Output details

Diplomatie der Generationen?: Kollektivbiographische Perspektiven auf die Internationalen Beziehungen 1871–1914

Nineteenth-century diplomats are often described as backward-looking traditionalists. This essay examines this assessment in the light of new primary sources. It will also gauge the usefulness of generational theory when applied to late-nineteenth-century diplomats. The essay will consider whether diplomats participated in the discourse of their contemporaries and whether a “diplomacy of the generations” existed. An analysis of selected diplomats indicates that their worldview was similar to that of other elites. Generation-specific perceptions of foreign policy did exist but were the exception rather than the rule between 1871 and 1914.