The Foreign Office Mind
The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865–1914

Pioneering study which charts how the collective mindset of Britain's diplomatic élite reacted to and shaped nineteenth-century British foreign policy.

T. G. Otte (Author)

9781107613102, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

468 pages, 15 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.62 kg

'A comprehensive analysis.' Total Politics

With this pioneering approach to the study of international history, T. G. Otte reconstructs the underlying principles, élite perceptions and 'unspoken assumptions' that shaped British foreign policy between the death of Palmerston and the outbreak of the First World War. Grounded in a wide range of public and private archival sources, and drawing on sociological insights, The Foreign Office Mind presents a comprehensive analysis of the foreign service as a 'knowledge-based organization', rooted in the social and educational background of the diplomatic élite and the broader political, social and cultural fabric of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. The book charts how the collective mindset of successive generations of professional diplomats evolved, and reacted to and shaped changes in international relations during the second half of the nineteenth century, including the balance of power and arms races, the origins of appeasement and the causes of the First World War.

Introduction
1. Illusions of supremacy: the Foreign Office mind, 1865–74
2. The problems of isolation: the Foreign Office mind, 1874–85
3. Problems of consolidation: the Foreign Office mind, 1885–92
4. Two eastern questions: the Foreign Office mind and the period of flux in great power politics, 1892–1900
5. The transformation of great power politics: the Edwardian Foreign Office mind, 1900–7
6. The end of an era: the late-Edwardian Foreign Office mind, 1907–14
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1]