On Imperial and Nation – State Diplomacy

VASILE PUȘCAȘ
Abstract
This study of the history of diplomacy is a result of our research on modern and contemporary diplomacy. The main goal was to see how the transition from “Old” to “New Diplomacy” occur both in international and Romanian environments. The Renaissance period and the Westphalia system are the roots of the modern diplomacy and since 1648 there are many arguments to looking to the diplomat as a profession. The action of diplomacy through negotiation experienced a particular intensity at the Congress of Vienna (1815) and after that in the framework of the European Concert. It was a period of a dual context, maintaining the power of Empires and strengthening the application of the principle of nationalities. At the end of the 19th century important international processes were taking place. The nation-states and nations were the most dynamic actors in Europe, at the beginning of the 20th century. The application of the principle of nationalities in international politics has marked the history of international relations for more than a century. It found the focal point at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920). The Versailles system recognized the nationstate as the main actor of the international system. The practice of economic, commercial and financial diplomacy registered a wide development. The Romanian case is very well illustrated by Gheorghe I. Brătianu’s work: Organisation de la paix dans l’histore universelle. We think that the modern Romanian diplomacy was born at the same time as the Romanian national state and had to manage its interactions with the Great Powers. The outbreak of the First World War created opportunities and problems for Romanian diplomacy. We took the examples of Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu for presenting the transition to modern and national diplomacy in Romania.
Keywords: Imperial diplomacy, Great Power, nation-state/national diplomacy, Westphalia system, Versailles system, foreign policy, diplomatic practice, negotiation, principle of nationalities, balance of power, European Concert.