Trade Must Go On. The Tar Trade, Nordic Rivalry, and Cross-Imperial Commercial Diplomacy, 1675–79

The Scanian War fought between Sweden and Denmark (1675–1679) is an example of an armed conflict, which uncovers the clash between the commercial and political interests. This article analyses the dispute between the political allies, the Danish Crown and the Dutch States General considering the trade with Sweden. The Danish naval officials had captured and confiscated the cargoes of seven Dutch tar vessels, heading to Amsterdam from present-day Finland in 1677, which resulted in a major political dispute between Denmark and the Dutch Republic. By drawing upon the methodology of new diplomatic history, the article analyses the negotiations between the diplomatic actors involved in the disputes relating to the confiscation of the ships, all of whom represented the various powers involved in the Baltic export trade.

The Legality of a Jewish State

In The Legality of a Jewish State, the author traces the diplomatic history that led to the partition of Palestine in 1948 and the creation of Israel as a state. He argues that the fate of Palestine was not determined on the basis of principle, but by the failure of legality. In focusing on the lawyer-diplomats who pressed for and against a Jewish state at the United Nations, he offers an explanation of the effort in 1947-48 by Arab states at the UN to gain a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice about partition and the declaration of a Jewish state. Their arguments at that time may surprise a twenty-first-century reader, touching on issues that are still at the heart of the contemporary conflict in the Middle East.

Japan’s Diplomatic Proactive Stance towards Indochina and the Cambodian Problem (1970)

This article assesses the Japanese diplomatic contribution through the prism of the Indochinese political situation in the early 1970s. The traditional literature depicts Japan’s non-existent proactivism in postwar foreign politics, based on its alleged unconditional dependence on Washington’s political agenda. However, throughout the 1970s there were occasions in which the country showed how it was independently engaged at a diplomatic level. This has often been overlooked by the literature produced in the field, but it is an irrefutable conclusion from the historical evidence and the analysis of the archival sources. Japan’s diplomatic commitment in solving the problem of peace in Cambodia, its double effort as a diplomatic intermediary between the political actors involved in the Indochinese issue and, at the same time, through the ODA policy, may offer the missing elements for a no longer univocal interpretation of its postwar diplomatic history—which is the aim of this essay.

Three Hungarian Diplomats’ Emissary Diaries – A Comparative Analysis of Emissary Diaries of János Rimay, Gáspár Tassy and Mihály Tholdalagi in the Context of the 1627 Peace Treaty of Szőny

The article focuses on the examination of three emissary diaries related to the Peace Treaty of Szőny (1627). These sources differ considerably from the most widespread sources used in the diplomatic history. The diaries were published earlier but have not been systematically compared yet. These diaries approach the treaty from different perspectives even though they touch upon the same affair. The emissaries arrived to the peace talks with various mandates, resided in different places, and exchanged their correspondence with different persons, thus gaining access to the same pieces of information at different times and/or in different places. Therefore, it is reasonable to pose the following questions: what kind of information was known by whom in a given moment; which specific aspect of the peace talks was concerned; who could exert an influence on the process; and, respectively, how and for what purpose the pieces of information were retrieved from a participant; or how these pieces of information were used by those who belonged to the participant’s network of relations.

Rethinking the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty: Perceptions and Receptions Within Egyptian Society (1977–1982)

The Egyptian–Israeli peace treaty marked a new era in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict. Relying methodologically on the history of ideas and diplomatic history, this article sheds light on the diversity of the perceptions and receptions of peace and relations with Israel as manifested by two influential Egyptian public opinion shapers who represented polar approaches—the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brothers—the journal Al-Da‘wa and Rūz al-Yūsuf, the semi-independent liberal weekly with a moderate left bias. The timeframe is 1977–1982—from Sadat’s historical visit to Jerusalem to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its impact on the budding Israeli–Egyptian relations.

Impact of War: a Diplomatic History of New Zealand's Economic Relations With Britain, 1939-1954

<p>This study is a diplomatic history of Anglo-New Zealand economic relations through World War II and the postwar decade. During this tine Britain's priorities were such as to sharply alter her economic interests in New Zealand, compared both with the pre-war and post-1954 eras. It is this transformation which gives the period its distinctive coloration. Throughout these years Britain wanted New Zealand to conserve and direct her resources, initially to assist in the war effort, subsequently to aid the tasks of reconstruction. New Zealand gave active support to Britain. Nonetheless, she could not completely disregard her own interests. In the short-term, there was always pressure to buy on the cheapest and sell on the dearest market. In the long-term, New Zealand faced more fundamental decisions. Should she seek economic security through close association with Britain? Should she diversify her economic relations? Should she try to insulate her domestic from the international economy? These longstanding concerns can be traced through the period. They, too, moulded the course of events. Chapter one looks at the record of economic diplomacy before 1939. Chapters two to five look at the World War II period. Chapter two examines the period from the perspectives of the restraint Britain sought to impose on New Zealand in the consumption of resources. Chapters three to five trace the history of New Zealand's export industries - her major contribution to the struggle - through the war. Chapters six to ten span the post-war decade. Chapter six follows the theme of chapter two through to 1949. Chapter seven looks at Britain's concern about the commercial implications of New Zealand's import policies - a concern which had taken a back seat through the war. Chapters eight and ten take the history of the food export industries through to 1954. Chapter nine picks up the themes of chapters six and seven and takes them through to 1954, and also looks at the wool trade after 1946. Lastly, chapter eleven looks at how the relationship between the two countries evolved after 1954. The end of the long period of stringency meant a return in some, but certainly not in all, respects to pre-war conditions.</p>

Impact of War: a Diplomatic History of New Zealand's Economic Relations With Britain, 1939-1954

<p>This study is a diplomatic history of Anglo-New Zealand economic relations through World War II and the postwar decade. During this tine Britain's priorities were such as to sharply alter her economic interests in New Zealand, compared both with the pre-war and post-1954 eras. It is this transformation which gives the period its distinctive coloration. Throughout these years Britain wanted New Zealand to conserve and direct her resources, initially to assist in the war effort, subsequently to aid the tasks of reconstruction. New Zealand gave active support to Britain. Nonetheless, she could not completely disregard her own interests. In the short-term, there was always pressure to buy on the cheapest and sell on the dearest market. In the long-term, New Zealand faced more fundamental decisions. Should she seek economic security through close association with Britain? Should she diversify her economic relations? Should she try to insulate her domestic from the international economy? These longstanding concerns can be traced through the period. They, too, moulded the course of events. Chapter one looks at the record of economic diplomacy before 1939. Chapters two to five look at the World War II period. Chapter two examines the period from the perspectives of the restraint Britain sought to impose on New Zealand in the consumption of resources. Chapters three to five trace the history of New Zealand's export industries - her major contribution to the struggle - through the war. Chapters six to ten span the post-war decade. Chapter six follows the theme of chapter two through to 1949. Chapter seven looks at Britain's concern about the commercial implications of New Zealand's import policies - a concern which had taken a back seat through the war. Chapters eight and ten take the history of the food export industries through to 1954. Chapter nine picks up the themes of chapters six and seven and takes them through to 1954, and also looks at the wool trade after 1946. Lastly, chapter eleven looks at how the relationship between the two countries evolved after 1954. The end of the long period of stringency meant a return in some, but certainly not in all, respects to pre-war conditions.</p>