I am thinking, of course, of the Peace of Westphalia, which was signed in Münster in 1648. It put an end to the Thirty Years’ War, in which soldiers from almost all of the European powers had fought against each other since 1618, claiming millions of lives.
I don’t intend to delve too deeply into the history of it, but here today I wish to highlight an important lesson from the Peace of Westphalia. It marked the first time that the countries of Europe occupied themselves with the continent as a whole – they desired to take responsibility for Europe together.