The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) [Paperback]

Paul W. Schroeder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0198206542 | ISBN-13: 978-0198206545

This is the only modern study of European international politics to cover the entire timespan from 1763 to 1848. Paul Schroeder's comprehensive and authoritative volume charts the course of international history over this turbulent period, in which the map of Europe was redrawn time and time again. He examines the wars, political crises, and diplomatic opportunities of the age, many of which--the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna and its aftermath--had far-reaching consequences for modern Europe. This book is a worthy complement to A. J. P. Taylor's classic The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Presupposing considerable background and frequently taking issue with conventional wisdom, this important historical interpretation of international relations focuses almost entirely on the aims and tactics of statesmen responsible for foreign policy. Schroeder (Univ. of Illinois) argues, in great detail and with formidable scholarship, that a third of a century of great power equilibrium was achieved only because the players learned the hard way that balance-of-power politics, with its constantly shifting alliances, led only to war, not security. Revolutionary change in international behavior, not the restoration of old ways, came with the Congress of Vienna. Acceptance of hegemony by states unequal in power, new developments in international law, and broader international consensus permitted peace and progress. Essential for academic libraries.
- R. James Tobin, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Milwaukee
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Narratively, the tangles of this diplomatic story touch on France, from its abject position at the conclusion of the Seven Years War through its recovery and overweening expansion as a Napoleonic empire, culminating in its accommodation to the new state system of the congress of Vienna. Analytically, the author devotes his text to appraising that new system aborning more than the 85 years covered here, during which statesmen gradually shed balance-of-power politics for an early form of collective security. In punctilious detail, Schroeder explains the fears and aspirations--and the strategems to allay or effect them--pursued by each great power. Thus, his book is 95 percent cogitation, 5 percent action; it rushes forward for a page, then takes 10 to explain what just happened, such as the chronic question of Poland (partitioned) or the Ottoman Empire (almost so), or Napoleon and Alexander I's ill-fated Tilsit deal of 1807. Stolid and serious, this nuanced addition to Oxford's well-regarded History of Modern Europe series should stand a long test of time. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 920 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 21, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198206542
• ISBN-13: 978-0198206545
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,426,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great and necessary work, but biased, February 10, 2000

By 

A. Stavropoulos - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) (Paperback)

"The Transformation of European Politics" has become THE standard text on diplomatic affairs of the 1763-1848. Its sweeping theses capture the reader. Where the book runs into trouble is the author's insistence on the culpability of France and Napoleon for the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. According to Schroeder the British and their allies were willing to accept French domination of Western Europe but Napoleon never accepted any limits to his goals and embarked on a campaign of World Conquest. Anything the Brits did to organize coalitions to destroy France was only in response to French aggression, etc. And the Congress of Vienna was the greatest human achievement since man learned to write, despite the fact that it stiffled the development of democracy in Europe. In particular I noticed points where Schroeder selectively uses arguments of older historians, but then fails to use arguments of the same historians which contradict his thesis (Albert Sorel for one). An important work, even if you need to argue against it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important Work, December 3, 2011

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) (Hardcover)

This somewhat dense but well written book is the standard work on European international politics in this period. In many ways a fairly traditional diplomatic history, Schroeder provides a detailed and thoughtful narrative of diplomatic manuvering and the political aspects of wars in the period leading up to the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars themselves, the nature of the post-Napoleonic settlement, and European diplomacy from 1815 to 1848. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars are a particular focus; out of 17 chapters, 10 are devoted to the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

The narrative is detailed and quite readable, though many of the events described are fairly complex. What really distinguishes this book are some of Schroeder's broad interpretations. One important interpretation, which I believe is now accepted generally by historians of this period is that Revolutionary-Napoleonic France would have been accepted by the European state system if not so unremittingly aggressive. Other themes pursued throughout the book are the particular difficulties of the Austrian empire and the emergence of Britain and Russia as geographically peripheral but hegemonic powers. Schroeder's most important interpretation, however, is his argument, reflected in the title, about the metamorphosis of the European state system.

Schroeder argues convincingly that the Napoleonic wars produced a decisive and beneficial change in the European state system. The latter is construed quite broadly as it includes the Ottoman empire and there were connections with the USA and even Persia. Schroeder describes the 18th century balance-of-power system as an instrinsically unstable zero-sum that promoted aggression by the major powers and in which smaller states were continual victims. The experience of great conflict, particularly that provoked by Napoleon, produced a distinctly different system in which great powers restrained themselves in potential conflicts that could produce war, territorial borders were generally respected, and the security of weaker states was respected as essential to to providing buffers between larger states. Schroeder makes this argument quite convincingly and points to the relative success of the Congress of Vienna and the relative durability of European peace up to the 1840s as evidence of the strength of the new system. As a corollary, Schroeder argues also that it is incorrect to see the Congress of Vienna settlement as an attempt to turn back the clock and restore the ancien regime.

While Schroeder's broad interpretation is convincing, there are some limitations in the nature and presentation of his analysis. Because of the unavoidably complex narrative, there is something of a forest for the trees problem for readers in appreciating the evidence for Schroeder's argument. Perhaps more important, Schroeder's narrative tends to omit what may be some important features that probably contributed to the transformation of the state system. One of the reasons for the change of the state system was that these were different states. Led by the French state, this period sees a considerable increase in state power, including war capacity via conscription. In some states, international politics becomes more entangled in domestic politics, somewhat different from the more dynastic nature of most 18th century states. Readers interested in an interesting overview of the changes in European states resulting from the Napoleonic wars should look up Michael Broers interesting book on this topic.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exposing Napoleon as a rascal, November 14, 2004

By 

Devl's Advocate "RSHA" (Hölle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) (Paperback)

A truly refreshing look into the evolution of European diplomatic history from dynastic politics to cabinet politics to Realpolitik.

A refreshing look into Napoleon as a bumbling egomaniac a captain of the art of war in a sea of mediocrity, and an evil empire builder, despotic and neopotic. A pillager, liar, and bungler who was courting disasters in his every endeavours, only to be saved by his more incompetent, moronic adversaries.

Schroeder also blasts the system of the balance of power amongst the Great Powers (Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, France) as leading to instability, partitions and war, all at the expenses of less powers like Danmark, Poland, Ottoman Empire etc. as each of the Great Powers angled to tilt the balance to its favour.