All You Need to Know About A Treaty

Treaty Background

“Treaty” is generally the term which is applied to a piece of documentation which two or more countries agree to sign, thereby agreeing to abide by its terms. Treaties often do not have organizations which can explicitly enforce the terms of the treaties on nations, as each nation that signs a treaty is ultimately still separate and sovereign.

Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement was signed on Good Friday 1998, and it ended, at least on paper, the conflict between the Northern and Southern parts of Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement, which was also known as the Belfast Agreement, would keep part of the country under British rule, but it would also help to settle the conflict and prevent it from claiming more lives.

Munich Agreement

The Munich Agreement was an agreement made in 1938 which ultimately allowed Adolf Hitler to annex the Sudetenland, taking it from Czechoslovakia. The Munich Pact was thus signed as part of the strategy of appeasement which Neville Chamberlain and other politicians had been employing towards Adolf Hitler.

Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed at Tordesillas in Spain and was meant to divide up the newly discovered territory of the New World. The signing countries included Spain and Portugal, who divided the land via a line from the North Pole to the South Pole without understanding the full geography in question.

Kyoto Treaty

The Kyoto Treaty was established in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan as a treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the world. The Kyoto Protocol, to that end, established requirements for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions along with means in which to do it and means of imposing sanctions on those who sign the Kyoto treaty and then violate its terms.

Treaty of Westphalia

The Treaty of Westphalia is actually a set of many treaties which ended the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War as well. The Treaty of Westphalia came into effect in 1648 and included such treaties as the Peace of Munster and the Treaty of Osnabruck. The Treaty of Westphalia thus ended hostilities between the Holy Roman Emperor, Sweden, France, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and more.

Status of Forces Agreement

A Status of Forces Agreement is an agreement usually made between a host nation and a foreign nation which sets out the legal terms under which the foreign nation’s military forces remain within the host nation. Specifically, the legal terms of the Status of Forces Agreement will be focused on issues such as jurisdiction, rights, and responsibilities, as opposed to the nature of the military forces and their station.

Peace Treaty

A peace treaty is considered a particular kind of treaty which genuinely ends a conflict and sets out a legally binding peace. This means that a peace treaty is considered to be something different from an armistice, which sets out just a cessation of hostilities, and from a non-proliferation treaty, which might not end an actual conflict.

Antarctic Treaty

The Antarctic Treaty is the international treaty which is designed to provide for the disposition of Antarctica between the nations of the world. The Antarctic Treaty ensures that Antarctica will not be used for weapons on the part of any given nation. It also ensures that scientific expeditions to Antarctica will be protected.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was put into effect in 1970 in order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty currently has most of the world’s nations as signatories, with a few nations refusing to sign or having seceded from the treaty.

Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi is considered to be the foundational document for the modern-day state of New Zealand. The Treaty of Waitangi was a treaty made between the British Empire and the native Maori tribes of New Zealand, but it is under a great deal of contention because of the differences of the Treaty of Waitangi as stated in the Maori language and the Treaty of Waitangi as stated in English.

Treaty of Utrecht

The Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713 by Great Britain, France, Spain, Savoy, and the Dutch Republic in order to end the War of Spanish Succession and establish Philip V as the King of Spain. The Treaty of Utrecht is thus considered to hold a very important role in overall European history.

Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris could refer to any of a number of different treaties, as there are many different treaties which bear the title of Treaty of Paris. Some notable examples of a Treaty of Paris include the Treaty which ended American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Treaty of Paris of 1898 which ended the Spanish-American War and gave America many of its territories, and the Treaty of Paris of 1763 which ended the French and Indian War.

European Union Treaty

There are many European Union treaties of significance for the organization, in particular because many of the most basic laws and structures within the European Union are established from treaties between the many member states of the European Union. Some treaties include the Schengen Agreement, the Treaty of Nice, the Lisbon Treaty, and the Treaty of Rome.

NEXT: All You Need to Know About Treaty of Paris