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Agreed, and it doesn't mean memorizing a date as folks here keep mentioning. The nearest decade is fine in most cases.


Indeed. The order of things (what influenced what, and what directly caused what) is much more important than the accurate date


do you remember the decade of the Treaty of Westfalia? Because if you live in central Europe, that's at least as important as the American Revolution.


I slightly misspoke above. The important part in my opinion is the milestone of democracy. That it happened nearby wars is somewhat incidental and common.

What I mostly remember about the HRE is that it wasn’t Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. :D. My first guess of mid 1600s is not too far off.

(Westphalian sovereignty is interesting… reading about it now.)

Those governments have been replaced multiple times over the centuries however, so achievements at the time were not stable.


> Those governments have been replaced multiple times over the centuries however, so achievements at the time were not stable.

The Peace of Westfalia signalled the end of major religious strife within Christianity and laid the foundation for today's modern conception of a nation-state. In my opinion, this is at least as important as the American Revolution.




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