What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
The countless opinions of the many dynasties of Europe caused a convoluted war of succession that lasted 13 years. Finally, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713. The treaty's provisions ended the centuries-long Hapsburg rule of Spain, divided the powers of France and Spain, and ended Spanish rule of what is now the Netherlands.
One of the most important treaties of modern history was signed in Versailles, France, in 1919. Aptly titled the Treaty of Versailles, this armistice agreement put an effective end to World War I.
The War of 1812, waged between Britain and the newly-independent United States, was a pivotal event in the young nation's history. While the war itself ended in a virtual stalemate, the United States' ability to fight against what was then the most powerful military in the world not only granted them global notoriety, but also sparked a renewed hunger for westward colonialism.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed by the Allied powers and Germany, contained a controversial article now known as the War Guilt clause, which stated Germany had to take full blame for the Great War and forced the country to fully disarm and pay reparations totaling about US$442 billion when adjusted for inflation. Many historians believe this harsh clause was a central factor in Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
The War of Spanish Succession threw the vast majority of powers in 18th-century Europe into a frenzy. After the death of King Charles II of Spain, who, thanks to the famous Hapsburg habit of inbreeding, died without fathering a child, there was no clear heir to the Spanish throne.
The War of 1812 came to an official close with the Treaty of Ghent the same year. The treaty returned territorial boundaries to their original positions before the war, and set the groundwork for the modern border between the United States and Canada.
After two years of active conflict and following the American capture of Mexico City, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848. The United States received what are now the Southwestern States and Texas, making the Rio Grande river the border between Mexico and the United States—the border which remains to this day.
The Russo-Japanese War, fought over the contested territory of Manchuria, caused intense unrest within the citizenries of both empires. Although the Japanese were the clear victors, those in the homeland were still unhappy with the relatively small amount of new territory granted in the Treaty of Portsmouth.
Those in the Russian homeland, however, had already started a number of agrarian revolts, fed up with the tsardom's focus on imperial ambitions as opposed to the welfare of the people. Despite the lasting unrest on both sides of the treaty, US President Theodore Roosevelt was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in brokering the agreement.
War erupted in 1948 almost immediately after the partition deal that was to split British mandated Palestine into the Jewish state of Israel and the Arab state of Palestine was disregarded by Israel. Egypt, Syria, and Jordan intervened in an attempt to retain Arab control, and the entire region was quickly destabilized.
Decades later, newly-elected president Jimmy Carter dedicated himself to finding a resolution to the ongoing disputes in the Middle East. Leaders from Egypt and Israel met at the American presidential retreat of Camp David, and, against what the world saw as impossible odds, emerged with an agreed-upon peace deal that was signed the next year, which stipulated that the Sinai Peninsula be returned to Egypt and that Israel be recognized as a legitimate state by its Arab neighbors.
Following the American annexation of Texas in 1845, which was previously a part of Mexico, the Mexican-American War broke out between the two nations the next year, in 1846.
Shortly before the official end of World War I, the Russian Empire independently exited the war after the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Signed between the new Russian Bolshevik government and the Central Powers of Germany and its allies, this treaty has had wide-ranging geopolitical effects that persist to this day.
Dividing the Earth vertically close to the Line of Demarcation, the Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Spain and authenticated in Portugal, gave all of Africa, Asia, and most of Oceania to Spain, and the entirety of the Americas to Portugal. While these two nations honored the treaty for some time, the rest of Europe and the world largely ignored it.
The Treaty of Tordesillas, a deal brokered between the two imperial superpowers at the time, Portugal and Spain, drew massive, astonishingly simple borders across the entirety of the world outside of Europe.
In order to exit the war and cease support of Germany and its allies, the Bolsheviks ceded huge swaths of their southern, agriculturally fertile lands, including Ukraine, Georgia, and many of the Baltic states.
The Lateran Treaty, signed by then prime minister of the Kingdom of Italy Benito Mussolini and Catholic cardinal secretary of state Pietro Gasparri, recognized for the first time the sovereignty of the Vatican City as a city-state.
The Lateran Treaty of 1929 was one component of the larger Lateran Pacts, which were enacted to solve once and for all the Roman Question, which was concerned with the role of the Catholic Pope as a leader of a sovereign territory, a matter of dispute ever since the Roman Republic took over the Papal States in 1849.
The Eighty Years' War, and the overlapping Thirty Years' War, saw the death of around eight million people. Caused by the rift between Catholics and Protestants, the wars were fought all across Europe, but centered mostly in and around the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Westphalia ended both wars by allowing every sovereign state to practice the religion of their choice.
Another treaty bearing the name of Paris, the Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed between the United States and Spain to end the conflict of the Spanish American War.
The Treaty of Sevres forced the Ottoman Empire to give up virtually all territories that weren't occupied by ethnic Turks, and was also a precursor to the British mandate of Palestine. The end of the Turkish War of Independence and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 marked the official dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
Sources: (NAQT) (The National Interest) (Britannica)
One of the many treaties signed in the wake of World War I between the Central and Allied Powers was the Treaty of Sevres, which took a substantial amount of land from the Ottoman Empire and ultimately marked the start of its demise.
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 was signed by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom as an agreement to halt all tests of nuclear weapons, except for those conducted underground.
In the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis just one year earlier, the treaty was signed in the interest of curbing the dangerous effects of nuclear materials in the atmosphere. Since the original three signatures, an additional 123 nations have signed on as well.
Along with the numerous redrawings of European borders, the 1947 treaties returned sovereignty to the former Axis powers under the condition that they hand over all accused war criminals to the United Nations to stand trial, and pay extensive war reparations. These treaties also marked the end of Italy as a colonial power.
The Paris Peace Treaties of 1947 were the culmination of the Paris Peace Conference talks conducted in 1946 following the end of World War II.
The Peace of Westphalia, comprised of the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück, put an end to one of the bloodiest eras of European history.
The treaty effectively ended the colonial rule of Spain in the Americas, ceding Cuba and Puerto Rico to the United States, as well as the Pacific territories of Guam and the Philippines. Cuba would declare its independence shortly afterwards in 1902.
One of many treaties signed in Paris, the Treaty of Paris of 1814 marked the beginning of the United States as an internationally recognized independent nation after two centuries of being a colony of Britain.
Signed by representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom, the Treaty of Paris of 1814 marked the end of the American Revolutionary War that had raged on for seven years.
For as long as there has been war, there have been agreements to end those wars. Whether these agreements are always beneficial to both or either side is up to the negotiators representing each side. Sometimes, the terms of peace treaties are inconsequential, but other times, the course of history can be changed by the simple signing of a document. When learning about the history of the world, the long list of treaties and agreements between powers that have gotten us to where we are today are impossible to ignore.
Read on to learn more about the most important peace treaties from throughout history.
History's most important peace treaties
Agreements between nations that shaped the world
LIFESTYLE War
For as long as there has been war, there have been agreements to end those wars. Whether these agreements are always beneficial to both or either side is up to the negotiators representing each side. Sometimes, the terms of peace treaties are inconsequential, but other times, the course of history can be changed by the simple signing of a document. When learning about the history of the world, the long list of treaties and agreements between powers that have gotten us to where we are today are impossible to ignore.
Read on to learn more about the most important peace treaties from throughout history.