# Making peace: the great settlements The settlements that ended the great wars and set the terms of the eras that followed, from Westphalia to Dayton. *This story led to: Arms control: caging the weapons* *This story led to: Organizing the world* *This story part of: State, law, and coercion* *Secret bargains: the hidden treaties parallel this story* *Alliances and battle lines parallel this story* ## c. 1259 BCE — Treaty of Kadesh The earliest surviving written peace treaty, concluded between Ramesses II of Egypt and Hattusili III of the Hittite Empire after decades of war over Syria. It established peace, mutual defense, and the return of fugitives. ## c. 449 BCE — Peace of Callias Reported peace between Athens and the Persian Empire that ended the Greco-Persian Wars, keeping Persian ships out of the Aegean. Its existence is debated by historians. ## 421 BCE — Peace of Nicias Treaty between Athens and Sparta intended to end the first phase of the Peloponnesian War for fifty years. It quickly unraveled and fighting resumed within a few years. ## 387 BCE — Peace of Antalcidas Also called the King's Peace, this settlement dictated by Persia ended the Corinthian War and recognized Persian control over the Greek cities of Asia Minor. It made the Persian king arbiter of Greek affairs. ## 241 BCE — Treaty of Lutatius Peace treaty ending the First Punic War, under which Carthage evacuated Sicily and paid a large indemnity to Rome. It made Rome the dominant naval power in the western Mediterranean. ## 188 BCE — Treaty of Apamea Peace between Rome and the Seleucid king Antiochus III after his defeat at Magnesia. It stripped the Seleucids of Asia Minor and confirmed Roman dominance in the eastern Mediterranean. ## c. 628 — Treaty of Hudaybiyyah Truce between Muhammad, representing the Muslim community of Medina, and the Quraysh of Mecca. It paused hostilities, allowed a later pilgrimage, and proved a turning point in the rise of Islam. ## c. January 1005 — Chanyuan Treaty Peace between Song China and the Khitan Liao dynasty under which the Song paid annual tribute in silk and silver. It bought more than a century of peace on the northern frontier. ## c. 1141 — Treaty of Shaoxing Peace between Song China and the Jurchen Jin dynasty that ceded northern China to the Jin and made the Southern Song a tribute-paying state. It fixed the border at the Huai River for decades. ## 2 September 1192 — Treaty of Jaffa Truce between Richard I of England and Saladin ending the Third Crusade. Jerusalem stayed under Muslim rule but Christian pilgrims gained free access to the holy sites. ## 17 March 1328 — Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton Peace treaty in which England recognized Scotland as an independent kingdom and Robert the Bruce as its king. It ended the First War of Scottish Independence. ## 8 May 1360 — Treaty of Bretigny Treaty between England and France during the Hundred Years' War, giving Edward III large territories in France in return for renouncing his claim to the French crown. It brought nine years of peace before war resumed. ## 21 May 1420 — Treaty of Troyes Treaty making Henry V of England heir and regent of France, disinheriting the Dauphin, and sealing the deal with Henry's marriage to Catherine of Valois. Its collapse fueled the final phase of the Hundred Years' War. ## 9 April 1454 — Treaty of Lodi Peace between Milan, Venice, and Florence that established a balance of power among the Italian states. It brought four decades of relative stability to Renaissance Italy. ## 19 October 1466 — Second Peace of Thorn Treaty ending the Thirteen Years' War between Poland and the Teutonic Knights. The Order ceded western Prussia including Danzig to Poland and became a Polish vassal. ## 25 September 1555 — Peace of Augsburg Settlement within the Holy Roman Empire allowing each prince to choose Lutheranism or Catholicism for his territory, summarized as cuius regio, eius religio. It ended open religious war in Germany for over sixty years. ## 3 April 1559 — Peace of Cateau-Cambresis Treaties ending the long Italian Wars between France, Spain, and England. Spain emerged as the dominant power in Italy for the next century. ## 24 October 1648 — Peace of Westphalia Twin treaties ending the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic. They are widely seen as the foundation of the modern system of sovereign states. ## 7 November 1659 — Treaty of the Pyrenees Peace between France and Spain ending their long war, ceding Roussillon and Artois to France and arranging the marriage of Louis XIV to the Spanish infanta. It marked the shift of European primacy from Spain to France. ## 26 January 1699 — Treaty of Karlowitz Peace between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League, ceding most of Hungary to the Habsburgs. It marked the start of the Ottoman retreat from central Europe. ## 11 April 1713 — Peace of Utrecht Series of treaties ending the War of the Spanish Succession, recognizing Philip V in Spain while barring union of the French and Spanish crowns, and transferring Gibraltar and large American territories to Britain. It established the balance of power as a principle of European order. ## 10 September 1721 — Treaty of Nystad Peace ending the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden, ceding Estonia, Livonia, and Ingria to Russia. It confirmed Russia as the new great power of the Baltic. ## 10 February 1763 — Treaty of Paris (1763) Peace ending the Seven Years' War, with France ceding Canada and lands east of the Mississippi to Britain and Florida passing from Spain to Britain. It made Britain the leading colonial power in North America and India. ## 21 July 1774 — Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca Peace ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774, giving Russia territory on the Black Sea, navigation rights, and a claimed protective role over Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. It opened a century of Russian pressure on the Ottomans. ## 3 September 1783 — Treaty of Paris (1783) Peace treaty in which Britain recognized the independence of the United States and its boundaries to the Mississippi River. It ended the American Revolutionary War. ## 17 October 1797 — Treaty of Campo Formio Peace between revolutionary France and Austria after Napoleon's Italian campaign, with secret clauses trading Venice to Austria and the Rhine frontier to France. It ended the War of the First Coalition. ## 7 July 1807 — Treaties of Tilsit Peace treaties between Napoleon and Russia, then Prussia, concluded on a raft on the Neman River. Secret articles divided Europe into French and Russian spheres and stripped Prussia of half its territory. ## September 1814 to 9 June 1815 — Congress of Vienna Conference of the powers that defeated Napoleon, redrawing the map of Europe and restoring a balance of power. Its Final Act of June 1815 shaped the European order for a century. ## 24 December 1814 — Treaty of Ghent Peace treaty between Britain and the United States ending the War of 1812 and restoring prewar boundaries. News arrived after the Battle of New Orleans had already been fought. ## 29 August 1842 — Treaty of Nanking Treaty ending the First Opium War, ceding Hong Kong to Britain, opening five ports, and imposing an indemnity on China. It was the first of the unequal treaties that defined China's century of humiliation. ## 2 February 1848 — Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Peace ending the Mexican-American War, with Mexico ceding roughly half its territory including California and the Southwest to the United States for 15 million dollars. It fixed the Rio Grande as the Texas border. ## 30 March 1856 — Treaty of Paris (1856) Peace ending the Crimean War, neutralizing the Black Sea and admitting the Ottoman Empire to the European concert. It checked Russian expansion for a generation. ## 24 October 1860 — Convention of Peking Settlement imposed on China after the Second Opium War, ceding Kowloon to Britain, opening Tianjin, and confirming large Russian gains in the Amur region. It deepened the unequal treaty system. ## 10 May 1871 — Treaty of Frankfurt Peace ending the Franco-Prussian War, ceding Alsace and much of Lorraine to the new German Empire and imposing a five billion franc indemnity on France. French resentment over the lost provinces poisoned relations until 1914. ## 13 July 1878 — Treaty of Berlin (1878) Settlement of the Congress of Berlin revising the Russo-Turkish peace of San Stefano, recognizing Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro and splitting Bulgaria. Its compromises left grievances that fed later Balkan crises. ## 17 April 1895 — Treaty of Shimonoseki Peace ending the First Sino-Japanese War, with China recognizing Korea's independence and ceding Taiwan to Japan. It announced Japan's arrival as a great power and China's deepening weakness. ## 7 September 1901 — Boxer Protocol Settlement imposed on China by eight powers after the Boxer Rebellion, requiring a huge indemnity, executions, and foreign garrisons in Beijing. It marked the low point of Qing sovereignty. ## 5 September 1905 — Treaty of Portsmouth Peace ending the Russo-Japanese War, mediated by Theodore Roosevelt, giving Japan control of Korea and southern Manchuria interests. It was the first modern great-power peace brokered by the United States. ## 28 June 1919 — Treaty of Versailles The peace treaty assigns Germany responsibility for the war, imposes reparations, and redraws the map of Europe. Signed five years to the day after the assassination. ## 10 September 1919 — Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye Peace treaty dissolving the Austrian half of the Habsburg Empire, recognizing the new states of central Europe, and forbidding union between Austria and Germany. It reduced Austria to a small alpine republic. ## 4 June 1920 — Treaty of Trianon Peace treaty with Hungary that transferred about two thirds of its prewar territory to neighboring states. It left large Hungarian minorities abroad and remains a national grievance. ## 10 August 1920 — Treaty of Sevres Peace treaty partitioning the Ottoman Empire among the Allies, Greece, and proposed Armenian and Kurdish entities. Rejected by Turkish nationalists, it was never implemented and was replaced at Lausanne. ## 6 December 1921 — Anglo-Irish Treaty Agreement ending the Irish War of Independence and creating the Irish Free State as a dominion, with Northern Ireland able to opt out. The split over its terms led to the Irish Civil War. ## 24 July 1923 — Treaty of Lausanne Peace treaty recognizing the Republic of Turkey within essentially its modern borders, replacing the failed Treaty of Sevres. It also sanctioned a compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey. ## 16 October 1925 — Locarno Treaties multilateral treaties negotiated in Locarno, Switzerland during October 1925 ## 30 September 1938 — Munich Agreement Britain and France cede the Sudetenland to Germany without consulting Czechoslovakia; Chamberlain promises "peace for our time". ## 17 July 1945 to 2 August 1945 — Potsdam Conference meeting of the Allied heads of state near the end of World War II ## 8 September 1951 — Treaty of San Francisco Peace treaty between Japan and most of the Allied powers, ending the occupation and restoring Japanese sovereignty. The Soviet Union refused to sign and territorial ambiguities persist. ## 27 July 1953 — Korean Armistice Agreement Armistice among the UN Command, North Korea, and China halting the Korean War and creating the Demilitarized Zone. No peace treaty has ever replaced it. ## 21 July 1954 — Geneva Accords (1954) Agreements ending the First Indochina War, partitioning Vietnam at the 17th parallel pending elections that never took place. They set the stage for the Vietnam War. ## 15 May 1955 — Austrian State Treaty Treaty among the four occupying powers and Austria restoring Austrian sovereignty on condition of permanent neutrality. It ended ten years of four-power occupation. ## 18 March 1962 — Evian Accords Agreements between France and the Algerian FLN ending the Algerian War and leading to Algerian independence. They closed one of the bloodiest wars of decolonization. ## 27 January 1973 — Paris Peace Accords Agreement among the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Viet Cong ending direct American involvement in the Vietnam War. Fighting between the Vietnamese parties continued until Saigon fell in 1975. ## 17 September 1978 — Camp David Accords Framework agreements between Egypt and Israel brokered by President Carter after thirteen days of secret talks. They led to the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state. > "the 1978 Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel" > — The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers ## 26 March 1979 — Egypt-Israel peace treaty First peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state, returning the Sinai to Egypt and normalizing relations. Egypt was suspended from the Arab League and President Sadat was later assassinated. ## 21 December 1979 — Lancaster House Agreement Agreement ending the Rhodesian Bush War and providing for elections and the internationally recognized independence of Zimbabwe. It ended the last white-minority rebellion against British decolonization. ## 12 September 1990 — Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany The Two Plus Four treaty among the two German states and the four wartime occupying powers, clearing the way for German reunification with full sovereignty. It served as the final peace settlement of the Second World War in Europe. ## 13 September 1993 — Oslo I Accord Declaration of Principles between Israel and the PLO, negotiated secretly in Oslo, establishing mutual recognition and Palestinian interim self-government. It began the Oslo peace process. ## 26 October 1994 — Israel-Jordan peace treaty Treaty ending the state of war between Israel and Jordan, fixing their border and normalizing relations. Jordan became the second Arab state to make peace with Israel. ## 14 December 1995 — Dayton Agreement Peace agreement ending the Bosnian War, negotiated at Dayton air base and signed in Paris, preserving Bosnia as one state with two entities. Its complex constitutional structure still governs Bosnia. ## 10 April 1998 — Good Friday Agreement Agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland parties ending three decades of the Troubles, establishing power-sharing and the principle of consent. It was approved by referendums on both sides of the border. ## 12 February 2015 — Minsk II Package of measures brokered by France and Germany to end the war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists. Never fully implemented, it collapsed with Russia's 2022 invasion. ## 24 November 2016 — Colombian peace agreement Final agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas ending more than fifty years of armed conflict. A first version was rejected by referendum before the revised text was signed and ratified by Congress. ## 29 February 2020 — Doha Agreement Agreement between the United States and the Taliban providing for withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban counterterrorism commitments. It preceded the collapse of the Afghan republic in 2021. ## 15 September 2020 — Abraham Accords Agreements normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, later joined by Morocco and Sudan. They were the first Arab-Israeli normalizations in a quarter century.