Chapter 7 Peace of Utrecht (1713) and the “Crisis of European Conscience”
In: The 1713 Peace of Utrecht and its Enduring Effects
Author:
Martti Koskenniemi
Martti Koskenniemi
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Abstract
This chapter examines some of the contradictions and conflicts in 18th century international politics and political thought. It opposes the Christian pacifism of Fénelon with the Hobbersian realism of the Abbé de Saint-Pierre and the ideologies behind the pragmatic comprise that was the balance of power. It contrasts the development of the Public Law of Europe with the commercial spirit and the spread of ideas of “liberty” in the (British) colonies with expanding slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean. Overcoming the “crisis of European conscience” meant learning to live with belief in contradictory things.