Jean Monnet, Treaties and Peace in Europe

Keyword(s):  
Grotiana ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-159
Author(s):  
Edward Jones Corredera

Abstract The early Spanish Enlightenment was shaped by debates over corporations, sovereignty, and the balance of power in Europe. Spanish officials, in this context, turned to the ideas of Hugo Grotius to establish joint-stock companies that could allow the Crown to regain control over its imperial domains and establish perpetual peace in Europe. This article recovers the writings of Félix Fernando de Sotomayor, Duke of Sotomayor (1684–1767), who drew on the works of Grotius, Samuel Pufendorf, and Charles Dutot in order to show that the history of these corporations chronicled the contestation and erosion of Spanish power and the diversion of European states from their true interests. Sovereigns, not merchants, argued Sotomayor, could guarantee fair trade and the equitable distribution of wealth. The study of Sotomayor’s views on trade, natural law, and alienation challenges traditional interpretations about the Iberian engagement with Grotius, the rise of capitalist hopes in Southern and Northern Europe, and Spain’s investment in the Enlightenment.


Author(s):  
Natalia Zherlitsina

The article examines the relationship between the two leading powers of the 19th century, Great Britain and France, against the background of colonial rivalry in North Africa. Analyzing relevant English, French, and Moroccan diplomatic documents, the author concludes that the issue of establishing a dominant influence in Morocco was one of the main issues in the relations between Great Britain and France in 1830–1840. The French takeover of Algeria disrupted the regional and European balance of influence and gave a conflicting character to the relations between the competing powers. The “Entente Cordiale” (“Cordial Accord”), designed to contribute to the preservation of peace in Europe, acted as a deterrent that did not allow Great Britain and France to move to an open phase of confrontation in the Maghreb. The sharp phase of the rivalry between the two powers in Morocco occurred in 1837–1844 and was associated with the name of the hero of the liberation struggle of Algeria from the French invaders, Emir Abd al-Qadir. The Franco-Moroccan War of 1844 ended with the defeat of Morocco, facing the threat of French occupation. Due to the pressure from British diplomacy, the Franco-Moroccan treaty was concluded, and the sultanate existed as an independent country for about sixty years, although in fact the European powers did not stop systematically undermining the country's sovereignty.


1997 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-559
Author(s):  
Timothy Garden
Keyword(s):  

2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid van Biezen ◽  
Helen Wallace

Unity and peace in Europe, freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe: Government and Opposition's founding editor Ghiţă Ionescu – the centenary of whose birth this special issue commemorates – might have been contented to see that two of his main ideals have now by and large been realized. At the same time, in contemporary Europe we can observe a huge variety of forms of opposition to the conventional holders of power, who appear to have been unable to respond successfully to new and pressing societal and economic challenges. The old convictions that once characterized politics in the European liberal democracies are gradually eroding, while the volatile and fragmented polities of the new post-communist democracies in the East are only adding to the increased uncertainties. The ongoing financial and economic crises have exacerbated many of the existing tensions, between new and old generations, between groups with levels of educational attainment, and between the domestic and supra-national levels. European democracies in the twenty-first century are thus having to contend with various challenges that are aimed, directly or indirectly, at the core of the political system, including the populist disregard for some of the fundamental values of liberal democracy and the rule of law, the variety of anti-establishment parties and movements challenging the democratic legitimacy of a discredited financial and political class, and the unclear outcomes of further European integration. Taken together, the contributions to this special issue suggest, these developments may cast a different light on our empirical and normative understanding of the European models of liberal democracy and the welfare state


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