Abstract: diplomatic practice and 18th century international law, a

Abstract: diplomatic practice and 18th century international law, a
research gap ?
The history of international law, a “booming” branch of legal history, considers international law in the
18th Century foremost on two levels: doctrine and published treaties (Lesaffer 2004-2005). Diplomacy is
confined to the realm of political history (e.g. Black 1987), as the expression of antagonist dynastic
interests. Law is about ideas, rather than acts. Authors as Samuel Pufendorf (1632-1694), Christian
Thomasius (1655-1728) and Christian Wolff (1679-1754) are considered as forerunners of present-day
international theory (Koskenniemi 1989).
However, our image of the law in action can only be partial if we follow this approach. For
example, one of the major successes of the nascent international law was the period of stability between
1713 and 1739, when peace was safeguarded through negotiation on the basis of the Treaty of Utrecht
(Bély 2001). An achievement recognized by Emer de Vattel (1714-1767) when he integrated norms created
by states into the writings of the School of Natural Law (Jouannet, 1998).
The visions of French and British diplomats on this period constitute the first cluster of our doctoral
research. Within the discursive community of diplomats, James Stanhope (1673-1721), Guillaume Dubois
(1656-1723), Louis de St-Saphorin (1669-1737) and Horace Walpole (1678-1757) had the task to translate
dynastic interest into abstract argument, acceptable to the other players. In other words, to insert it into
the conceptual framework of the European balance (Duchhardt 1976).
Examining diplomatic correspondence allows the legal historian to apply a different reading to
these texts. They do not only reveal short-term political conjuncture. Middle- and long-term planning and
conceptualisation come forward in the long dispatches. Their authors almost invariably had a training as
lawyers at university. They were occupied with practical politics, but could express their legal opinions
freely behind the veil of secrecy, as opposed to scholars, who had to count with censorship and patronage
(e.g. Réal de Curban 1764).
I would like to illustrate the pertinence of these diplomatic sources following the treatment of a major
international crisis: the so called “Ripperda” Treaty, concluded on 30 April 1725 between Emperor
Charles VI (1685-1740) and King Philip V of Spain (1683-1746), against the Franco-British mediators at
the congress of Cambrai (1723-1725).
BÉLY, L., Les relations internationales en Europe, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles, Paris, PUF, 20013, XXIII + 731 p.
BLACK, J., George II, Sir Robert Walpole and the collapse of the Anglo-French Alliance 1727-1731, Newcastle, Black, 2005,
234 p.
DUCHHARDT, H., Gleichgewicht der Kräfte, Convenance, europäisches Konzert. Friedenskongresse u. Friedensschlüsse vom
Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV. bis zum Wiener Kongress, Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976 [Erträge der
Forschung; 56], X + 232 p.
JOUANNET, E., Emer de Vattel et l'émergence doctrinale du droit international classique, Paris, Pédone, 1998 [Publications
de la Revue Générale du Droit International Public; Nouvelle Série; 50], 490 p.
KOSKENNIEMI, M., From apology to utopia : the structure of international legal argument, Helsinki, Lakimiesliiton
Kustannus - Finnish Lawyers' Publishing Company, 1989, XXVI + 550 p.
LESAFFER, R., "Paix et guerre dans les grands traités du dix-huitième siècle", Journal of the History of International Law
- Revue d'histoire du droit international VII (2005), 25-42.
LESAFFER, R. (ed.), Peace treaties and international law in European history : from the late Middle Ages to World War One,
New York, Cambridge university press, 2004, XII + 481 p.
LINGENS, K.-H., "Kongresse im Spektrum der Friedenswahrenden Instrumente des Völkerrechts", in
DUCHHARDT, H. (Hsrg.), Zwischenstaatliche Friedenswahrung in Mittelalter und früher Neuzeit, , Köln, Bölhau, 1991
[Münstersche historische Forschungen; 1], 205-226.
ABBÉ DE BURLÉ RÉAL DE CURBAN, La science du gouvernement, t. 5: contenant le droit des gens, Qui traite les
Ambassades; de la Guerre; des Traités; des Titres; des Prérogatives; des Prétentions, & des Droits respectifs des Souverains, Paris, Les
libraires associés, 1764, 870 p.
WOLFF, C., Ius gentium methodo scientifica pertractatum, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1934 [1764] [The classics of
international law; 13], vi + 411 + lii + 563 p.