Out this month by Edward James Kolla (Georgetown
University) is Sovereignty,
International Law, and the French Revolution in the "Studies in Legal History" series with Cambridge University
Press. From the publisher:
The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unintended but momentous change in international law. Edward James Kolla explains that between 1789 and 1799, the idea that peoples ought to determine their fates in international affairs, just as they were taking power domestically in France, inspired a series of new and interconnected claims to territory. Drawing on case studies from Avignon, Belgium, the Rhineland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Kolla traces how French revolutionary diplomats and leaders gradually applied principles derived from new domestic political philosophy and law to the international stage. Instead of obtaining land via dynastic inheritance or conquest in war, the will of the people would now determine the title and status of territory. However, the principle of popular sovereignty also opened up new justifications for aggressive conquest, and this history foreshadowed some of the most controversial questions in international relations today.
Praise for the book:
“When the right of
peoples to self-determination creates an international law immediately to the
advantage of the French Revolution and ultimately for our present world, a
brilliant paradoxical book explaining how the French Revolution was a key experiment
for our modernity.” -Jean-Clément Martin
“In this brilliant and
thoughtful study of international law during the French Revolution, Kolla
presents a fascinating history of the principle of national self-determination,
as it developed over a century before Woodrow Wilson brought this idea to
Versailles. Kolla’s book will be of great interest to historians of modern
Europe, political theorists, and legal scholars.” -Dan Edelstein
“Kolla's bold and
thought-provoking study transforms our view of the French Revolution's
importance for international law. Kolla persuasively argues for positive
advances, rooted in the doctrine of popular sovereignty, and for an indirect
'ripple' effect which provided an important foundation for the decisive
nineteenth-century advance in international law.” –Hamish Scott
Further details are
available here.
