Withdrawing from Europe
Anglo-French Maritime Geopolitics, 1750–1800
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12051069 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel A Baugh (Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-32 |
| Publication date | 1998-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The International History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0707-5332 • E-ISSN: 1949-6540 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07075332.1998.9640813 |
| OpenAlex | W1985843461 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
Britain's external policy during the long eighteenth century from 1689 to 1815 is often viewed as consistent: thus, the enduring rivalry between Britain and France, featuring seven lengthy wars, is often termed the Second Hundred Years War. Large facts support such a view. Throughout the period, the two states were rivals at sea. France threatened Britain with invasion and mounted maritime and colonial challenges, while Britain employed its naval power and superior financial capability to foster alliances and to hire and transport troops to fight against France in Europe. There were only two occasions when this pattern did not hold: the first when France's navy was practically non-existent (1715-30), the second when France fought Britain without having to deal with a Continental military opponent (1778-83). All in all, then, there are good reasons for considering the 125-year span as a whole; I myself did so when writing in this journal ten years ago.1 The broad perspective obscures the degree to which British policy changed during the second half of the century. This essay, therefore, has two objectives. First, it seeks to show that, after 1750, Britain emphasized global, maritime, and colonial concerns and marginalized European ones to such an extent that neither the general balance of power in Europe nor even particular territorial priorities seemed any longer to be a compelling concern. Instead, Britain's European policy was dominated by commercial and maritime issues such as access for its goods and to Baltic naval materials, and maritime rights. Second, the essay explains how and why this happened. The key to the explanation is the redirection of French policy in the 1750s. Without the change in French policy, Britain's withdrawal from Europe in the second half of the century would not have been feasible
Ancient history · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Geopolitics · Political science · Politics · European Political History Analysis · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,21 |
| Citation span | 1998 - 2018 (21) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |