A Sumner fend Copyright, 1905, BY LONGMANS, Green, and Co. All rights reserved. THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. ΤΟ MY BELOVED WIFE JULIET LEWIS PACKER HILL THESE VOLUMES INSPIRED BY HER INTELLECTUAL SYMPATHY AND PROMOTED BY HER LOVING CARE ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED AL PREFACE LTHOUGH special questions and particular periods of diplomatic history have been carefully studied and ably discussed by historical writers, it is a noteworthy fact that no general history of European diplomacy exists in any language. A history of diplomacy properly includes not only an account of the progress of international intercourse, but an exposition of the motives by which it has been inspired and the results which it has accomplished. But even this statement does not fully express the scope of such a history; for an intelligent discussion of the subject must include also a consideration of the genesis of the entire international system and of its progress through the successive stages of its development. Thus regarded, it becomes apparent that the whole fabric of present international relations is the result of past diplomatic activity. Two practical problems have presented themselves in the execution of this work. The first has arisen from the enormous field of research now offered by the archives of European governments and the necessity of fixing definite limits to the plan of treatment. The rich harvest already gleaned by the labors of special investigators greatly facilitates a task which would have been impossible twenty-five years ago, and now seems to invite a general synthesis of the results attained. It is, in truth, in the wealth of materials that a writer on diplomatic history finds his chief embarrassment. With the conviction that history is of value in proportion as it affords explanation, it has seemed best to adhere closely to the main current of causality in the de velopment of the existing system of European relations. It is, accordingly, as the title indicates, the history of diplomacy only as related to the international development of Europe as a whole, which constitutes the subject of the present work. Negotiations, treaties, and conventions that fall outside of these lines, however important they may be to the diplomatic history of particular countries, possess but little general interest; but, by adhering to events of European importance, it is possible to thread the diplomatic labyrinth without confusion and to present the results of investigation within reasonable limits. A second problem in the preparation of this work has been to determine the proper point of departure. It is customary to regard the Congress and Peace of Westphalia as the starting-point of European diplomacy, but this is principally due to the fact that so little has been known of earlier diplomatic activity. The truth is, that the Congress and Peace of Westphalia, while furnishing the international code of Europe, were the fruits of a long period of preparation whose movements provide the only key to the meaning of that code. It is necessary, therefore, if one would thoroughly comprehend the diplomacy of modern times, to return to the real point of origin of those elements which together constitute the present public law and international usages of Europe, and to trace their development step by step down to the period of their final organization as a system. The adequate execution of this plan requires a long and serious investigation, and cannot be discharged with mere summary statements or rapid generalizations; for the present international organization of the world strikes its roots deep into the past, and has been determined by a multitude of confluent streams of influence. Europe, in particular, is still largely governed by its memories; and to master the history of European diplomacy is to dispel the illusion that the present relations of civilized states are fortuitous, arbitrary, or changeable at will. |