Taylor Swift -- Bows Down to Nicki Minaj

Taylor Swift blinked first ... giving Nicki Minaj a full-on apology in an attempt to squash their Twitter war. There's hope for world peace, after all.

Taylor tried to dismiss the whole mess, saying ... "I thought I was being called out. I missed the point, I misunderstood, then misspoke."

Swift took the high road, and seemed to accept Nicki's explanation that her initial Twitter rant about a VMAs snub was not an attack on Taylor ... although she never explained who she WAS targeting.

Anyway, Nicki thanked Taylor for the apology ... and now everyone can play nice.