The Transformation of European Politics: 1763-1848.

• Author: Davis, James W.

The publication of The Transformation of European Politics, 1763-1848 confirms not only the preeminence of the Oxford History of Modern Europe among modern historical series, but also Paul Schroeder's position as a diplomatic historian and student of international politics of the first rank. Schroeder is among good company. Intended as a complete history of Europe from the French Revolution to the end of the Second World War, the Oxford series was launched with the publication of A.J.P. Taylor's The Struggle for Mastery in Europe.(1) Schroeder's book is no less sweeping than, and equally as analytic as, Taylor's volume. The Transformation of European Politics will no doubt assume its place as a standard text for students of diplomatic history as well as of political scientists interested in the study of international relations.

In light of the high standard set by Taylor, a comparison of the two volumes is inevitable. However, comparison should be made not only with regard to the quality of scholarship and writing found in each work. Rather, readers would do well to compare the central themes of each volume. Whereas Taylor highlights timeless elements of international politics and stresses continuities therein, Schroeder identifies critical disjunctures. For Taylor, international politics has always been characterized by balance of power politics; European diplomatic history is seen as an unending competition for dominance. But for Schroeder, balance of power politics were rejected in the nineteenth century, thereby producing the Concert of Europe, a system based on political equilibrium.

Given the impact of Taylor's analysis on over a quarter century of scholarship, Schroeder's thesis is bound to provoke much debate and stimulate new research on the character of nineteenth-century European politics. Indeed, this is one of Schroeder's goals: "to bring international politics back into the centre of this era of European history, where it once was and where it still belongs."

Although historians may require conversion, most political scientists will engage Schroeder's analysis already convinced that international politics is worthy of detailed examination and should be "understood and approached primarily from the standpoint of its own system and structure, and not as a dependent variable of any other systems or structures in society." From this perspective, the appeal of Schroeder's work derives less from the historical narrative and more...