IR 1001 week 3 Lecture 1

1
IR 1001 - week 3Lecture 1

• Westphalia and the Creation of the Modern State
  System

2
The Medieval Era

• Collapse of the Roman Empire in 5thC. leaves
  Europe decentralised and diverse politically
• Middle Ages approx 1,000 years of divided
  political leadership with religious and secular
  power overlapping in authority
• Experience of politics by people involves popes,
  emperors, kings, bishops, lords and knights
• Overall 2 Christian Empires dominate
• Catholic Christendom in Rome
• Orthodox Byzance

3
Challenges to Medievalism

• Unstable system fraught with local rebellion,
  conflicts between kings
• These often arise from conflicting lines of
  authority
• Supremacy of the Church is challenged in 15th and
  16th C. through
• The ideas of the Renaissance (fueling challenges
  of science and secularism)
• The Protestant Reformation
• One of the results is the creation of the modern
  state system

4
Thirty Years War (1618-1648)

• Initially a protestant uprising in Bohemia
• War widened to include multiple conflicts and
  parties including the (Holy Roman) Habsburg
  Empire, France, Spain, Sweden, what will become
  the Dutch Republic
• Most prominent issue is religious toleration, but
  this is compounded by territorial and power
  ambitions
• Peace is negotiated by French Cardinal Mazarin
  (France becomes the most powerful, Hapsburgs lose
  the most)

5
The Peace of Westphalia

• Treaties of Munster and Osnabruck mark the start
  of the modern era
• Immediate consequences
• Territorial boundary shifts (Sweden, France)
• creation of new states (Switzerland, Dutch
  Republic)
• End of papal control over foreign policy
• Recognition of protestantism - no more
  European-wide wars of religion?

6
The Westphalian State System

• By 1660, the state has become the most important
  political unit in Europe
• Rulers could determine state religion and had
  complete authority over state matters
• Mutual recognition of each others independence
  birth of sovereignty
• Foundation of the rules of diplomacy and
  international law
• First manifestation of a society of states

7
Rules and Exceptions

• Mutual recognition of legitimacy and independence
• But this did not apply to the outside of Europe,
  with vigorous colonialism
• Coalitions and alliances ensure no single state
  becomes hegemon
• But this does not mean full cooperation between
  states competition for colonial possessions,
  Napoleonic bid for dominance
• Rise of Nationalism!

8
Conclusion

• Peace of Westphalia is the foundation of modern
  international relations
• system of independent states
• solidification of the the state
• International law and institutions
• Prudential statecraft balance of power
• End of Holy Roman Empires grip. France becomes
  the most powerful nation in Europe, but will
  restrain its power until Napoleon!