History of Diplomacy

The first civilization to develop an orderly system of diplomacy was ancient Greece. Ambassadors were sent from city to city to deliver messages, to transfer gifts, and to plead the cases of their own people before the rulers of other city-states. As the Roman Empire expanded, its diplomacy served the purposes of conquest and annexation.

Modern diplomacy had its origins during the Italian Renaissance. Although Renaissance diplomacy was especially vicious and amoral, the Italian city-states developed a number of institutions and practices that still exist, including a system of permanent ambassadors, the creation of foreign offices, and a system of protocol, privileges, and immunities for diplomats. The concept of extraterritoriality was established, by which an embassy in any state was subject only to the laws of its own country. With the rise of nation-states in 17th-century Europe, the concept of national interest developed, replacing personal interests as the basis of diplomatic objectives. At the same time, diplomats sought to maintain the balance of power among the most powerful nations. The European system of diplomacy was upset when Napoleon attempted to conquer Europe in the early 19th century. The system was restored after Napoleon's defeat, and no major wars occurred for the next 100 years.

The carnage of World War I (1914-1918) brought the European system of diplomacy into disrepute. United States President Woodrow Wilson proposed a "new diplomacy" that did away with the practice of the balance of power, the pursuit of national interests, and secret agreements and treaties. Many of Wilson's ideas were incorporated into the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. After the United States returned to a policy of isolationism, however, the European states reverted to their former practices. During World War II (1939-1945), U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill worked on a postwar international order that conformed to the old European system. International politics since then has adhered closely to the European model.