Lecture notes: Treaty of Westphalia, 1648

Treaty of Utrecht

• Wikipedia article

Wars of the Spanish Succession, 1701-15

• Wikipedia

The Spanish king dies without an heir

• both the French and the Habsburgs lay claim to the throne the question of who should dominate Europe

Eventually the French candidate retains power,

• but the French relinquish all imperial ambitions an example of how balance of power politics triumphs over dynastic politics

Diplomatic culture

… as a way to reunite the Europe that had fallen apart

Just as the states of Europe were part ‘d’une même République,’ so diplomats were part of a narrow elite; they shared similar sentiments, norms and values, were bound by personal and family alliances, and understood the implicit ‘code’ ‘rooted in ceremonial forms and gestures.

The individuals who belonged to this ‘distinctive community’ came from the same social class, the nobility—and more often than not the upper ranks, and dominated the diplomatic corps, especially the ranks of ambassador and minister plenipotentiary, which inevitably came to be permeated with a ‘noble ethos.’

This ‘social and cultural coherence’ facilitated international discussions by making possible a common language and creating certain expectations.

Johann Daniel Schöpflin, Diplomatic Academy in Strasbourg, in the 1730s

• Wikipedia page

The curriculum …

• There they studied international law, statistics, and history and forged bonds that would persist in their later lives
• many students became prominent statesmen — Talleyrand, Metternich
• all the Russian diplomats in Vienna, 1815, had studied here

Personal representatives of the king

• not necessarily represented by the king’s own subjects
• Hugo Grotius was ambassador for Sweden

Often military men

• no actual training
• wars as a “continuation of politics by other means”

The first manuals on diplomacy

Callières, On the Manner of Negotiating with Princes, 1716

‘men of birth and breeding’ and wealth were best able to represent France because their rank would entitle them to respect. Those of good birth, he assumed, would also have certain ‘qualities’ necessary for success. The successful envoy was suave, personally agreeable, able to adapt to different cultures and to appreciate the positive features of the country where he was sent

Antoine Pecquet strongly associated with the culture of the courts where they were stationed

The magnificent clothing, the pompous ceremonial, the march that lasted two and half hours combined with visits, ceremonies, fêtes, and dinners made him deplore the time lost. This is ‘an abominable business,’ he lamented, ‘with such ‘oppressive vanities.’ He deplored the five-hour ceremonial, the reception line that lasted three and a half hours, the ‘fatiguing luxury.’ In short, he found this way of life ‘miserable.’

The significance of congresses

Both the public face of the congress and the private negotiations were grounded in the assumptions of a shared diplomatic code. Within the public framework of the congress, the ceremony and ritual flaunting of the trappings of power as seen, for example, in the gazettes, fireworks, songs, prints, poetry, and coins, underscored both the majesty of the various states and the emergence of a cosmopolitan Europe. Shared conventions on language, dress, etiquette, and ritual reaffirmed the international nature of that society.

The persistence of the culture

keeping a kind of international order throughout the 19th century

• we will talk about this in two weeks
• an amazing feat given the dramatic economic, political and social changes

persisted until recently

• foreign service exam was an interview in French with
• quite a gay culture too

Whitelocke in Stockholm

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When Bulstrude Whitelocke, the ambassador from Oliver Cromwell’s England, arrived in Stockholm in 1653, Queen Kristina was alarmed since the Puritans were famous, even in Sweden, for their disapproval of the terpsichorean arts. “Is dancing prohibited in England?” the Queen asked the ambassador when they first met. “Some there do not approve it,” Whitelocke admitted, “but it is not prohibited by any law, and many there do use it.” The queen was much relieved when Whitelocke assured her that he had learned how to dance as a lawyer at the Inns of Court in London, and that he only objected to balls if they took place on Sundays

Partying with the Portuguese

“But the delegations that assembled in Utrecht also had time to enjoy themselves. In fact, during the year they spent together negotiating there was no end to banquets, balls, theater plays, and musical performances of all kinds. One of the most talked about occasions was a party organized by the Portuguese delegation on February 27, 1713. Among the guests were no fewer than fifty ambassadors and their staff — “representatives of all the sovereign states of Europe” — and the party lasted all of three days. The first evening the Portuguese had prepared a sumptuous banquet in a hall built for the purpose in the garden of their residence. Noteworthy features of the multi-course dinner were the candied oranges which looked perfectly life-like, and the Japanese plates on which the dessert was served. Afterwards the ambassadors were treated to a theater performance, and when they returned home at the end of the evening the canal outside was illuminated by torches. Since the first night’s entertainment only had included men, the second night was organized by the ladies. The wives, mistresses and daughters of the diplomats took part, but since their number was insufficient an additional two hundred women were invited. They were all ladies “of an enchanting magnificence.” In order to avoid diplomatic incidents, the Portuguese hosts convinced a young Danish diplomat to pick a dancing-partner, and before the other guests quite knew what had happened, the ball had commenced. The ambassadors danced until five o’clock in the morning, only interrupted by a midnight buffet. As for the third day, it featured a masked ball. Since this was a form of entertainment unknown to the Dutch, it was not clear beforehand how it would turn out, and it was also difficult for the delegations to find the right costumes. But everything worked out well in the end. Everyone looked gorgeous, especially the women who took the opportunity to dress up in assorted exotic attire. Delighted, if also quite exhausted, the ambassadors thanked their hosts, and returned home.”

Incident in Tower Wharf, Sept 30, 1661

The Diary of Samuel Pepys

The grand embassy of Peter the Great

Russia as a traditional Asian kingdom

• a center where foreigners came to pay tributes
• kowtowing and all that

never sent resident ambassadors abroad

• constant complaints about the temporary ambassadors
• they drank too much and destroyed things
• had no interest in local culture

Peter the Great

• a Westernizer
• cf. traditional conflict between Slavophiles and Westernizers

modernize Russia

• moved the capital to what became “Saint Petersburg”
• missions to Europe from the 1680s onward
• some stayed a very long time
• learning all kinds of things — but ship-building important

Peter himself went — in disguise, 1697-98

• come back with European conceptions — changed the court dress, cut their beards

Russia integrated into the system of diplomacy

• much more sophisticated diplomats — often Peter’s friends
• resident ambassadors
• no more kowtowing

cf. Ottoman Empire

• basically the same development, only a bit later …
• In the 1720s, the first Ottoman diplomatic envoys were sent abroad; in 1790s, the first permanent diplomatic missions were set up; and in 1836, a European-style foreign ministry was established

The stately quadrille, 1756

“The quadrille was a dance performed by four couples who traced symmetrical patterns on the dance floor, changing partners at regular intervals. The dance was popular throughout the eighteenth-century, and a standard feature of balls at all European courts. The “stately quadrille,” or perhaps the “quadrille of states,” was also the informal name given to the balance of power obtaining between the four great powers — France, Spain, Austria and Britain — in the first part of the eighteenth-century. It was in the peace treaties signed in Utrecht on April 11, 1713, that the principle of a European balance first was enshrined. This was the congress which brought the War of the Spanish Succession to a close, and made it clear that France, despite Louis XIV’s repeated attempts, was not going to be able to dominate Europe. France could form a couple with Spain, as it were, but Britain would form a couple with Austria. In this way they would secure “the universal good and quiet of Europe, by an equal weight of power, so that many being united in one, the balance of the equality desired, might not turn to the advantage of one, and the danger and hazard of the rest.” Just as in a quadrille, however, the pairs would occasionally break up, find new partners, and join up with each other in new constellations. Most notoriously, in 1756 Britain abandoned Austria, and concluded an alliance with Prussia, and Austria joined up with France.”