The myth of 1648. Class, geopolitics and creation of modern international relations

This book refutes the widespread idea that the Westphalian peace agreements of 1648 not only laid the end of the thirty -year war in Europe, but also marked the birth of a new international order based on the interaction of sovereign states. The author shows that domestic "social relations of property" had a decisive influence on international relations at least before the beginning of the Great French Revolution. The dynastic monarchies, which ruled at this time, differed from their medieval predecessors with the degree and form of personalization of power, but not its fundamental logic. Actual changes have occurred relatively recently and were associated with the development of modern states and capitalism. The modern system of international relations arose only after the governments began to rule impersonally, limiting their functions to the implementation of a monopoly on violence