Hamburg Preliminary Peace

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The Hamburg Preliminary Peace , also called Hamburg Preliminaries , of 1641 laid the foundations for the general peace congress that began in Münster and Osnabrück in 1644 to end the Thirty Years' War . At the same time the term truce ( Préliminaires de Paix ) here used for the first time.

prehistory

For a long time, especially after 1635, there have been attempts to end the war through political and diplomatic channels.

The politico-military situation was for Emperor Ferdinand III. difficult around 1640. The Reichstag of 1640/41 did not bring the political success that it had hoped for. In 1641 Sweden and France also extended their alliance indefinitely. Attempts to conclude a separate peace with one of the two kingdoms were initially illusory.

Against this background, negotiations between envoys from France, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire began in Hamburg in October 1641 . The mediators were representatives of Denmark.

Hamburg offered itself as a venue for negotiations because the Hanseatic city pursued a policy of neutrality.

Results

There was a willingness to find a solution on all sides. In December 1641 the preliminary peace was concluded. He remained vague about the post-war order or similar questions. It was important that he created the basis for a general peace congress. As sought by Richelieu , it should be a universal peace congress between the empire and the other powers.

The separation of the negotiations at two locations, in Münster and in Osnabrück, was also determined. In Munster, Spain should make peace with France. In addition, the Eighty Years War with the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was to be ended there. In Osnabrück it should be about the peace agreement of the emperor with Sweden and France.

Both cities should form neutral zones for the duration of the negotiations. The same was true for the connecting roads. The congress was to begin as early as 1642.

Among other things, the question of which territories from the empire should be represented remained controversial. Despite all willingness to compromise, Ferdinand III. keep their numbers as low as possible. He wanted to prevent the future constitution of the empire from being discussed in addition to the peace negotiations.

consequences

Ultimately, the decision on this and other questions depended on future political and military developments. For tactical reasons, both the emperor and France relied on delaying the start of the actual peace congress, in the hope of improving their own position in advance. This peace congress therefore met only since 1644.

literature

  • Christoph Kampmann: Europe and the Reich in the Thirty Years War. History of a European conflict. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-018550-0 , pp. 135-137.