1st Edition

Ideology and Foreign Policy in Early Modern Europe (1650-1750)

By Gijs Rommelse, David Onnekink Copyright 2011
    334 Pages
    by Routledge

    334 Pages
    by Routledge

    The years 1650 to 1750 - sandwiched between an age of 'wars of religion' and an age of 'revolutionary wars' - have often been characterized as a 'de-ideologized' period. However, the essays in this collection contend that this is a mistaken assumption. For whilst international relations during this time may lack the obvious polarization between Catholic and Protestant visible in the proceeding hundred years, or the highly charged contest between monarchies and republics of the late eighteenth century, it is forcibly argued that ideology had a fundamental part to play in this crucial transformative stage of European history. Many early modernists have paid little attention to international relations theory, often taking a 'Realist' approach that emphasizes the anarchism, materialism and power-political nature of international relations. In contrast, this volume provides alternative perspectives, viewing international relations as socially constructed and influenced by ideas, ideology and identities. Building on such theoretical developments, allows international relations after 1648 to be fundamentally reconsidered, by putting political and economic ideology firmly back into the picture. By engaging with, and building upon, recent theoretical developments, this collection treads new terrain. Not only does it integrate cultural history with high politics and foreign policy, it also engages directly with themes discussed by political scientists and international relations theorists. As such it offers a fresh, and genuinely interdisciplinary approach to this complex and fundamental period in Europe's development.

    Introduction; Response to introduction; 1: Absolutism, ideology and English foreign policy; 2: Partisan politics, history and the national interest (1700–1748) 1; 3: From ‘jealous emulation' to ‘cautious politics'; 4: The ideological context of the Dutch war (1672) 1; 5: Ideologies of interests in English foreign policy during the reign of Charles II; 6: Holy war and republican pacifism in the early-eighteenth-century Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania; 7: Justifying war; 8: Romeyn de Hooghe and the imagination of Dutch foreign policy; 9: A change of ideology in Imperial Spain? Spanish commercial policy with America and the change of dynasty (1648–1740) 1; 10: Mountains of iron and gold; 11: Balancing Europe; 12: ‘To restore and preserve the liberty of Europe'

    Biography

    David Onnekink, Universiteit Utrecht, NL; and Gijs Rommelse, The Netherlands Institute of Military History, The Hague, NL.

    'This collection is a successful analysis of the close connection between ideology and foreign policy in Europe between 1650 and 1750.' Sixteenth Century Journal 'Overall, this is a collection which should find a place in university libraries: the general standard of essays is higher than in many such compilations, and several are of real importance.' English Historical Review '... one of this volume’s strengths is the coherent dialogue it engenders between contributions. It succeeds in this by inviting contributions from not only established historians, but also from early-career scholars whose densely-argued, source-driven articles suggest new avenues of research... the volume emanates from and contributes to the lively discussion on the nature and conduct of Williamite foreign policy and its legacies.' Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis ’...[A] remarkable volume...’ The Seventeenth Century