A key result of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 was the recognition of state sovereignty, which fundamentally altered the political landscape of Europe. The treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War established the principle that each state had the right to govern itself without outside interference. This marked a shift away from religious authority as the basis for political governance, promoting the concept of nation-states. The treaties also began the decline of the Habsburg's centralized power and laid the groundwork for modern international relations, influencing diplomatic practices and notions of sovereignty that persist today.