Page 145 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1446 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is dynamism. Peace
is generosity. It is a right and it is a duty. • Oscar Romero (1917–1980)

Dubois’s project fell into oblivion for three hundred and imports. But in return, according to Penn, the mem-
years. During that period, the papal dream of temporal ber nations would have to abandon the key attribute of
power vanished, as did the imperial one of a united national sovereignty—unanimity of decision—within
Christendom, despite a last attempt in the sixteenth cen- the assembly by accepting a three-fourths majority vote.
tury by Emperor Charles V to revive it. As a reaction to A nation could thus be compelled to act according to the
this last imperial endeavor, the European nation-states will of others.
emerged. Dubois’s text was republished in 1611: His The project proposed by Saint-Pierre (1648–1743),
project of a council of sovereign European states, anachro- first published in 1712, is based on two observations:
nistic in 1310, was now conceivable. firstly, that peace could not be achieved as long as Eu-
rope lacked a treaty-enforcing mechanism, and secondly,
Peace Among that the balance of power was a continuous threat to
Sovereign States peace.To settle these problems, he suggested the creation
The rise of the modern state system during the sixteenth of a “grand alliance,” supported by international armed
and seventeenth centuries resulted in a new doctrine, the forces. Saint-Pierre, unlike Penn, proposed an equal rep-
balance of power. Although based on equipoise, the sys- resentation of the twenty-four European states.
tem saw states continuously struggling to alter the bal- For many years, Saint-Pierre sent improved versions of
ance for their own benefit. Competition for glory or for his plan to European sovereigns in the hope that they
economic or territorial superiority—the New World had would realize how they would benefit from organized
just been discovered—was an added source of tension. international relations, adding to his own text objections
War was an extreme yet lawful means of conducting rela- and counterobjections to overcome any criticism. Like
tions among rival states. Conflicts increased accordingly Penn, Saint-Pierre trusted that the European rulers would
and, as a byproduct, fostered thoughts on peace. But phi- assess the economic advantages of a peaceful order. But
losophers were aware that calls for Christian universal in the 1729 edition of his treaty, the Abbé confessed he
brotherhood would fall on deaf ears.They had to follow had underestimated the essential concern of European
in Dubois’s footsteps and sketch plans for independent leaders, that is, to keep their freedom of action, or what
nations to voluntarily join a partnership for the common they called their national sovereignty. However much he
good. Thus, the peace projects of the seventeenth and claimed that preserving the members’ independence
eighteenth centuries—Emeric Crucé’s Nouveau Cynée, against an aggressor was precisely the aim of a union, no
Sully’s Grand Design, the Abbé de Saint-Pierre’s Project to one seriously considered it. Saint-Pierre incurred several
Bring Perpetual Peace in Europe, William Penn’s Essay pungent comments from his contemporaries. Voltaire
towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe—are all (1694–1778) scoffed at this “Saint-Pierre of Utopia”
variations on the same idea. Penn’s and Saint-Pierre’s who was naive enough to believe that princes, in the
projects are especially representative of this period.They name of peace, would abandon precisely that power
are, as well, exceptions to the previous assertion that which defines them. National sovereignty was the stum-
peace plans generally promote specific interests, although bling block of peace projects.
they are certainly Eurocentric.
In his 1693 Essay, Penn (1644–1718) suggested the The Kantian Approach
creation of a European parliament, which would meet to Perpetual Peace
periodically and whose task would be to settle disputes Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was the first to address
by arbitration and punish aggressive behavior. National the inescapable fact of national sovereignty. His Thoughts
representatives would be sent to the “Diet” (the assembly) on Perpetual Peace (1795) is the most quoted and influ-
in proportion to each nation’s power, revenues, exports, ential text on peace. Surprisingly, however, it pertains to