Peace of Westphalia represented a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic. It was the end of disgraceful religious wars in Western Europe and a proclamation guarantying by international law the inviolability of the existence of all European states. This international law was violated by the Kingdom of Prussia, when it initiated the international crime of the partitions of Poland (1762-1795).
The Peace of Westphalia treaties involved the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand III, of the House of Habsburg, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of France, the Swedish Empire, the
Dutch Republic, the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and sovereigns of the free imperial cities and can be denoted by two major events.
1. The signing of the Peace of Münster between the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Spain on 30 January 1648, officially ratified in Münster on 15 May 1648.
2. The signing of two complementary treaties on 24 October 1648, namely:
A. The Treaty of Münster (Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriensis, IPM), concerning the Holy Roman Emperor and France and their respective allies.
B. The Treaty of Osnabrück (Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugensis, IPO), concerning the Holy Roman Emperor, the Empire and Sweden and their respective allies
The European wars of religion were a series of wars waged in Europe from ca. 1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in Western and Northern Europe. Although sometimes unconnected, all of these wars were strongly influenced by the religious change of the period, and the bloody conflict and rivalry that it produced. In contradistinction the Union of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1573 passed the Toleration Act of Warsaw, which became a law in Poland, and the Polish Nobles Republic of nearly one million citizens became a “haven for the heretics.” In this spirit Polish diplomacy secured the Postulata Polonica, or concessions in favor of the Protestants in France
In 1648 was the end of the Golden Decade of the Jewish exploitation of the Ukraine based on Arenda-type pre-paid leases. The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack and peasant rebellion in Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 against the merciless abuse of Jewish Arenda-lease holders. The rebellion turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from domination by Poland and soon it was leading to the enslavement of the Ukraine by Russia.
Under the command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky-Abdank a rebellious Polish nobleman, the Zaporozhian Cossacks allied with the Crimean Tatars, and the local peasantry, fought several battles against the armies and territorial national guards of the nobles of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which evolved into Polish Nobles Republic - in Polish Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka or Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita Polska.
The result of the uprising was an eradication of the control of the Polish szlachta composed mainly of “polonized” and converted to Catholicism local boyars and their Jewish intermediaries, the prepaid lease holders named “Arendarze.” It was the end of ecclesiastical jurisdiction for the Latin Rite Catholics (as well as Karaites, and other arendators or (“arendarze”) over the country. The Uprising has taken on a symbolic meaning in the story of Ukraine's relationship with Russia. It resulted in the incorporation of Ukraine into the Tsardom of Muscovy at the Pereieslav Agreement, where the Cossacks swore an oath of allegiance to the tsar. This, according to the poet and artist, Taras Shevchenko, brought about his Ukrainian people's 'enslavement' under Russia and loss of autonomy, which they had within Polish Nobles Repblic.
H. Kozłowski described well the beginning if these events in the 2003 atlas with maps in a school atlas by A. Andersen. Actually the first phase consisted of the preparation of a Christian Crusade against the “Hornet’s Nest“ of the Crimean Tartars, Turkish vassals who turned southern Ukraine into “Wild Fields” raided for plunder and for capturing slaves for sale in the Ottoman Empire in which the banks were operated by Jewish bankers often in contact with Jews who controlled banks in Poland.
In the second part of the 1640s King Wladislaw IV begun preparations for the great war with Turks, in which Zaporozye Cossacks were to be the King s important allies who prepared some 9000 small landing graft for the invasion of the Ottoman capital of Istambul. However, the political machines of the owners of the Ukrainin latifundia possibly in collusion with Jewish bankers were able in the Seym of 1647 to block the King’s plans of the Christian Crusade and ordered to disperse the army mobilized by the Commonwealth and the Dniepr Cossacks who realized that their hopes failed. Cossack mutiny gained a new-distinguished leader – Bohdan Abdank Chmielnicki a rebellious citizen of the Commonwealth of the Polish Nobles Republic hich was established in 1569 at the passing of the Union Act of Lublin.
Chmielnicki signed an alliance with khan of Crimean Tatars Islam Girej. Cossacks-Tatars joint forces ravaged the crown army in 2 battles: at Yellow Waters (16 V 1648) and at Korsuñ (26 V 1648). Two crown hetmans were enslaved and uprising spread across Ukraine. Situation got complicated with the death of the King Wladyslaw IV (20 V 1648). The only organized resistance was of the small private army of prince Jeremi Wisniowiecki – a formidable Ukrainian magnate. Both sides acted with unprecedented cruelty. Commonwealth have organized a new army and charged commands with 3 inefficient leaders (with the exception of Jeremi Wisniowiecki) and when 2 armies got into fighting at Pilawce (23 IX 1648) new soldiers and Polish nobility insurrection dispersed upon threat of Tatar’s attack. That helped Chmielnicki to proceed towards Lwow and Zamosc (both cities held out siege during which Chmielnicki offered to lift the siege in exchange of delivering local Jews to the Cossaks - Poles refused to comply and saved local Jew from a massacre.)
The uprising spread over to Wolyn and Bialorus. Military activity was suspended for the time of new royal election, Chmielnicki supported candidacy of King Wladislaw’s younger brother - Jan Kazimierz - who presented conciliatory position with regards to uprising. After unsuccessful negotiations with newly elected King Jan Kazimierz, Chmielnicki beleaguered Zbaraz, which was strongly defended by small army of Jeremi Wisniowiecki. King Jan Kazimierz have arrived with relief, and after stalemate battle at Zborów (15-16 VIII 1649) (Tatars have retreat after receiving bribery from the Poles), so called “Zborow agreement” was signed in which Cossacks gained many concessions. .
The uprising erupted again in 1651. On 28-30 VI 1652 Chmielnicki was defeated at Beresteczko (130 000 Cossack and Tatars against polish forces of about 70 000 soldiers and nobles in national guard units.) Chmielnicki started looking for assistance from Russia. On 18 I 1654 he broke off relations with Poland and was driven to accept the superiority of Russia at Perejeslaw, after a letter from the Tzar stating that the Tzar will not sign any agreement under oath. However, the Tzar granted Cossacks the temporary right to elect hetman; he accepted 60.000 registers and guaranteed property of all noble estates. Hitherto existing Cossacks-Polish conflict evolved into the war between Poland and Russia. (1654-1657).
According to professor Izrael Shahak Jewish bankers in Poland were panic stricken by the prospect of eviction of Jews from Poland as it happened earlier to the Jews in Spain, Jewish bankers in Poland after the Chmielnicki uprising started to move their capital to Berlin. There half a century later, in 1701, was created the Kingdom of Prussia, which initiated in 1772 the Partitions of Poland in violation of the terms of the Peace of Westphalia.
Eventually, for the first time in history, Berlin became the capital of a united Germany, which during the XX century started two World Wars with the hope to colonize Russia and create German Empire from the Rhine River to the Pacific Ocean as a basis of German domination of the world. In his megalomania Hitler called Russia “German Africa” and Russians “German Negroes.” German defeat in both World Wars ended the political drama, which started in 1648 in Westphalia and in the Ukraine.
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