NAME ______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Geography and History Activity
netw rks
Conflict and Absolutism in Europe
Political Boundaries: Lines on a Map
The Peace of Westphalia was the name given to a number of treaties that ended the Thirty
Years War. For four years, the countries involved debated and argued, even as some of their
military forces continued to fight. Much of the debate had to do with religious boundaries, as
the Holy Roman Empire and Protestant countries tried to define their territories. The other
major focus of debate concerned political boundaries. Political boundaries are borders
between countries that are defined by people on a map to mark state territory.
Although the borders between countries are often defined by natural landforms, such as
rivers or mountains, very often borders on a map are decided through political struggle.
Political geography deals in part with how relationships between countries, territories, and
governments literally shape the world. Political geography is also a study of the spatial
outcome of political processes and the ways in which political processes are affected by
spatial structure. The clearest changes that came out of the Peace of Westphalia were the
borders of most of Europe’s countries.
During the Thirty Years’ War, lands had been won and lost by a number of countries, so
much of the dispute was over who was to retain what land. Sweden and France, for
example, wanted to go back to borders that had existed in 1618. But other countries had
gained lands during the war and wanted to keep them.
Europe after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648
20°W
0°
10°E
SCOTLAND
SWEDEN
ENGLAND
London
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN
a
North
Sea
IRELAND
DENMARK
UNITED
PROVINCES
Berlin
Paris
STATES
Prague
Augsburg
FR ANCE
°N
Madrid
S PAIN
Corsica
Sardinia
30 °
KEY
Boundary of the
Holy Roman Empire
lt
PRUSSIA
POL AND
Warsaw
RUSSIA
IA
N
ST
PAPAL
STATES
Rome
AT
E
E
W
S
OTTOMAN
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T HE
T WO
S I C I L I ES
N
Mediterranean Sea
0
50°E
N
S
PO
RT
U
GA
L
I TA L
40°E
Vienna
SWITZERLAND
Lisbon
Ba
SPANISH
GERMAN
NETHERLANDS
Nantes
30°E
Se
°N
40
20°E
ic
50
10°W
400 miles
400 km
0
Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection
Caption: Europe After the Peace of Westphalia
Black Sea
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
In the end, Sweden, France, and their allies got most of what they wanted. One map shows
the political boundaries agreed to by the Peace of Westphalia, and the other map shows
national borders today. Four years of political struggle resulted in a Europe that looked very
much like the one we know today.
NAME ______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Geography and History Activity Cont.
netw rks
Conflict and Absolutism in Europe
Modern Europe
0°
AR
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ICELAND
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CC
20°E
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IRC
National capital
Major city
LE
20°W
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AY
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AUSTRIA
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ds
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e a r ic
ASIA
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0
400 miles
AFRIC A
400 km
0
Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection
MALTA
Mediterranean Sea
Crete
Rhodes
CYPRUS
Caption: Modern Europe
Directions: Answer the questions below in the space provided.
Understanding Concepts
1.
Describing How did the Thirty Years’ War and resulting peace talks
affect the political geography of Europe?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2.
Explaining Explain the concept of political geography. How can you
see signs of political geography on a map?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
RT
40°
NAME ______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Geography and History Activity Cont.
netw rks
Conflict and Absolutism in Europe
3.
Making Inferences What boundaries on the two maps are not likely
to change due to political influence? Why?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Applying Concepts
4.
Graphic Organizer Complete the chain-of-events graphic organizer
below to show how the Thirty Years War’ and the Peace of Westphalia
affected countries’ boundaries in 1648 and today.
5.
➮
➮
➮
➮
Current
European
borders
are similar
to those
from
1648.
Drawing Conclusions If the Holy Roman Empire had won the Thirty
Years War, what might Europe look like today?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
6.
Making Connections Compare two political maps of the United
States, one from before the Louisiana Purchase and one from today.
How have the boundaries of the country changed? How are these
changes examples of political geography?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Countries
disputed
over land
won and
lost during
the Thirty
Years’ War.