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How did the Peace of Westphalia recognize the independence of the Netherlands and Switzerland?
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Plato (center left) and Aristotle, detail from School of Athens, fresco by Raphael, 1508–11; in the Stanza della Segnatura, the Vatican. Plato is shown pointing to the heavens and the realm of forms, Aristotle to the earth and the realm of things.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) formally recognized the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Swiss Confederation as independent republics.1
While these two states had effectively functioned as independent entities for many decades prior to the settlement, the treaties provided official recognition of this status. For Switzerland specifically, this was achieved when the burgomaster of Basel, Johann Rudolf Wettstein, successfully obtained the confederation's formal exemption from the Holy Roman Empire as part of the peace negotiations. This recognition solidified the sovereignty of these republics within the emerging European state system.12