Odysseys to Planetary History

44 Historically Speaking · September 2003 The ability ofcertain states to raise formidable armies and theworld'sleadingnavies and to conduct aggressive foreign policies reflected the relative strength ofdieiradministrative systems, which were also dependent on the consent, assistance, and ofteninitiative oflocal government and the socially powerful , particularlythearistocracy. Bothprocesses were more apparent from the mid-17th century onward than earlier, and this adds an important chronological dimension and dynamic Societiesdiatputapremiumoncontinuityand orderreacted againstthe political, religious, and social turmoil ofca. 1520-1660 and searched for an order based on stability and (sociallycircumscribed) consensus. Conversely, it is misleading to draw a directline from the dismantlingofdie indoctrinating institutions and practices of die Counter/Catholic Reformation to the outbreakofthe revolutionarycrisisin the 1780s, aldiough die multiple ideological tensions of Catholic Europe, particularly in the Habsburglands , inpartrelated to the dismantling ofdie confessional state. A similar strand can be seenwitiiin die British Empire from 1775 to 1801, when the authority ofthe Church of England and the nature of confessionalism were challenged. Thus die confessional state should be seen as avital adjunctofabsolutism, and dieroleof confessionalism in both international relations and domesticpoliticsneeds tobe reexamined. As, more generally, with die relationship between crowns and elites, it is necessary to treatdie ideological and cultural dimensions ofdiis issueseriouslyand on theirownterms, and not simply to adopt a functional and instrumental account of the situation. Anodier subjectdiat deserves more scholarlyattentionis therelationship between early modern states and commerce. The liberal political systems ofdie United Provinces and Britain were notably successful in eliciting the cooperation oftheir own and other capitalists , producinga symbiosis ofgovernment and private sector that proved valuable for developing naval strength and mercantile enterprise. As Europe's range increased, cooperation between European states and merchants enabled negotiations with nonEuropean mercantile and territorial interests. These negotiationswere centralto muchthat is misleadingly seen as distincdy European, ranging from the Adantic slave trade to the trade between Western Europe and South Asia. Slavery underlines the point diat such negotiations often came at die expense of others. Yet the development ofa maritime capability,which enabled some Europeans to direct much ofthe process ofglobalization, should notbe extrapolated to the entire continent , much ofwhich did not see comparable developments. This approach opens the way to a revisionistperspective on the 19th and 20di centuries , not least on the various projects for modernity offered during this period. Although, particularlyafter 1850, mostgovernments were self-consciously committed to improvement through change, it is possible to argue for continuity in terms ofdie limited purchase ofliberalism; the degree to which conservatism rested on popular support , not coercion; and the fragility ofpolitical ideologies that encouraged audioritarian governments to neglect domestic opinion. Jeremy BlacksKing's, Nobles, and Commoners : States and Societies in Early Modern Europe, a RevisionistHistoryis forthcomingfromLR. Taurisin November 2003. Itwillbe distributed in the U.S. by PalgraveMacmillan. Odysseys to Planetary History Clark G. Reynolds IN "CROSSING BORDERS" (Historically Speaking, November 2002) Peter Paretreflectedon hisdistinguishedcareeras a military and art historian. Parets essay was thefirst in a series ofautobiographical sketchesbyseniorhistoriansthatwillappear in thesepages. The seriesprovidesprominent andaccomplished historians with the opportunity tocommenton theircareersand to offerreflections onprofessionallivesdedicated to historicalinquiry. Our second installment isfrom the recently "retired" (from teachingonly) Clark Reynolds. One ofthe nationsleadingnaval historians, Reynolds is knownfor his work in the history ofnavalaviation andfor his brilliant conceptualanalyses ofhistory and thesea. The NavalInstitute Proceedings selectedhisThe Fast Carriers: The ForgingofanAirNavy (McGraw-Hill, 1968) asoneofthe ten bestEnglish-languagenaval bookspublished in the Institutesfirst one hundredyears, andhis 1975 essay "American Strategic History and Doctrines: A Reconsideration" (reprintedin Historyand die Seaj received the American Military Institutes Moneado Prize. Forbetter orworse, no history graduate studenttomyknowledgehas everbeen encouraged, much less subsequendy hired, to focus on global historyperse. Our pedagogical canon demands specialized preparation in European, U.S., Asian, or any national history except as linked to some broadersub-discipline like the historyofscience , technology, religion, gender, orthe military . Anything bigger—namely, the universal history which went out ofstyle between die world wars—has been eschewed by die profession until die very recent (and still problematic) vogue forworld history. September 2003 · Historically Speaking 45 Yet I was not only encouraged by my graduate teachers to think beyond the specialty but was expected to do so. As a result, I moved toward world history, thoughbyno means consciouslyoreven deliberately. Ihave continued to harbor deep suspicions ofmost of those...