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Peace of Westphalia:
France’s Defense of
The Sovereign Nation
by Pierre Beaudry
Ending the Europe-wide devastation of the Thirty Years War in the middle of the
17th Century, the Peace of Westphalia was a crucial turn at the midpoint of a 300-
year-long struggle for national, as opposed to imperial, sovereignty. This struggle
began in the 15th Century with the sublime benevolence of Jeanne d’Arc, and the
establishment of the first nation-state, France under Louis XI. It was renewed three
centuries later by the French-American alliance to recognize the unique Constitu-
tional Republic of the United States of America, under Benjamin Franklin and
George Washington. Midway in this long effort, the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia
was, fundamentally, a new diplomatic policy of France, initiated by the great
Cardinal Mazarin, and developed into a consistent system of strategic defense of
the sovereignty of nation-states. It lasted for a further 145 years until the regicide
of Louis XVI on Jan. 21, 1793.
The pact of agreement established between the United States and France during
the American War of Independence, from 1778 to 1783, was entirely in continuity
with the principle of an active defense of the tradition of the Peace of Westphalia,
and was part of a larger strategic defense alliance that also included the Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria.
Today’s military “Utopians,” including the imperial perpetual-war faction in
the present government of George W. Bush, have declared that “the era of Westpha-
lia has ended” with the “war on terror” and the branding of certain nations as “rogue
states.” Against this folly, it is imperative that the strategic principle of Cardinal
Mazarin’s understanding of peace be identified, circulated, and made use of in the
specific case of the current disastrous situation in the Near East. It should serve as
a stepping stone for future agreements among sovereign nation-states.
© 2002 EIR News Service Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission strictly prohibited.
Ratification of the Treaty
of Westphalia in Münster
in 1648. Ending the
absolute devastation of
the Thirty Years War of
religions, it was above all
the work of Cardinal
Giulio Mazarini—
Mazarin of France. It
inaugurated the
diplomatic “Principle of
the Advantage of the
other” state, which,
paradoxically, became the
basis of national
sovereignty, including that
of the United States of
America. The era of
nation-states is known as
the “Westphalian era.”
nation-state of France under Louis XI, and discover how the tors invented a third way, which was to take over another
Imperial House of Habsburg and the Venetians were planning country by a predatory central banking mechanism that con-
to destroy the very idea of a sovereign nation-state, that Nico- trolled that country’s debt, or controlled its people by corrupt-
laus of Cusa had developed with his Concordantia Catholica ing them with financial speculation.
during the Golden Renaissance. In the case of the new nation of France, the Emperor of
On Jan. 5, 1477, a crucial battle took place near Nancy, Austria, Maximilian I, could not afford the second option, so
in Lorraine, where the main ally of King Louis XI, Duke René he chose to make use of the first. Immediately after the death
of Anjou, killed the Duke of Burgundy, Charles le Téméraire of the Duke Charles of Burgundy in 1477, Maximilian I mar-
(“the Rash”). This victory gave Louis XI the Kingdom of ried the Duke’s daughter Marie, Duchess of Burgundy, and
France. On that day, France became the first nation-state of almost the entire territorial inheritance passed automatically
Europe, and became known as the “Commonwealth” of Louis into his hands. The King of France, Louis XI, retained only
XI. From that moment the new nation-state, based on the the Franche-Comté (the Free County of Burgundy), Picardy,
principle of the common good of all of the people, had to and Artois, while the Austrian inheritance included the territo-
struggle against powerful enemies, both from inside and out- rial domain of the Low Countries, known today as Belgium.
side, in order to maintain its unity of purpose and its territorial A few years later, at the Treaty of Senlis of 1493, the Franche-
integrity. On the one hand, the nation had to institute the Comté and the Artois were ceded back to Maximilian I by
means of preventing foolish French Kings from making terri- the son of Louis XI, Charles VIII (to be returned as parts of
torial claims outside of France; on the other, those same means sovereign France two centuries later; the Artois returned to
had to serve to keep in check foreign interests, especially the France in 1659, and the Franche-Comté was won back mili-
Habsburg Holy Roman Empire, and prevent outside forces tarily at the Treaty of Nijmegen, in 1678). As a result of this,
from making territorial claims inside of France. the Austrian Empire carved a huge portion out of the French
In feudal Europe, there were three common ways by territory, and held it as a bargaining chip for the next 200
which a Prince could steal territory from his neighbors, and years.
get away with it. Two of them were systematically used by These Imperial claims were added to the territories of
the Habsburgs to build up their Holy Roman Empire. One Alsace and Lorraine (birthplace of Jeanne d’Arc) that the
was to claim a right of succession by a marriage alliance; the Austrian House of Habsburg had already conquered.
other was to grab the territory by an outright military invasion. On the other side, after the death of Louis XI, two French
The Venetians and their Lombard banking allies and competi- Kings, in succession, Charles VIII (1491-98), Louis XII