Historic Treaties That Shaped the World
From Westphalia to the UN Charter, examining treaties that transformed the international order.
Treaties That Built the International Order
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the Thirty Years' War and is often cited as the origin of the modern state system, establishing the principle of sovereign equality. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) ended World War I and created the League of Nations, the first attempt at a universal international organization. Its punitive terms toward Germany contributed to the conditions that led to World War II.
The UN Charter (1945) created the post-war international order, establishing the United Nations, prohibiting the use of force, and creating the Security Council. It remains the constitutional document of international law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), while technically not a treaty but a General Assembly resolution, launched the international human rights movement.