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The chapters in this edited volume, individually and collectively,
pay homage to Erik Goldstein's contribution to contemporary
scholarship in the fields of international history, diplomatic
studies and international security. The book offers insights into
the rich tapestry of past and present international relations with
differing emphases on political, military and cultural aspects.
While some of the chapters explore the twentieth-century British
foreign policy apparatus and the different networks of people at
work within it, others examine the deeper intellectual and other
currents that shaped trans-Atlantic ties in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Geopolitics - in a historiographical
perspective and with a focus on Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean
and East Asia - forms another important strand of this collection.
All chapters explore periods of wider systemic change in
international politics and thus offer reflections on the essential
continuities and discontinuities in great power relations. The
chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue
of the journal Diplomacy & Statecraft.
Combines essays on the "personality dimension" in the 19th and 20th
century international history, placing in a proper historical
perspective the impact of individual diplomats, politicians and
military strategists on foreign policy-making.
This new study brings together leading experts to show how the
modern world began with the coming of the railway. They clearly
explain why it had a greater impact than any other technical or
industrial innovation before and completely redefined the limits of
the civilized world. While the effect of railways on economic
development is self-evident, little attention has been paid to
their impact on international relations. This is unfortunate, for
in the period from 1848 to 1945, railways were an important element
in the struggle between the Great Powers. This took many forms.
Often, as in East Asia, the competition for railway concessions
reflected the clash of rival imperial interests. The success or
failure of this competition could determine which of the European
Powers was to dominate and exploit the markets of China and Siam.
Just as often, railways were linked with military matters.
Prussia's success in the wars of German unification depended on its
strategic railways just as much as on the strength of its armies,
and the rail links remained a vital aspect of German military
thinking before the First World War. So, too, did they for the
Russians, whose vast Empire required rail links capable of moving
the Tsarist army quickly and competently. Just as importantly,
railways could be vital for Imperial defence, as the British
discovered on the North-West frontier of India. This book will be
of much interest to students of international history, military
history and strategic studies.
Chief among the personnel at the Foreign Office is the Permanent
Under-secretary, the senior civil servant who oversees the
department and advises the Foreign Secretary. This book is a study
of the twelve men who held this Office from 1854-1946.
For historians centennial commemorations furnish an excellent
heuristic tool for gauging late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century attitudes towards the past and the present.
Centenary celebrations helped to revive, perpetuate and reinforce
public perceptions of historical events and people in collective
memory. They were fairly infrequent before 1850 but increased in
size and numbers by the end of the long nineteenth century, so much
so that a 'cult of the centenary' had become established throughout
the wider Western world around 1900. At one level, such events were
ephemeral affairs. And yet many left a lasting legacy. Above all,
as part of the contemporary processes of the 'invention of
traditions' and the conscious national 'self-historicization' of
the established nation-states, they offer crucial insights into the
social, cultural and political dynamics of the period.
Chief among the personnel at the Foreign Office is the Permanent
Under-secretary, the senior civil servant who oversees the
department and advises the foreign secretary. This book is a study
of the twelve men who held this office in the period 1854-1946.
This new study brings together leading experts to show how the
modern world began with the coming of the railway. They clearly
explain why it had a greater impact than any other technical or
industrial innovation before and completely redefined the limits of
the civilized world. While the effect of railways on economic
development is self-evident, little attention has been paid to
their impact on international relations. This is unfortunate, for
in the period from 1848 to 1945, railways were an important element
in the struggle between the Great Powers. This took many forms.
Often, as in East Asia, the competition for railway concessions
reflected the clash of rival imperial interests. The success or
failure of this competition could determine which of the European
Powers was to dominate and exploit the markets of China and Siam.
Just as often, railways were linked with military matters.
Prussia's success in the wars of German unification depended on its
strategic railways just as much as on the strength of its armies,
and the rail links remained a vital aspect of German military
thinking before the First World War. So, too, did they for the
Russians, whose vast Empire required rail links capable of moving
the Tsarist army quickly and competently. Just as importantly,
railways could be vital for Imperial defence, as the British
discovered on the North-West frontier of India. This book will be
of much interest to students of international history, military
history and strategic studies.
Provides a forceful corrective to the idea that Britain 'stood
alone' until the invasion of the Soviet Union and the attack on
Pearl Harbor brought about 'the Grand Alliance'. Based on extensive
archival research, the book demonstrates that 1939 to 1941 was a
period of intensive diplomatic activity by the British Foreign
Office designed to ensure that Britain's potential enemies,
especially Soviet Russia, Italy and Japan, remained neutral and
that its most desirable potential ally, the United States, remained
as friendly as possible until it could be persuaded to join in the
conflict. The book highlights the importance of diplomacy towards
neutrals for British policy, considers the complexities of the
situation, tying together issues such as blockade and the
disposition of British forces in various theatres, explores
decision making within the British government, examining how the
diplomatic considerations of the Foreign Office played into wider
debates amongst ministers and senior civil servants, and discusses
the various courses towards neutrals, including alternatives,
advocated within the Foreign Office. Overall, the book provides a
rich, highly nuanced view of British policy in this crucial period.
For historians centennial commemorations furnish an excellent
heuristic tool for gauging late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century attitudes towards the past and the present.
Centenary celebrations helped to revive, perpetuate and reinforce
public perceptions of historical events and people in collective
memory. They were fairly infrequent before 1850 but increased in
size and numbers by the end of the long nineteenth century, so much
so that a 'cult of the centenary' had become established throughout
the wider Western world around 1900. At one level, such events were
ephemeral affairs. And yet many left a lasting legacy. Above all,
as part of the contemporary processes of the 'invention of
traditions' and the conscious national 'self-historicization' of
the established nation-states, they offer crucial insights into the
social, cultural and political dynamics of the period.
History is an old, yet constantly changing discipline.
Traditionally, the interpretation of the past oscillated between
two opposed poles; on the one hand, there were those who believed
that events were determined not by individuals but by an impersonal
process (though, of course, there were contending views of what
that process is, or how it unravels), and on the other hand, there
were those who stressed the contingent aspects of politics and
history, and hence the impact of personalities. Neither of these
two concepts of history is new.
The First World War and subsequent peace settlement shaped the
course of the twentieth century, and the profound significance of
these events were not lost on Harold Temperley, whose diaries are
presented here. An established scholar, and later one of Britain's
foremost modern and diplomatic historians, Temperley enlisted in
the army at the outbreak of the war in August 1914. Invalided home
from the Dardanelles campaign in 1915, he spent the remainder of
the war and its aftermath as a general staff officer in military
intelligence. Here he played a significant role in preparing
British strategy for the eventual peace conference and in
finalising several post-war boundaries in Eastern Europe. Later, in
the 1920s and 1930s, Temperley was to co-edit the British
diplomatic documents on the origins of the war; and the
vicissitudes of modern Great Power politics were to be his
principal preoccupation. Beginning in June 1916, the diary presents
a more or less daily record of Temperley's activities and
observations throughout the war and subsequent peace negotiations.
As a professional historian he appreciated the significance of
eyewitness accounts, and if Temperley was not at the very heart of
Allied decision-making during those years, he certainly had a
ringside seat. Trained to observe accurately, he recorded the
concerns and confusions of wartime, conscious always of the
historical significance of what he observed. As a result there are
few sources that match Temperley's diary, which presents a
fascinating and unique perspective upon the politics and diplomacy
of the First World War and its aftermath.
Between 1894 and 1905 the question of the Chinese Empire's future
development, its survival even, was the most pressing overseas
problem facing the Great Powers. The frantic 'scramble for Africa'
and the often more intense drama of the 'Eastern Question'
notwithstanding, it was the 'China Question' that had the most
profound implications for the Powers.
Since China's defeat in the 1894-5 war with Japan, the country's
final disintegration was widely anticipated; and so was a wider
Great Power conflict in the event of China's implosion. At times,
that prospect seemed very real. The prospect of China's break-up
and of large-scale international conflict in its wake altered the
configuration among the Great Powers. Instability in the Far East
had ramifications beyond the confines of the region; and, as this
study shows, the events of 1894-5 initiated a wider transformation
of international politics. No Power was more affected by these
changes than Britain. The 'China Question', therefore, provides an
ideal prism through which to view the problems of late
nineteenth-century British world policy, and the policy of
'isolationism' in particular.
This study breaks new ground by adopting a deliberately global
approach in looking at British policy, emphasizing the connections
between European and overseas developments, and by encompassing
diplomatic, commercial, financial, and strategic factors as well as
the politics of foreign policy.
The First World War and subsequent peace settlement shaped the
course of the twentieth century, and the profound significance of
these events were not lost on Harold Temperley, whose diaries are
presented here. An established scholar, and later one of Britain's
foremost modern and diplomatic historians, Temperley enlisted in
the army at the outbreak of the war in August 1914. Invalided home
from the Dardanelles campaign in 1915, he spent the remainder of
the war and its aftermath as a general staff officer in military
intelligence. Here he played a significant role in preparing
British strategy for the eventual peace conference and in
finalising several post-war boundaries in Eastern Europe. Later, in
the 1920s and 1930s, Temperley was to co-edit the British
diplomatic documents on the origins of the war; and the
vicissitudes of modern Great Power politics were to be his
principal preoccupation. Beginning in June 1916, the diary presents
a more or less daily record of Temperley's activities and
observations throughout the war and subsequent peace negotiations.
As a professional historian he appreciated the significance of
eyewitness accounts, and if Temperley was not at the very heart of
Allied decision-making during those years, he certainly had a
ringside seat. Trained to observe accurately, he recorded the
concerns and confusions of wartime, conscious always of the
historical significance of what he observed. As a result there are
few sources that match Temperley's diary, which presents a
fascinating and unique perspective upon the politics and diplomacy
of the First World War and its aftermath.
'The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit
again in our life-time.' The words of Sir Edward Grey, looking out
from the windows of the Foreign Office at the end of August 1914,
are amongst the most famous in European history, and encapsulate
the impending end of the nineteenth-century world. The man who
spoke them was Britain's longest-ever serving Foreign Secretary (in
a single span of office) and one of the great figures of late
Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Statesman of Europe describes the
three decades before the First World War through the prism of his
biography, which is based almost entirely on archival sources and
presents a detailed account of the main domestic and international
events, and of the main personalities of the era. In particular, it
presents a fresh understanding of the approach to war in the years
and months before its outbreak, and Grey's role in the unfolding of
events. Yet Grey's life was not all public affairs, momentous as
those were. He disliked being in London, much preferring country
life at Fallodon, his family estate in Northumberland, and
displayed none of the ambition of his contemporaries (or
successors). He attended assiduously to his duties as director of
the Great North Eastern Railway, one of the transformative
enterprises in industry and communications of the period, and
wanted to spend as much time as he could fishing. Apart from his
memoirs, the only book he wrote was called The Charm of Birds. This
hinterland gave quality to his judgements, and made his character
attractive to his contemporaries. This important book is the
definitive biography of one of the pivotal figures in European
diplomacy, and a magnificent portrait of an age.
Explores the many issues surrounding by-elections in the period
which saw the extension of the franchise, the introduction of the
ballot, and the demise of most dual member constituencies. Between
the 1832 Great Reform Act and the outbreak of World War One in
1914, over 2,600 by-elections took place in Britain. They were
triggered by the death, retirement or resignation of sitting MPs or
by the appointment of cabinet ministers and were a regular feature
of Victorian and Edwardian politics. They furnished political
parties and their leaders with a crucial tool for gauging and
mobilising public opinion. Yet despite the prominence of
by-election contests in the historical records of this period,
scholars have paid relatively little attention to them. As this
book shows, these elections deserve to be taken as seriously today
as people took them at the time. They providedimportant linkages
between local and national politics, between the four parts of the
United Kingdom and Westminster, and between foreign and domestic
affairs. They are vital to understanding the evolving
electioneering machineries, the varying language of electoral
contests, the traction that particular issues had with a growing
and frequently volatile electorate, and the fluctuating fortunes of
the political parties. This book, consisting of original work by
leading political historians, provides the first synoptic study of
this important subject. It will be required reading for historians
and students of modern British political history, as well as
specialists in electoralhistory and politics. T. G. Otte is
Professor of Diplomatic History at the University of East Anglia.
He is the author and/or editor of some thirteen books. Among the
most recent is The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British
Foreign Policy, 1865-1914; Paul Readman is Senior Lecturer in
Modern British History at King's College London. He is the author
of Land and Nation in England: Patriotism, National Identity and
the Politics of Land 1880-1914. Contributors: Luke Blaxill, Angus
Hawkins, Geoffrey Hicks, Phillips Payson O'Brien, T.G. Otte, Ian
Packer, Gordon Pentland, Paul Readman, Kathryn Rix, Matthew
Roberts, Philip Salmon, Anthony Taylor
A fundamental truth about British power in the nineteenth century
and beyond was that Britain was a global power. Her international
position rested on her global economic, naval and political
presence; and her foreign policy operated on a global scale. This
volume throws into sharp relief the material elements of British
power, but also its less tangible components, from Britain's global
network of naval bases to the vast range of intersecting
commercial, financial and intelligence relationships, which
reinforced the country's political power. Leading historians
reshape the scholarly debate surrounding the nature of British
global power at a crucial period of transformation in international
politics, and in so doing they deepen our understanding of the
global nature of British power, the shifts in the international
landscape from the high Victorian period to the 1960s, and the
changing nature of the British state in this period.
With this pioneering approach to the study of international
history, T. G. Otte reconstructs the underlying principles, elite
perceptions and 'unspoken assumptions' that shaped British foreign
policy between the death of Palmerston and the outbreak of the
First World War. Grounded in a wide range of public and private
archival sources, and drawing on sociological insights, The Foreign
Office Mind presents a comprehensive analysis of the foreign
service as a 'knowledge-based organization', rooted in the social
and educational background of the diplomatic elite and the broader
political, social and cultural fabric of Victorian and Edwardian
Britain. The book charts how the collective mindset of successive
generations of professional diplomats evolved, and reacted to and
shaped changes in international relations during the second half of
the nineteenth century, including the balance of power and arms
races, the origins of appeasement and the causes of the First World
War.
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