POLI 212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Long Nineteenth Century
17 May 2018
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POLI 212 - Lecture 4
01/22/2018
Mazower Reading (Topic 1)
● Focuses explicitly on period from 1918 to 1945
● 1918: death of old regimes
○ Principle of monarchy from that point on is no longer credible option in Europe
● Mazower’s basic point is that the twilight of monarchy in 1918 doesn’t mark the dawn of
democracy
○ There is an interim where democracy continues to be challenged
○ Not challenged in a form of attempts to restore old regimes
○ New forms of resistance to democracy emerge from 1918-1945
● Organizing principles antithetical to democracy primarily because they are organized
around extreme political concentration
○ These challenges are all to some extent committed to some form of dictatorial rule
(be it by person, family, faction, etc.)
■ Extreme concentration of political power in small group and small set of
institutions
○ At this time dictatorship like this brings with it severe reductions to all kinds of
liberal rights
○ 20s/30s to the end of WWII: Challenges include Fascism and Communism, AND
Catholic and authoritarian forms of anti-democratic political regimes
Topic 2: States, Nations, and their Histories: State-Making and State-Breaking?
Patterns of State and Nation Formation
● 4 key cases in developed West: Britain, France, Germany, and Italy
● Distinction between early state-making and late state-making
○ Britain and France are early
○ Germany and Italy are late
○ What are the results, dis/advantages of being a early or late state-maker?
○ Distinctive features of historical period (1870-1890s) in which late state-makers
emerged
■ Entering process of industrialization relatively late
■ Period of increasing interstate conflict
● Distinguish different types of states in terms of their political structure
○ Composite States: Great Britain
○ Unitary States: France
○ Federal States: Italy and Germany
● Distinguish different types of states in terms of their social structure
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○ Nation-state: state that is organized around one dominant common, core group;
one shared collective identity
○ Multinational State: state in which there are multiple national identities
coexisting within a shared set of political institutions
● Finally we will compare Britain and France, and Germany and Italy
Origins of European Society of States
● How did the principle of the state come to dominate European political organization?
○ States are the most fundamental political organization in Europe
○ States’ monopolize the legitimate use of force w/in their borders, but not beyond
● At some point in time the distinction between domestic hierarchy and interstate
anarchy comes to organize Euro society
○ That distinction is embedded and reproduced throughout the long 19th century
though its origins are much earlier
○ How did this distinction come to be entrenched?
● Origins of system of sovereign states can be found in the Peace of Westphalia
○ Series of peace treaties signed in 1648
○ According to Philpot (reading) and many others it stands as a milestone and
historical fulcrum
○ Very simply a peace settlement consisting of three treaties
■ One treaty ends war between Spain and Netherlands
■ One treaty ends conflict between Holy Roman Empire and Sweden
■ One treaty ends conflict between Holy Roman Empire and France
○ What emerges from this peace is a new kind of political equilibrium
■ Beginning of the end of the principle of imperial organization
■ New equilibrium will come to be organized around territorial states
○ Four central organizing features:
■ 1: Its comprehensive: it is expected and designed to apply to all of Europe
● First major political conference held by European powers
■ 2: It rejects universal and imperial authority in favor of state autonomy
■ 3: Westphalia treats states as formally equal
■ 4: It contributes to the emergence of the principle of non-intervention in
the affairs of other states
● The authority and national interest of states end at their borders
○ Enduring legacy is that states are equal and autonomous and are not subject to an
overarching sovereignty or enduring power
■ Westphalia is sticky → 1648 was a long time ago but states are still
dominant in modern political life
○ No Protestant Reformation → no Peace of Westphalia → no European society
of states (Philpot adds part about Protestant Reformation)
Consequences of Brexit on territorial structure of Great Britain and United Kingdom
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Focuses explicitly on period from 1918 to 1945. Principle of monarchy from that point on is no longer credible option in europe. Mazower"s basic point is that the twilight of monarchy in 1918 doesn"t mark the dawn of democracy. There is an interim where democracy continues to be challenged. Not challenged in a form of attempts to restore old regimes. New forms of resistance to democracy emerge from 1918-1945. Organizing principles antithetical to democracy primarily because they are organized around extreme political concentration. These challenges are all to some extent committed to some form of dictatorial rule (be it by person, family, faction, etc. ) Extreme concentration of political power in small group and small set of institutions. At this time dictatorship like this brings with it severe reductions to all kinds of liberal rights. 20s/30s to the end of wwii: challenges include fascism and communism, and. Catholic and authoritarian forms of anti-democratic political regimes.
