1648

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/1648

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What was special about the calendars in 1648?In 1648, both the Julian and Gregorian calendars were leap years, but they were not synchronized. The Gregorian calendar, used by Catholic states, was ten days ahead of the Julian calendar.
2. Why is 1648 called a year of big changes?Because it ended the Thirty Years' War with the Peace of Westphalia, which reshaped Europe’s politics and set new rules for how countries interact.

Gregorian Calendar: The solar calendar, introduced in 1582, that is the most widely used civil calendar system today.
Julian Calendar: A solar calendar established by Julius Caesar, characterized by a leap year every four years, which drifted over centuries.
Thirty Years' War: A complex and devastating series of wars fought primarily in Central Europe from 1618 to 1648, involving most of the major European powers.
Peace of Westphalia: A series of peace treaties signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War, establishing the foundation for modern international relations.