Interests at the Peace Congress of Westphalia (1643-49)

At the peace congress in Münster and Osnabrück an astonishing number of diplomats gathered, representing an even larger number of sovereigns, princes, nations and territories. Accordingly different and diverging interests such as dynastic, territorial, denominational, military, financial and individual interests could clash; not only between enemies but also within a delegation. For example, one of the main problems of the imperial ambassador Maximilian of Trauttmansdorff was to balance the partly contradictory denominational, territorial and financial interests of the Emperor and reconcile them with the imperial allies before he could even negotiate with the enemy. In addition the diplomats in their different roles as clients, patrons, noblemen/citizens paterfamilias also pursued their own specific interests. In many cases they complained about financial or health problems. This project uses an actor-centered approach and therefore wants to examine the interaction of these diverging interests by focusing on three examples: the imperial ambassador Maximilian Count Trauttmansdorff, the ambassador of Brandenburg Johann Count Sayn-Wittgenstein and the envoy of the Swiss cantons Johann Rudolf Wettstein. Which interests did they represent? How did they communicate them? In which sense did they use the term ,interest? Was it neutral in its meaning or did it have negative connotations? What did they do in cases of conflict of interests? In which way were the micro- and the macro-levels of politics interlinked, i. e. how did the individual interests of the diplomats influence their pursuing the interests of their patrons and vice versa? Starting with an analysis indebted to Begriffsgeschichte the communication over interests will be examined even when they are not explicitly referred to as interests. In this way our understanding not only of the peace congress of Westphalia but of early modern diplomacy will be enhanced.

The project Interests in Diplomatic Forms of Communication. The Peace Congress of Westphalia (1643-1649) analyses the Westphalian Peace Congress from the perspective of the diplomatic actors. In Münster and Osnabrück an astonishing number of diplomats gathered, representing an even larger number of sovereigns, princes, nations and territories. Accordingly different and diverging interests such as dynastic, territorial, denominational, military and financial interests could clash; not only be- tween enemies but also within a delegation. For example, one of the main problems of the Imperial ambassador Maximilian of Trauttmansdorff was to balance the partly contradictory denominational, territorial and financial interests of the Emperor and reconcile them with the Imperial allies before he could even negotiate with the enemy. In addition, the diplomats in their different roles as clients, patrons, noblemen/citizens paterfamilias also pursued their own specific interests.The project focuses on the Imperial ambassador Maximilian of Trauttmansdorff and the Saxonian envoy Dr. Johann Leuber. Furthermore, several other envoys representing the Emperor and the Imperial Estates are added to the analysis in order to demonstrate the complexity and diversity of their interests. Besides the interests of their respective masters health issues, questions of finance and honour were especially relevant. Here the person of the envoy becomes visible, while most of the time he gets lost behind the discussions on the content of the negotiations. Moreover, it is apparent that the envoys occasionally did not agree with their masters on the best course of action. Although in the end they had to concede to their masters will, the negotiations on this are very interesting. Additionally, they had to act as brokers for other parties who asked them for support of their interests this is especially true for Trauttmansdorff and Leuber. This means, that the envoys had to balance very different interests that could at times be contradictory to each other.Therefore the complex process of peace-making is analysed from the perspective of the envoys. They were the ones who had to negotiate for almost seven years in Münster and Osnabrück. And of course they shaped the negotiations with their personal interests and their personalities.