Also, Spain was forced to fully recognize the United Provinces as a sovereign nation-state. Overall, the Treaty of Westphalia turned Europe into a conglomerate of separate political and economic nation-states that were only partially dependent on each other; the treaty also made it possible for mercantilism to spread throughout Europe, thus creating the foundation for many more years of conflict and war....

In addition, this treaty also brought an end to the Eighty Years War between Spain and the Netherlands and is now viewed as one of the first treaties to be based on diplomacy and to allow a nation to be governed by a sovereign entity, thus creating some of the first true sovereign nations in Europe. This treaty also brought to a close an entire series of wars in Europe based on differences in religion.