen as the beginning of the modern international society?"), this paper will (first) analyse the historical background, content and language of the Westphalian treaties in order to prove that these agreements and their consequences cannot be considered as a turning point of international relations and (second) trace how their misinterpretation has come be accepted as true in the last 370 years. With the aim of outlining the origins of the Westphalian myth, I will (try to) follow a red thread that links the first mentions of the treaties to the latest studies on them so as to show how one of the most powerful myths of international relations was turned into an irrefutable truth that is nowadays strongly upheld by most states around the world.