European University Institute Library

An age of neutrals, great power politics, 1815-1914, Maartje Abbenhuis

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 248-275) and index

index present

non fiction

An age of neutrals

bibliography

877852668

Maartje Abbenhuis

great power politics, 1815-1914

'An age of neutrals' provides a pioneering history of neutrality in Europe and the wider world between the Congress of Vienna and the outbreak of the First World War. The 'long' nineteenth century (1815<U+0127> 1914) was an era of unprecedented industrialization, imperialism and globalization; one which witnessed Europe's economic and political hegemony across the world. Dr Maartje Abbenhuis explores the ways in which neutrality reinforced these interconnected developments. She argues that a passive conception of neutrality has thus far prevented historians from understanding the high regard with which neutrality, as a tool of diplomacy and statecraft and as a popular ideal with numerous applications, was held. This compelling new history exposes neutrality as a vibrant and essential part of the nineteenth-century international system; a powerful instrument used by great and small powers to solve disputes, stabilize international relations and promote a variety of interests within and outside the continent.--, Provided by publisher

Introduction : It is not the neutrals or lukewarms that make history -- Neutrality on the eve of the industrial age -- Neutrality, neutralisation and the Concert of Europe -- The neutrals' war : Britain and the global implications of the Crimean War, 1853-1856 -- How to be neutral : negotiating neutrality in the wars of nationhood, 1859-1871 -- Neutrality as an international and patriotic ideal -- Regulating neutrality from The Hague to The Hague, 1899-1907 -- Neutral no more : neutrality and the origins of the First World War -- Conclusion : International law's 'finest and most fragile flower'