Page 146 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

peace projects 1447

A country cannot simultaneously prepare and prevent war. • Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

the idea of lasting peace and not its fulfillment, as Kant’s sought to rationalize interstate dealings. As the belief in
vision of perpetual peace is one of an asymptotic quest: continuous human progress grew stronger as a conse-
Humanity will indefinitely tend toward it. quence of industrial and scientific development, perpet-
Kant believed that self-interest was the driving force ual peace represented the ultimate culmination of civi-
of mankind. He believed as well that, as much as war lization. In the modern world, peace activists believed,
is inherent to human life, the interest of men lay in sub- war would inexorably become obsolete, and many signs
mission to the moral law of peace.While men perpetu- supported this.
ally seek to impose their law upon others, they also fear Firstly, the “European concert,” even though designed
that a law will arbitrarily be imposed upon them.Their to suppress national emancipation and liberal reforms,
only hope of breaking that circle of insecurity is there- showed that leaders could meet during times of tension
fore to submit to a common law, a “social contract” of and find a common solution to European problems. Sec-
international scope, a federation—in other words, to cre- ondly, the international expansion of trade and commerce
ate a free union of nations instead of a supranational made clear the growing interdependence of nations; it
entity that would deny them their identity. Kant, how- seemed as if sovereignty would soon fall into obsoles-
ever, stressed one prerequisite for the success of any fed- cence. Also, newly founded nongovernmental organiza-
eral scheme. In the “first definitive article for perpetual tions like the telegraphic and postal unions showed that
peace,” he argued that “the civil constitution in each state nations could work together and adopt common rules
should be republican” (1983).Thus, a population which for the benefit of all. Finally, the popularity of the federal
is already governed by a social contract based on a con- idea in the United States, Switzerland (1848), Canada
stitution and on the separation of powers is likely to ac- (1867), and Germany (1871) validated Kant’s prediction
cept its international counterpart. By linking peace and that a federation of states (a Völkerbund) was a practica-
a republican regime—or democracy—this requirement ble solution, as the first discussion on the “United States
became the cornerstone of the liberal and modern ap- of Europe” was held at the 1849 Paris International Peace
proach to peace. Congress.
Kant expressed his views on peace and federalism Despite nationalism and armaments, which both grew
while the former American colonies were experiencing disproportionately at the end of the century, the belief
the first large-scale federal structure.As for Europe, ruled was strong among peace activists that war would even-
by balance of power, it was sinking into a twenty-year tually disappear with the help of reason, science, coop-
war as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s eration, and international law supported by arbitration
dream of a new imperial domination. and conciliation.The Great War came as a shock.

Peace, Progress, and Dream of a Perpetual Peace
Interdependence in the Contemporary World
Major conflicts drastically decreased in Europe after Between 1914 and 1918, many peace groups and indi-
Napoleon’s abdication in 1815, but a quarter of a cen- viduals still produced peace projects, mostly recapping
tury of turmoil had greatly stimulated ideas on peace. the propositions of the previous schemes (such as a fed-
Peace groups and peace plans flourished in the nine- eration of nations, parliament of mankind, interna-
teenth century. The impetus was provided by Quakers tional council, and executive force). For their authors,
who formed the first peace society in 1816.The goals of the conflagration made even more obvious the anarchy
these various groups were religious—applying Christian of the international system and the necessity of rebuild-
principles to national and international relations—as ing it on the rule of law. Furthermore, the idea of an
well as humanistic. Inspired by the Enlightenment, they international organization for the purpose of preserving