Diplomatic history deals with the history of

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

between states. Diplomatic history can be different from international relations in that the former can concern itself with the foreign policy of one state while the latter deals with relations between two or more states. Diplomatic history tends to be more concerned with the history of diplomacy, but international relations concern more with current events and creating a model intended to shed explanatory light on international politics.Matusumoto, Saho "Diplomatic History" pages 314-316 in Kelly Boyd, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing'' (1999) p. 314.

History

Historiography

Ranke

In the 5th century BCE

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

was highly concerned with the relations among states. However

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

(1795-1886), the leading

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

historian of the 19th century CE, codified the modern form of diplomatic history. Ranke wrote largely on the history of

Early Modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histori ...

, using the diplomatic archives of the European powers (particularly the Venetians) to construct a detailed understanding of the history of Europe ''wie es eigentlich gewesen ist'' ("as it actually happened"). Ranke saw diplomatic history as the most important kind of history to write because of his idea of the "Primacy of Foreign Affairs" (''Primat der Aussenpolitik''), arguing that the concerns of international relations drive the internal development of the state. Ranke's understanding of diplomatic history relied on using as sources the large number of official documents produced by modern western governments; he argued that historians should examine such sources in an objective and neutral spirit.

20th century scholars

In the early 20th centuries, work by prominent diplomatic historians such as Charles Webster, Harold Temperley, Alfred Pribram, R.H. Lord and B.E. Schmitt were mostly concerned with the events such as the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

and the origins of the Franco-German War. A notable event in diplomatic history occurred in 1910 when the French government start to publish all of the archives relating to the war of 1870. The Bolsheviks in Russia published key secret papers from the Allies in 1918. Ranke's understanding of the dominance of foreign policy, and hence an emphasis on diplomatic history, remained the dominant paradigm in historical writing through the first half of the twentieth century. This emphasis, combined with the effects of the

War Guilt Clause War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

in the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

(1919) which ended the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, led to a huge amount of historical writing on the subject of the

origins of the war of 1914 The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded. Moreover, the Russian Civil ...

, with the involved governments printing huge, carefully edited, collections of documents and numerous historians writing multi-volume histories of the origins of the war. In the interwar period, most diplomatic historians tended to blame all of the Great Powers of 1914 for the First World War, arguing that the war was in effect everybody's responsibility. In general, the early works in this vein fit fairly comfortably into Ranke's emphasis on ''Aussenpolitik''. Historian Muriel Chamberlain notes that after the First World War: : diplomatic history replaced constitutional history as the flagship of historical investigation, at once the most important, most exact and most sophisticated of historical studies. She adds that after 1945, the trend reversed, allowing political, intellectual and social history to displace diplomatic history. For the first half of the 20th century, most diplomatic history working within the narrow confines of the ''Primat der Aussenpolitik'' approach was very narrowly concerned with foreign-policy making elites with little reference to broader historical forces. The most notable exceptions to this tendency were

A. J. P. Taylor Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televis ...

and William Medlicott in Britain,

Pierre Renouvin Pierre Renouvin (January 9, 1893 – December 7, 1974) was a French historian of international relations. He was born in Paris and attended Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he was awarded his aggrégation in 1912. Renouvin spent 1912-1914 traveling in ...

in France, and

William L. Langer William Leonard Langer (March 16, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American historian, intelligence analyst and policy advisor. He served as chairman of the history department at Harvard University. He was on leave during World War II as h ...

in the United States, who examined economic and domestic political forces.

Causes of World War Two

Moscow negotiations paaskivi yrjokoskinen nykopp paasonen 1939

Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's multi-volume ''

The Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

'', especially the first volume ''The Gathering Storm'' (1948) set the framework and the interpretation for much later

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

. His interpretation, echoing his own position before the war, that World War II was caused by the mad ambitions of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

; Churchill damned the cowardly and weak-willed British and French leaders who used

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...

in a futile effort to avoid the war. Churchill did not consider the argument that the alternative to appeasement was a premature war that Germany would win in 1938. The British historian

's 1961 book ''

The Origins of the Second World War ''The Origins of the Second World War'' is a non-fiction book by the English historian A. J. P. Taylor, examining the causes of World War II. It was first published in 1961 by Hamish Hamilton. Origins Taylor had previously written ''The Struggle ...

'' challenged Churchill's viewpoint and argued that Hitler had no master-plan for conquering the world. Instead he was an ordinary statesman –-an opportunistic leader seizing whatever chances he had for expansionism. The fact that a world war started over Poland in 1939 was due to diplomatic miscalculation by all the countries concerned, instead of being a case of German aggression. British historians such as D.C. Watt, Paul Kennedy, George Peden and David Dilks argued that appeasement was not an aberration, and that it was an old British tradition which in this case flowed from numerous structural, economic and military factors. Historians such as

Christopher Thorne Christopher Guy Thorne DLitt MA FBA (17 May 1934 – 20 April 1992) was a British historian and a Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex. He specialised in studying the Pacific War. He was a resident fellow at the ...

and

Harry Hinsley Sir Francis Harry Hinsley, (26 November 1918 – 16 February 1998) was an English historian and cryptanalyst. He worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and wrote widely on the history of international relations and British Int ...

abandoned the previous focus on individual leaders to discuss the broader societal influences such as public opinion and narrower ones like intelligence on diplomatic relations. In recent years the debates regarding the 1930s have continued, but new approaches are in use, such as an analysis in terms of Britain's national identity.

French approaches

A group of

French historians This is a list of French historians limited to those with a biographical entry in either English or French Wikipedia. Major chroniclers, annalists, philosophers, or other writers are included, if they have important historical output. Names are lis ...

centered around

(1893-1974) and his ''protégés''

Jean-Baptiste Duroselle Jean-Baptiste Duroselle (17 November 1917, Paris – 12 September 1994, Arradon) was a French historian and professor. He had initially considered an army career or study of geography, but his poor skills in mathematics and drawing led him to turn ...

and started a new type of international history in the 1950s that included taking into account what Renouvin called ' (profound forces) such as the influence of domestic politics on French foreign policy. However, Renouvin and his followers still followed the concept of ' with Renouvin arguing that French society under the Third Republic was “sorely lacking in initiative and dynamism” and Baumont arguing that French politicians had allowed "personal interests" to override "any sense of the general interest". In 1979, Duroselle's book ''La Décadence'' offered a total condemnation of the entire Third Republic as weak, cowardly and degenerate.

Fischer debate on World War One

At the same time, in 1961 when the German historian

Fritz Fischer Fritz Fischer (5 March 1908 – 1 December 1999) was a German historian best known for his analysis of the causes of World War I. In the early 1960s Fischer advanced the controversial thesis at the time that responsibility for the outbreak of the ...

published ''Griff nach der Weltmacht'', which established that Germany had caused the First World War led to the fierce "Fischer Controversy" that tore apart the West German historical profession.Matusumoto, Saho "Diplomatic History" pages 314-316 from ''The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing'' page 315. One result of Fischer's book was the rise in the ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' (Primacy of Domestic Politics) approach. As a result of the rise of the ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' school, diplomatic historians increasing started to pay attention to domestic politics. In the 1970s, the conservative German historian

Andreas Hillgruber Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (18 January 1925 – 8 May 1989) was a conservative German historian who was influential as a military and diplomatic historian who played a leading role in the ''Historikerstreit'' of the 1980s. In his controversial book ...

, together with his close associate

Klaus Hildebrand Klaus Hildebrand (born 18 November 1941, Bielefeld, Germany) is a German liberal-conservative historian whose area of expertise is 19th–20th-century German political and military history. Biography Hildebrand is an intentionalist on the ori ...

, was involved in a very acrimonious debate with the leftish German historian

Hans-Ulrich Wehler Hans-Ulrich Wehler (September 11, 1931 – July 5, 2014) was a German left-liberal historian known for his role in promoting social history through the " Bielefeld School", and for his critical studies of 19th-century Germany. Life Wehler was bo ...

over the merits of the ''Primat der Aussenpolitik'' ("primacy of foreign politics") and ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' ("primacy of domestic politics") schools. Hillgruber and Hildebrand made a case for the traditional ''Primat der Aussenpolitik'' approach to diplomatic history with the stress on examining the records of the relevant foreign ministry and studies of the foreign policy decision-making elite. Wehler, who favored the ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' approach, for his part contended that diplomatic history should be treated as a sub-branch of

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

, calling for theoretically-based research, and argued that the real focus should be on the study of the society in question.Kershaw (2000), pp. 9-10. Moreover, under the influence of the ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' approach, diplomatic historians in the 1960s, 70s and 80s start to borrow models from the social sciences.

Mason–Overy debate on internal pressures inside Nazi Germany

A notable example of the ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' approach was the claim by the British

Marxist historian Marxist historiography, or historical materialist historiography, is an influential school of historiography. The chief tenets of Marxist historiography include the centrality of social class, social relations of production in class-divided so ...

Timothy Mason Timothy Wright Mason (2 March 1940 – 5 March 1990) was an English Marxist historian of Nazi Germany. He was one of the founders of the ''History Workshop Journal'' and specialised in the social history of the Third Reich. He argued for the " ...

who claimed that the launch of World War II in 1939 was best understood as a “barbaric variant of social imperialism”. Mason argued that “Nazi Germany was always bent ''at some time'' upon a major war of expansion”.Kaillis, Aristotle ''Fascist Ideology'', London: Routledge, 2000 page 165 However, Mason argued that the timing of such a war was determined by domestic political pressures, especially as relating to a failing economy, and had nothing to do with what Hitler wanted. In Mason's view in the period between 1936 and 1941, it was the state of the German economy, and not Hitler's "will" or "intentions" that was the most important determinate on German decision-making on foreign policy.Kershaw, Ian'' The Nazi Dictatorship'' London : Arnold 2000 page 88. Mason argued that the Nazi leaders were deeply haunted by the November Revolution of 1918, and was most unwilling to see any fall in working class living standards out of the fear that it might provoke another November Revolution. According to Mason, by 1939, the “overheating” of the German economy caused by rearmament, the failure of various rearmament plans produced by the shortages of skilled workers, industrial unrest caused by the breakdown of German social policies, and the sharp drop in living standards for the German working class forced Hitler into going to war at a time and place not of his choosing. Mason contended that when faced with the deep socio-economic crisis the Nazi leadership had decided to embark upon a ruthless “smash and grab” foreign policy of seizing territory in Eastern Europe which could be pitilessly plundered to support living standards in Germany. Mason's theory of a "Flight into war" being imposed on Hitler generated much controversy, and in the 1980s he conducted a series of debates with economic historian Richard Overy over this matter. Overy maintained the decision to attack

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

was not caused by structural economic problems, but rather was the result of Hitler wanting a localized war at that particular time in history. For Overy, a major problem with the Mason thesis was that it rested on the assumption that in a way unrecorded by the records, that information was passed on to Hitler about the ''Reich'' economic problems.Mason, Tim & Overy, R.J. “Debate: Germany, `domestic crisis’ and the war in 1939” from ''The Origins of The Second World War'' edited by Patrick Finney, Edward Arnold: London, United Kingdom, 1997 page 102 Overy argued that there was a major difference between economic pressures inducted by the problems of the

Four Year Plan The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1936. Hitler placed Hermann Göring in charge of these measures, making him a Reich Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) whose jurisdiction cut a ...

, and economic motives to seize raw materials, industry and foreign reserve of neighboring states as a way of accelerating the Four Year Plan. Moreover, Overy asserted that the repressive capacity of the German state as a way of dealing with domestic unhappiness was somewhat downplayed by Mason.

Japanese-American relations

In addition, because World War II was a global war, diplomatic historians start to focus on

Japanese-American relations are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

to understand why Japan had attacked the United States in 1941. This in turn led diplomatic historians to start to abandon the previous Euro-centric approach in favor of a more global approach. A sign of the changing times was the rise to prominence of such diplomatic historians such as the Japanese historian Chihiro Hosoya, the British historian

Ian Nish Ian Hill Nish Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 June 1926 – 31 July 2022) was a British academic. A specialist in Japanese studies, he was Emeritus Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (L ...

, and the American historian

Akira Iriye is a historian of diplomatic history, international, and transnational history. He taught at University of Chicago and Harvard University until his retirement in 2005. In 1988 he served as president of the American Historical Association, the ...

, which was the first time that Asian specialists became noted diplomatic historians.

Vietnam war and revisionism

The

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and

decolonization Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

greatly added the tendency to a more global diplomatic history. The

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

led to the rise of a revisionist school in the United States, which led many American historians such as

Gabriel Kolko Gabriel Morris Kolko (August 17, 1932 – May 19, 2014) was an American historian. His research interests included American capitalism and political history, the Progressive Era, and U.S. foreign policy in the 20th century. One of the best-known ...

and

William Appleman Williams William Appleman Williams (June 12, 1921 – March 5, 1990) was one of the 20th century's most prominent revisionist historians of American diplomacy. He achieved the height of his influence while on the faculty of the department of history at th ...

to reject traditional diplomatic history in favor of a ''Primat der Innenpolitik'' approach that saw a widespread examination of the influence of American domestic politics together with various social, economic and cultural forces on foreign-policy making. In general, the American Cold War revisionists tended to focus on American foreign policy decision-making with respect to the genesis of the Cold War in the 1940s and on how the United States became involved in Vietnam in the 1960s. Starting in the 1960s, a ferocious debate has taken place within Cold War historiography between the advocates of the “orthodox” school which saw the Cold War as a case of Soviet aggression such as

Vojtech Mastny Vojtech Mastny may refer to: * Vojtěch Mastný (1874-1954), Czechoslovak diplomat * Vojtech Mastny (historian) Vojtech Mastny (born Vojtěch Mastný in 1936 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is an American historian of Czech descent, professor of poli ...

against the proponents of the “revisionist” school which saw the Cold War as a case of American aggression. Latterly, a third school known as "neo-orthodox" whose most prominent member is the American historian

John Lewis Gaddis John Lewis Gaddis (born 1941) is an American international relations scholar, military historian, and writer. He is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He is best known for his work on the Cold War an ...

has emerged, which holds through the United States borne some responsibility for the Cold War, the lion's share of the responsibility goes to the Soviet Union.

Recent trends

In Europe diplomatic history fell out of favor in the late Cold War era. Since the collapse of communism in 1989–91, however, there has been a renaissance, led especially by historians of the early modern era, in the history of diplomacy. The new approach differs from previous perspectives by the wholesale incorporation of perspectives from political science, sociology, the history of mentalities, and cultural history. In the U.S. since the 1980s, the discipline of diplomatic history has become more relevant to and better integrated with the mainstream of the academic history profession. It has taken the lead in internationalization of American historical studies. Since it explores the interaction of domestic and international forces, the field has become increasingly important for its study of culture and identity and the exploration of political ideologies as applied to foreign affairs. There have been major influences from other new approaches such as

Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

and

globalism Globalism refers to various patterns of meaning beyond the merely international. It is used by political scientists, such as Joseph Nye, to describe "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns ...

, as well as gender and racial history. The history of human rights has become important as well. Despite all these innovations, however, the core endeavor of diplomatic history remains the study of the state interacting with other states, which is also a key to its broadening appeal, since considerations of America's superpower status is essential to understanding the world internationally. In the early 1980s, historian Jeffrey Kimball surveyed the ideological preferences of 109 active diplomatic historians in the United States as well as 54 active military historians. He reports that: :Of historians in the field of diplomatic history, 7% are Socialist, 19% are Other, 53% are Liberal, 11% are None and 10% Conservative. Of military historians, 0% are Socialist, 8% are Other, 35% are Liberal, 18% are None and 40% are Conservative.

Historical studies

In Europe, diplomatic history fell out of favor in the late Cold War era. Since the collapse of communism, there has been a renaissance, led especially by historians of the early modern era, in the history of diplomacy. The new approach differs from previous perspectives by the wholesale incorporation of perspectives from political science, sociology, the history of mentalities, and cultural history. In the U.S. since 1980, the discipline of diplomatic history has become more relevant to and integrated with the mainstream of the historiographic profession, having been in the forefront of the internationalization of American historical studies. As a field that explores the meeting of domestic and international forces, the study of US foreign relations has become increasingly important for its examination of both the study of culture and identity and the exploration of political ideologies. Particularly shaped by the influence of studies of Orientalism and globalism, gender studies, race, and considerations of national identity, diplomatic history was often at the cutting edge of historical research. Despite such innovations, however, the core endeavor of diplomatic history remains the study of the state, which is also a key to its broadening appeal, since considerations of US state power are essential to understanding the world internationally.Zeiler (2009)

Prominent diplomatic historians

Henry Brooks Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fra ...

, (1838–1918), US 1800–1816 *

Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fr ...

, U.S. * Charles A. Beard, (1874–1948), revisionist history of coming of World War II *

Michael Beschloss Michael Richard Beschloss (born November 30, 1955) is an American historian specializing in the United States presidency. He is the author of nine books on the presidency. Early life Beschloss was born in Chicago, grew up in Flossmoor, Illinois, ...

, (born 1955) World War II; Cold War *

Samuel Flagg Bemis Samuel Flagg Bemis (October 20, 1891 – September 26, 1973) was an American historian and biographer. For many years he taught at Yale University. He was also president of the American Historical Association and a specialist in American dip ...

, U.S. *

Charles Howard Carter Charles Howard Carter (1927–1990) was a historian, researcher, author, and professor of History at Tulane University from 1963 to 1990. Carter was born in Baker, Oregon. He studied at Willamette University and the University of Chicago, and u ...

(1927-1990), Western Europe 1590-1635 *

, World War I; World War II *

Gordon A. Craig Gordon Alexander Craig (November 13, 1913 – October 30, 2005) was a Scottish-American liberal historian of German history and of diplomatic history. Early life Craig was born in Glasgow. In 1925 he emigrated with his family to Toronto, Onta ...

, (1913–2005) Germany *

Robert Dallek Robert A. Dallek (born May 16, 1934) is an American historian specializing in the presidents of the United States, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He retired as a history professor at Bost ...

, 1930s to 1960s U.S. *

(1917-1994), 20th century Europe *

Herbert Feis Herbert Feis (June 7, 1893 – March 2, 1972) was an American historian, author, and economist who was the Economic Advisor for International Affairs to the US Department of State in the Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt administrations. Fe ...

(1893 – 1972), World War II; International trade *

Orlando Figes Orlando Guy Figes () is a British historian and writer. Until his retirement, he was Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Figes is known for his works on Russian history, such as '' A People's Tragedy'' (1996), ''Nata ...

, (born 1957), Russian *

, Cold War *

Lloyd Gardner Lloyd C. Gardner (born 1934) is an American historian, a member of the " Wisconsin School" of diplomatic history along with Walter LaFeber and Thomas J. McCormick. He was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Gardner was the Charles ...

, 20th century U.S. *

Felix Gilbert Felix Gilbert (May 21, 1905 – February 14, 1991) was a German-born American historian of early modern and modern Europe. Gilbert was born in Baden-Baden, Germany, to a middle-class Jewish family, and part of the Mendelssohn Bartholdy clan. In t ...

, Renaissance *

George Peabody Gooch George Peabody Gooch (21 October 1873 – 31 August 1968) was a British journalist, historian and Liberal Party politician. A follower of Lord Acton who was independently wealthy, he never held an academic position, but knew the work of histo ...

, (1873–1968), English historian of Modern Diplomacy *

, 20c Germany *

(b. 1934) U.S. - Japan *

George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...

, Russia *

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and great pow ...

, 19th and 20th century *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, (Born 1923); Nineteenth and twentieth century *

Walter LaFeber Walter Fredrick LaFeber (August 30, 1933March 9, 2021) was an American academic who served as the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History at Cornell University. Previous to that he served as t ...

, 20th century U.S. *

, (1896–1977), US historian, World and diplomatic history *

John Lukacs John Adalbert Lukacs (; Hungarian: ''Lukács János Albert''; 31 January 1924 – 6 May 2019) was a Hungarian-born American historian and author of more than thirty books. Lukacs was Roman Catholic. Lukacs described himself as a reactionary. L ...

, World War II *

Thomas J. McCormick Thomas J. McCormick (March 6, 1933 – July 25, 2020) was an American academic who was emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the same place he got a Ph. D. where he succeeded William Appleman Williams and continue ...

, U.S. * Walter A. McDougall, U.S. and European diplomatic history. *

Margaret MacMillan Margaret Olwen MacMillan, (born 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson Univer ...

20th century *

Charles S. Maier Charles S. Maier (born February 23, 1939, in New York City) is the Leverett Saltonstall Research Professor of History at Harvard University. He teaches European and international history at Harvard. Biography Maier served as the director of th ...

, 20th-century Europe * William McNeill, world history *

Garrett Mattingly Garrett Mattingly (May 6, 1900 – December 18, 1962) was a professor of European history at Columbia University who specialized in early modern diplomatic history. In 1960 he won a Pulitzer Prize for '' The Defeat of the Spanish Armada''. Early ...

, Early modern Europe *

Arno J. Mayer Arno Joseph Mayer (born June 19, 1926), is an American historian who specializes in modern Europe, diplomatic history, and the Holocaust, and is currently the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Emeritus, at Princeton University. Early life ...

, World War I *

Lewis Bernstein Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were '' The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Amer ...

, coming of World War II * Geoffrey Parker, (born 1943) early modern * Bradford Perkins, (1925–2008) Anglo-American relationships *

, (1795–1886), European *

, (1893–1974), 1815 to 1945 *

Paul W. Schroeder Paul W. Schroeder (February 23, 1927''International Who's Who 2000'', Vol. 63 (Europa, 1999: ), p. 1391. – December 6, 2020) was an American historian who was professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. He specialized in European interna ...

, modern Europe *

Jean Edward Smith Jean Edward Smith (October 13, 1932 – September 1, 2019) was a biographer and the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University. He was also professor emeritus at the University of Toronto after having served as professor ...

, Cold War * Justin Harvey Smith, Mexican–American War * Hew Strachan, World War I * David Tal (historian), Israel *

A.J.P. Taylor Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televi ...

, (1906–1990), Modern Europe, World Wars *

Harold Temperley Harold William Vazeille Temperley, (20 April 1879 – 11 July 1939) was an English historian, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge from 1931, and Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Overview Temperley was born in Cambridg ...

, (1879–1939), British *

Arnold J. Toynbee Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Colleg ...

, (1889–1975), 20th century *

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

, (1694–1778), European * Charles Webster, (1886–1961) British *

Gerhard Weinberg Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg (born 1 January 1928) is a German-born American diplomatic and military historian noted for his studies in the history of Nazi Germany and World War II. Weinberg is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Histo ...

, World War Two, Germany *

John Wheeler-Bennett Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett (13 October 1902 – 9 December 1975) was a conservative English historian of German and diplomatic history, and the official biographer of King George VI. He was well known in his lifetime, and his inter ...

, British and German *

, American *

Randall Woods Randall may refer to the following: Places United States *Randall, California, former name of White Hall, California, an unincorporated community * Randall, Indiana, a former town *Randall, Iowa, a city *Randall, Kansas, a city * Randall, Minneso ...

, 20th century U.S. * Ernest

Llewellyn Woodward Sir Ernest Llewellyn Woodward, FBA (1890–1971) was a British historian. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and after the First World War became a lecturer in Modern History and fellow of All Souls C ...

, (1890–1971), British *

Karl W. Schweizer Karl Wolfgang Schweizer is a historian specialising in eighteenth century European history. Education and academic career Schweizer was born in Germany and was educated at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where he gradua ...

(1946-)18th century Britain/Europe *

Sergio Romano (writer) Sergio Romano (born 7 July 1929) is an Italian diplomat, writer, journalist, and historian. He is a columnist for the newspaper ''Corriere della Sera''. Romano is also a former Italian ambassador to Moscow. Biography Born in Vicenza, he grew up ...

(1929), Italy and Russia

References

Citations Works cited *Matusumoto, Saho "Diplomatic History/International Relations" pages 314-316 from ''The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing'' ed. Kelly Boyd, Volume 1, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999,

External links

- H-DIPLO free daily discussion group for scholars and students; dedicated to diplomatic history and international affairs, with book reviews, Q&A, discussions
* Pella, John & Erik Ringmar
History of International Relations Open Textbook Project
Cambridge: Open Book, forthcoming.
scholarly journal ''Diplomatic History''

Official Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) website

“U.S. Diplomatic History Resources Index"
sponsored by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR). The index has bee

{{Authority control Diplomacy

History

Historiography

Ranke

20th century scholars

Causes of World War Two

French approaches

Fischer debate on World War One

Mason–Overy debate on internal pressures inside Nazi Germany

Japanese-American relations

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Recent trends

Historical studies

Prominent diplomatic historians

See also

References

Further reading

World view

European diplomacy

Historiography

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