History of Conflict

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History of Conflict

• Peace and Conflict Studies, 31-60 p
• Autumn 2007

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The political organization, military technology
and political philosophy after the Peace of
Westphalia (17th and 18th Century)

• military technology
• political organization
• international political philosophy
• (as well as a general overview)

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17th century in Europe was characterized by both
decline and growth

• Decline
• The Spanish and the Portuguese empires declined
• The European population growth slowed down
• Social revolts
• Decreased production, foremost of textiles
• Parts of Italy were de-industrialized
• The Italian and Hanseatic trading centers
  declined drastically

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17th century in Europe was characterized by both
decline and growth

• Growth
• Northwest Europe appeared as the poltical and
  financial power centre of the world (for the
  first time) Great Britain, Netherlands, France.
• England the English civil war (1642-51 the
  glorious revolution (1688)
• France le grand siècle
• Sweden the era of the Swedish empire

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Wars of Religion During 16th and 17th Century

• Philip II of Spain (war against Netherlands and
  England
• Wars of religion in France
• Thirty Years War

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Causes for the Thirty Years War Power struggle
between the League of the Protestant Union and
the Catholic League Phases The Bohemian Revolt
(1618-1625) Danish intervention
(1625-1629) Swedish intervention
(1630-1635) Swedish-French intervention
(1635-1648)
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The Direct Results of the Peace of Westphalia

• Religious Results
• the Counter-Reformation failed
• Calvinism was accepted as a Christian
  Denomination
• Still, the Emperor of Austria had the right to
  re-catholicize its empires, primarily Austria and
  Bohemia.
• High politics was secularized (the peace
  agreement between worldly power holders, the
  representative of the Pope was ignored)

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The Direct Results of the Peace of Westphalia

• Legal Results
• Every German principality (or rather its Prince)
  had the right to decide the national church (a
  kind of secularization)

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The Direct Results of the Peace of Westphalia

• Effects on European Balance of Power
• Germany remained divided (politically divided and
  physically ravaged of the war). If Germany would
  have been united, its unification would have
  emanated from Vienna and Austria as it was the
  most powerful part of the German speaking area.
• The Swiss Cantons and Netherlands left the German
  Reich that was further weakened.
• French and Swedish territorial gains.

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The Long Term Results of the Peace of Westphalia

• A long term result was that states gradually
  were understood as sovereign. The church was no
  longer superior to the state, foreign states were
  not entitled to interfere in the internal affairs
  of a state. Within its territory the ruler of the
  state is sovereign. This is called the
  Westphalian system of States.

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The most important war of the 18th Century War
of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713)

• France to keep the French and Spanish Crowns,
  to conquer Belgium (that use to be Spanish)
  and get access to the Spanish markets in Latin
  America
• Spain to keep Philip V as their king
• Austria to make its part of the Habsburg family
  to dominate Spain
• Netherlands to secure its position vis-à-vis
  France by keeping France away from Belgium
• England to keep France away from Belgium and to
  secure its position as a protestant nation

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Treaty of Utrecht

• England, that occupied Gibraltar during the war,
  was now recognized as its legitimate owner. Also
  Minorca/Menorca was Brittish (until 1802)
• The Austrian Crown received the Netherlands
  (inlcluding what today is Belgium) and some
  principalities in northern Italy
• Spain lost its European possessions
  (besittningar), kept its Latin American ones.
• Spain could keep Philip V of Spain, after a
  declaration that the Spanish and French dynasties
  would never merge

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Military Technology in the 17th Century (early
Westphalian Era)

• Conclusion of the development of military
  technology and administration in the 17th
  Century
• Civilian and political control. The political and
  civilian control of the armed forces was improved
  in this era. The soldiers received cash salary
  from taxes. Also in terms of tactics the army was
  governed more directly., a clear chain of
  command.

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Military Technology in the 17th Century (early
Westphalian Era)

• Conclusion of the development of military
  technology and administration in the 17th
  Century
• Military drill and obedience. The soldiers were
  drilled in specific manoeuvres. The firing
  (eldgivning) was synchronized. The implied that
  the work of the soldiers was semi-automatized,
  so in the heat of battle, they could still load
  and fire its rifle (etc.). It also implied that
  each soldier easily could be replaced with
  another.

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Military Technology in the 17th Century (early
Westphalian Era)

• Conclusion of the development of military
  technology and administration in the 17th
  Century
• Standardized weapons. When drill was
  standardized, also the weapons had to be
  standardized, identical in the entire army. At
  the end of the 17th century the army tried to
  produce identical weapons, as if they were
  industrially produced.

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Military Technology in the 17th Century (early
Westphalian Era)

• Effects of the Reform
• The price on weapons deflated
• Soldiers could have another weapon that would
  work as the old one.
• Soldiers, just like weapons, became replaceable,
  like cogs in a machinery.
• Harder to introduce new weapons.

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International Political Philosophy in the 17th
Century

• Absolutism
• Mercantilism
• The Theory on State of Nature

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International Political Philosophy in the 17th
Century

• Political philosophers of the 17th century
• Èmeric Crucé (1590-1648)
• Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza (1632-1677)
• Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)
• Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

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International Political Philosophy in the 17th
Century

• Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza (1632-1677)
• This contract remains so long unmoved as the
  motive for entering into it, that is fear of hurt
  or hope of gain, subsists (består). But take away
  from either commonwealth this hope or fear, and
  it is left independent, and the link whereby the
  commonwealths were mutually bound, breaks itself.
  And therefore every commonwealth had the right to
  break its contract, whenever it chooses, and
  cannot be said to act treacherously or
  perfidiously in breaking its word, as soon as the
  motive of hope or fear is removed (Spinoza)

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International Political Philosophy in the 17th
Century

• Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

• Leviathan 1651
• There must be some coercive power to compel men
  equally to the performance of their covenants, by
  the terror of some punishment, greater that the
  benefit they expect by the breach of their
  covenant.

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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

• men live without other security, than what
  their own strength, and their own invention shall
  furnish them withall. In such condition there is
  no place for Industry because the fruit thereof
  is uncertain and consequently no Culture of the
  Earth no Navigation or use of the commodities
  that may be imported by Sea no commodious
  Building no Instruments of moving, and removing
  such things as require much force no Knowledge
  of the face of the Earth no account of Time no
  Arts no Letters no Society and which is worst
  of all, the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty,
  brutish, and short.

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