Izmir University of Economics
Department of International Relations and the European Union
IREU 201
Diplomatic History I
Summer School Syllabus
Ozan ARSLAN
ozan.arslan@ieu.edu.tr
oarslan@hotmail.com - tel. 0 232 4888265
Course Description
Diplomatic History focuses on politics, politicians and high rulers as being the driving force of continuity and change
in history. It is the study of international relations between states or across state boundaries and is the most common form of
history.
Diplomacy has been written as long as history has been in existence but the modern form of diplomacy was codified
in the 19th century by the German historian Leopold von Ranke. He wrote largely on the history of early modern
Europe, using the diplomatic archives of the European powers, especially Venice, to create a detailed understanding of
the history of Europe as it actually happened.
For Ranke, diplomatic history is the most important kind of history because of his idea of the primacy or dominance of
foreign affairs. Accordingly, the concerns of international relations drive the internal development of the state. Ranke’s
understanding of diplomatic history relied, as sources, on the large number of official documents produced by
modern western states and his idea remained dominant in history writing through the first half of the 20th century.
Combined with the War Guilt Clause of the 1919 Versailles treaty, this emphasis resulted in a large amount of
historical writings on the subject of the origins of World War I. The involved governments printed an huge and
carefully edited collections of documents, and many historians wrote multi-volume histories of the origins of the war.
The early works concluded that German goals of world power were the principal cause of the war. This fitted fairly
well into Ranke’s emphasis on foreign policy.
In the course of the 1960s, some German historians like Hans-Ulrich Wehler began to disagree and suggested a
primacy of domestic policy. Accordingly, the insecurities of German domestic policy drove the creation of foreign policy.
This resulted in many writings interpreting the domestic policies of various states and the ways this influenced their
conduct of foreign policy.
At the same time, there was a general de-emphasis on Diplomatic History. The French Annales school emphasized
the role of geography and economics on history, and the importance of broad, slow cycles rather than the constant
movement of the “history of events” of high politics. Fernand Braudel in his work on the Mediterranean in the Age
of Philip II focused more on the broad cycles of history in the long term rather than on the traditional Rankean
diplomatic history. Under the influence of the Annales, there came a turning away from diplomatic political history
towards an emphasis on broader trends of economic and environmental change. In the 1960s and 1970s came
writings about the history of the underclass, using the quantitative statistical methods of social history. Although no
longer central, Diplomatic History remains a historical field in the same way Ranke pioneered in the middle of the
19th century.
Required Readings
- Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, Fontana
Press (any edition).
or/and
Paul Kennedy, Büyük Güçlerin Yükseliş ve Çöküşü, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları (any edition).
- Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, İmge Kitabevi Yayınları (any edition).
- Herman Kinder & Werner Hilgeman, Dünya Tarihi Atlası, Fransız Devrimi’ne Kadar (I. Tome), ODTÜ Press, Ankara,
2006.
and
Herman Kinder & Werner Hilgeman, Dünya Tarihi Atlası, Fransız Devrimi’nden Günümüze (II. Tome), ODTÜ Press,
Ankara, 2006.
Recommended Readings
- Henri Pirenne, Ortaçağ Avrupa'sının Ekonomik ve Sosyal Tarihi (Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe), İletişim
Yayınları, Istanbul, 2005.
- R.R. Palmer, Joel Colton, Lloyd Kramer, A History of the Modern World, (Tenth edition), McGraw Hill, New York
- Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy, Simon&Schuster, New York, 1994.
- Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1992.
- Robin George Collingwood, The Idea of History, Oxford University Press, Berkshire, 1994.
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- Nuri Yurdusev, International Relations and the Philosophy of History, A Civilizational Approach, Palgrave Macmillan, New
York, 2003.
Course Requirements
Students should participate at least 70% of the courses. As it is stipulated in university regulations students
failing to meet that limit cannot take final exams. Students are expected to do the assigned readings before coming to
class, and take the midterm and final exams when posted.
Office Hours
I strongly encourage you to take advantage of my office hours to ask questions or have a performance
feedback on how you are progressing in the class. In case of a problem on the issues raised in the course please do
not hesitate to visit me. By that way we may take necessary measures to improve both your comprehension of the
material and academic performance.
Office hours:
Tuesday
13.00 – 15.00
Room number: C 715
Attendance and Participation
Participation
Midterm I
Midterm II
Exams and Grading
10%
10%
40%
40%
Schedule of Courses
This schedule is a guideline to help you plan your reading and get ready for exams. Every effort should be
made to complete the readings assigned before the class. Falling behind in readings will lead to hardships in
absorbing the lectures and will decrease your success in writing class essays. In that sense doing both readings and
attending class conscientiously is crucial for your success also in class discussions.
Week One: Introduction of the course and the course material
The Military and Naval Rise of Europe

Technological and economic rise of the western Europe by the 16 th century, relative decline of the
“Eastern World”, birth of the European overseas colonial empires.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Pre-industrial World” in The Rise and Fall of the Great
Powers, Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 3-30.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 51-70.
Week Two: The Habsburg Attempt for the Mastery of Europe; the Thirty Years’ War and the Military
Revolution

Rise of the Habsburg dynastic bloc’s military, economic and naval power in Europe, Spanish
Habsburgs’ attempt for a predominance in western Europe; Catholic-Protestant rivalry in the Holy
Roman Empire of the German Nation, the Thirty Years’ War and the European “Military Revolution”.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Preindustrial World” in The Rise and Fall of the Great
Powers, Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 31-72.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 70-74.
The Westphalian Order, the Financial Revolution, the Rise of the French Kingdom

End of the Thirthy Years’ War in Europe, the Westphalian settlement and the rising force of the
secularist realpolitiks and nation-states in western and central Europe; European courts’ successes to
finance their expensive armed conflicts; the birth of the greatest western European monarchy France
under Richelieu and Louis XIV “Le Roi Soleil”.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Preindustrial World” in The Rise and Fall of the Great
Powers, Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 73-100.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 74-77.
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Week Three: The Wars of Spanish and Austrian Successions, the Franco-British Global Struggle and the
Seven Years’ War

French Bourbon attempts for the mastery of western Europe; the decline of the Spanish Empire; the
Austro-Prussian rivalry in the collapsing Holy Roman Empire; Franco-British colonial struggle in the
American colonies (the French-Indian War) ending with the colonial supremacy of Britain.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Preindustrial World” in The Rise and Fall of the Great
Powers, Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 100-115.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 77-109.
American War of Independence, The Great French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars

Birth of the United States of America in the Thirteen colonies of the British Empire; crisis of the
French monarchy, political effects of the European Enlightenment and the outbreak of the French
Revolution; rise of Napoléon Bonaparte and his attempt for a hegemonic French power in Europe
through stunning military victories.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Preindustrial World” in The Rise and Fall of the Great
Powers, Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 115-142.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 110-128.
Week Four: The Vienna Settlement, the Industrial and 1830 and 1848 Revolutions in Europe

Peace Congress of Vienna ending the Napoleonic Wars, Metternich’s Order and the “Concert of
Europe” between the five Great Powers, Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia; the Industrial
Revolution and the liberal and nationalist reflections of the French Revolution between the 1830’s and
1850’s.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 143-169.
Norman Rich, “Peacemaking 1814-1815” and “Peacekeeping 1815-1823: The Concert of Europe” in Great Power
Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 1-43.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 128-143.
Midterm Examination I
Week Five: The Crimean War and the American Civil War

Crisis in the “Concert of Europe”, Russian expansionism disturbing the balance of power and the
consequent reactions of the other Great Powers, Paris Peace Conference of 1856; the re-unification and
consolidation of the United States of America.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 170-193.
Norman Rich, “The Crimean War” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 101-121.
Norman Rich, “The Great Powers and the American Civil War” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 147-164.
Unifications of Italy and Germany

Unification of the Italic peninsula under the flag of Sardinia-Piedmont and Garibaldi, the birth of the
Kingdom of Italia, a new and relatively weak “Great Power” in 1861; the “ Brüderskrieg” of 1866
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between Austria and Prussia, the North German Confederation, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71,
the Treaty of Frankfurt and the birth of the united Germany (Reichsgründung).
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 182-193.
Norman Rich, “The Unification of Italy” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 123-144.
Norman Rich, “The Unification of Germany” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 184-215.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 159-165.
Week Six: System of Alliances, Clash of Imperialisms, Triple Alliance versus Triple Entente

Bismarck’s status quo politics, French revanchism, Russo-German and Austro-Italian distrusts; British
concerns for the imperial and naval supremacies; foundations of the Triple Alliance (1882) and Triple
Entente (1907).
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 194-249.
Norman Rich, “The Breakdown of Bismarck’s Alliance System” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 251-262.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 171-210.
Prelude to the WW I, “Guns of August” of 1914

Pan-Slavism versus Pan-Germanism in the Balkans, the Sarajevo assassination; the casus foederis
factor triggering a general European war.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 250-259.
Norman Rich, “Confrontational Diplomacy” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 408-420.
Norman Rich, “The Coming of World War I” in Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, pp. 440-461.
Midterm Examination II
Week Seven: The First World War Part I: Attempts of the Central Powers for a Final Victory

Start of the “Great War”, failure of the Schlieffen Plan of Germany and the consequent double front
war; intervention of different powers, the entrenchment of the Central Powers ; the costly Russian
tenacity versus Germanic powers in the Eastern Front.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 256-264.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 259-279.
The First World War Part II: The Russian Revolution and the US Entry into the Great War, the
Entente’s Victory

Russian Revolution and the Breat-Litowsk Treaties, end of the Great War on the Eastern Front; entry
of USA into the European War; Germany’s last attempts for a decisive victory and its final exhaustion.
Readings: Paul Kennedy, “Strategy and Economics in the Industrial Era” in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, pp. 264-274.
Oral Sander, Siyasi Tarih, İlkçağlardan 1918’e, pp. 279-285.
Midterm Examination III
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Recommended Videos for the Course
-
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Troy
Gladiator
Kingdom of Heaven
Braveheart
Apocalypto
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Queen Margot
Alatriste
The Last of the Mohicans
The Patriot
Waterloo
Amistad
Gods and Generals
Master and Commander
Dance with Wolves
The Last Samurai
A very long engagement
Admiral
Recommended Media for the Course
-
History Channel
Discovery Channel
The class presentations can be found at http://homes.ieu.edu.tr/~oarslan
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