Maurice of Nassau, sovereign Prince of Orange from 1618 and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from earliest 1585 until his death in 1625, had asserted (with the assent of the other provinces) a federal sovereignty that superseded the provincial one.

He had also purged the Holland regents that supported the provincial-sovereignty pretensions of Landsadvocaat Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and so had managed to acquire a political dominance in the government of the Republic that assumed almost monarchical proportions.

His brother, and successor as stadtholder, Frederick Henry, had held on to this ascendancy, due to a deft policy of divide-and conquer, playing off the regent factions against each other.

On the death, in March 1647, of Frederick Henry, sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel, his son William II had been appointed stadtholder in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelderland (the office will not become hereditary until 1747).

William II does not have the stature of his father, also because Frederick Henry had not thought highly of his capabilities and had refused to allow him to lead troops in the field during the war against Spain that was then in its last stages.

William is opposed to the peace with Spain, but he is largely ignored by the politicians in the States General, especially the representatives of the city of Amsterdam.

Lutheran Sweden's peace negotiations with the Empire, including the allies of both sides, takes place in its preferred conference venue, Osnabrück.

the Thirty Years War, after five years of negotiations between Spain and the United Provinces, and between France, Sweden, the Holy Roman Emperor and the German princes, ends with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.

The treaties of Osnabruck and Münster result from the first modern diplomatic congress, thereby initiating a new political order in central Europe, based upon the concept of a sovereign state governed by a sovereign.

In the event, the treaties’ regulations becomes integral to the constitutional law of the Holy Roman Empire.

The power taken by Ferdinand III in contravention of the Holy Roman Empire's constitution is stripped and returned to the rulers of the Imperial States.

This rectification allows the rulers of the Imperial States to independently decide their religious worship.

Protestants and Catholics are redefined as equal before the law, and Calvinism is given legal recognition.

Also, each of the four hundred or so princes of the Holy Roman Empire are given equal authority to that of the Emperor, decentralizing the government and effectively ending the power of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Holy See is very displeased at the settlement, with Pope Innocent X reportedly calling it "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time".

Barriers to trade and commerce erected during the war are abolished, and "a degree" of free navigation is guaranteed on the Rhine.

It is agreed that the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück will alternate between Protestant and Catholic holders, with the Protestant bishops chosen from cadets of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

There are also territorial adjustments: ...