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What was the Peace of Westphalia?

The Peace of Westphalia brought an end to the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) and established Protestantism as an official religion. Protestantism was a movement against the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, a Christian religion based in Rome, Italy, and headed by a pope. Prior to that time, Catholicism was the only religion in Europe. The Thirty Years' War was a series of conflicts, rather than one long campaign. It grew out of hostilities between Catholics and Protestants, but eventually involved political issues. The war had four stages, which involved many European powers: the Bohemian, the Danish, the Swedish, and the Swedish-French. The European countries eventually sought a solution to the various conflicts at a peace conference in Westphalia, Germany. The negotiations lasted four years while the fighting continued until 1648, when the Peace of Westphalia was finally signed. Under...

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1. Thirty Years' War