Videos by Michael Auwers
Traditional historiography on Belgian diplomacy during the First World War places undue emphasis ... more Traditional historiography on Belgian diplomacy during the First World War places undue emphasis on the share of politicians and of the monarchy in the making of foreign policy. In this way, they seriously underestimate the impact of the country’s diplomats. In the decades before the First World War, politicians had generally shown little interest in the Foreign Ministry, as foreign policy making remained the realm of the king and of some of the country’s senior diplomats. During the war, as I will discuss in this paper, an upcoming and impatient generation of junior diplomats who had been schooled in the colonial ventures of the late King Leopold II, ousted their senior colleagues from the Foreign Ministry, managed to side-line King Albert I, and took over the reins of Belgian foreign policy. 63 views
Books by Michael Auwers
Studies in Belgian History, 2022
The Failed Coup of Belgian Diplomacy unsettles traditional ideas about Belgian foreign policy dur... more The Failed Coup of Belgian Diplomacy unsettles traditional ideas about Belgian foreign policy during the First World War. According to the widely accepted narrative, inexperienced politicians leading the Belgian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference made a strategic error in focusing on territorial aggrandizement at the expense of the neutral Nether lands when the political reality and international political culture should have encouraged them to avoid such overreach. However, this narrative places far too much emphasis on politicians in the making of foreign policy. More importantly still, it significantly underestimates the impact of Belgian diplomats. Examining clashes between diplomats over foreign policy objectives, this book offers a vital corrective to these ideas. It argues that an upcoming and impatient generation of junior diplomats, schooled in the colonial ventures of the late King Leopold II, ousted their senior colleagues from the Foreign Ministry, side-lined King Albert I, and took over the reins of Belgian diplomacy. More broadly, The Failed Coup of Belgian Diplomacy challenges established accounts of the First World War as decisive in the political takeover of Europe's diplomatic machinery. In most belligerent countries, diplomats certainly faced accusations of incompetence, with many being removed from the centre of European politics during the war's early stages and later failing to reclaim their influence at the peace conference. In Belgium, however, junior diplomats easily managed to steer politicians away from neutrality towards an annexationist agenda. Belgian failure at Versailles was largely caused by the absence of consensus on foreign policy aims within the diplomatic corps.
Papers by Michael Auwers
![Research paper thumbnail of Cool reception for the Cold War? Belgian historians and the East-West conflict after the Second World War [article in Dutch], Journal of Belgian History, LII, 2022, 3, pp. 34-64.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/99228810/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Journal of Belgian History, 2022
On the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Cold War, this article a... more On the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Cold War, this article assesses how historians have approached the Belgian dimensions of this conflict. It starts from the observation that historical research on this subject only really began a quarter of a century ago. Initially, studies on Belgian foreign policy and its traditional protagonists predominated. Soon, however, more and more historians realized that they could only grasp the impact of the Cold War on Belgian society through an approach that also included the cultural, economic and technological mobilizations of the conflict. The article concludes with a proposed roadmap for future research on Belgian aspects of the Cold War. This roadmap starts from the prism of anticommunism, which certainly does not cover all the aspects of the conflict, but brings together some of its most important political, economic and cultural dimensions.
per cent. Moreover, after ten years of seniority, many young diplomats already received as much a... more per cent. Moreover, after ten years of seniority, many young diplomats already received as much as the top bureaucrats in the ministerial departments. 97 Keeping this in mind, Marguerite's reaction is -at first sight -remarkable: she simply wrote that "I do not see any advantage, quite the contrary". However, counting an uncle and two cousins in Belgian diplomacy, and having seen in London with her own eyes what diplomatic life was like, Kerchove's young wife knew perfectly well what distinguished the diplomatic career from other professions in the civil service. She knew that the price of a diplomatic career far exceeded the sum of a diplomat's salaries. 98 To uphold their country's prestige, but also to avoid losing face towards foreign colleagues, senior diplomats lavishly decorated their legations and threw sumptuous dinner parties, while younger diplomats appeared dressed to the height of fashion in clubs and salons, at theatres and balls, and in many other places where they could be seen spending money. 99 Thus, the generous salaries diplomats received were completely swallowed up by the conspicuous consumption that was an essential part of the job. Throughout the nineteenth century, the expenses for representation provided by the government were mere trifles. Consequently, the Foreign Minister was regularly deluged with complaints of insufficient allowances. These mostly came from younger diplomats. Because only a limited number of junior postings were salaried, they had to wait for many years before receiving their first salary. In the 1860s, one of the thriftier Belgian diplomats calculated that twenty years of foreign postings had cost him more than twice what he had received. No wonder, then, that the career ambitions of less prosperous diplomats were often crippled. 100 The luckier ones had to exert all their diplomatic talents to convince their parents to keep sending them money. An attaché to the Belgian legation in Berlin in the late 1880s, Conrad de Buisseret-Steenbecque de Blarenghien sent his parents monthly overviews of his expenses. His first month, he calculated, cost his parents almost four hundred German marks,
La Belgique et les traités de paix, de Versailles à Sèvres (1919-1920) / Dumoulin, Michel et Catherine Lanneau, 2021
En étudiant la vaste historiographie anglophone sur la diplomatie belge avant et durant la confér... more En étudiant la vaste historiographie anglophone sur la diplomatie belge avant et durant la conférence de Versailles, il n’est pas difficile de remarquer la stupéfaction de ces historiens surtout américains. Stupéfaction, notamment, du comportement de ‘little Belgium’, de la petite Belgique. Ces historiens étaient intrigués par le fait que ce ‘small state’, ce petit état, qui avant la guerre semblait avoir adopté – sur la scène européenne, bien entendu – une politique de neutralité très stricte, adoptait par contre à Versailles une attitude assez agressive et sous certains égards, même irrationnelle. Ce qui les frappa le plus, c’est que la petite Belgique persistait à demander, ou plus précisément à suggérer, des agrandissements territoriaux au détriment des Pays-Bas, Etat qui avait réussi à rester neutre pendant le conflit mondial. Cette attitude, ces historiens l’ont généralement attribuée au manque d’expérience diplomatique de la part du ministre belge des Affaires étrangères, le politicien libéral Paul Hymans. Pour ma part, je voudrais reconstruire le chemin vers Versailles à partir des expériences non des politiciens mais des diplomates belges, leur rôle dans la formulation de la politique étrangère belge de la période étant toujours sous-estimé.
Media History, 2020
This essay investigates how before, during, and after the First World War, diplomats were depicte... more This essay investigates how before, during, and after the First World War, diplomats were depicted
in newspapers, and how they perceived and reacted to these representations. Focusing on the case
of Belgium, it looks, on the one hand, at the occurrence and/or co-existence of certain frames used
by journalists to stereotype diplomats, and evaluates how changes in Belgian foreign policy and
European politics altered framing strategies throughout this period. On the other hand, it sheds
light on how diplomats coped with the penetration of the mass media into their professional
space, which forced them to reckon with changing media logics in this age of accelerating
democratization.
Journal of Belgian History, 2018
This essay seeks to frame some of the recent developments in what has come to be labeled as ‘new ... more This essay seeks to frame some of the recent developments in what has come to be labeled as ‘new diplomatic history.' In the last two decades there has been a remarkable increase in historical attention for the elite worlds inhabited by diplomats and their various associates and antagonists, as well as a noticeable shift away from the traditional preoccupation with ‘the’ state, in the sense of a monolithic institution. Here, we attempt to distinguish some of the achievements and challenges of this scholarship. Our focus is the long 19th century, which has received less metahistorical attention than the literature on early modern and 20th-century diplomacy. We suggest that late modern diplomatic historians would do well to reckon with the tangled relations of their protagonists with early modern forms of diplomacy, while also taking full account of the changing nature of private-public relations in the diplomatic realm in a period of capitalist globalization. While our historiographical focus lies deliberately beyond Belgium, we selectively engage with Belgian diplomatic history as well; the perspective of a small or middling Western power, depending on the parameters one employs, can offer fruitful and unexpected venues for doing comparative international history.
This article investigates the attitude of Belgian diplomats in the debate about the creation of a... more This article investigates the attitude of Belgian diplomats in the debate about the creation of a stronger army in the decades before the First World War. Closely reading the writings of three members of the diplomatic corps and comparing their discourse with the words of their colleagues, it argues that the current historiographical narrative on the diplomats’ stance towards militarization is in need of revision. The Belgian diplomatic world was no monolithic block of officials whose strict interpretation of neutrality led them to oppose any reinforcement of the military until the final years before the outbreak of war. On the contrary, at least from the mid-1890s onwards, several diplomats jettisoned the reticent attitude which their professional quality required of them and took an active part in the propaganda for personal conscription. Their ideas about the purposes of militarizing the nation were conditioned by the prime importance they attached to the realization of Belgian economic and territorial expansion. They supported their argument for the strengthening of the army by appealing to a concept of patriotism that connected the military question to the need for a larger Belgian empire. This way of understanding patriotism also harbored an elitist concern for proper guidance of the masses. Whereas changes in political culture after the 1893 franchise extension had promoted in members of the upper classes a certain distaste for domestic politics, the diplomats among them had found in King Leopold II’s imperialism a motivation to deal with the politicization of the populace. In their view, the army would not only remove the social threat emanating from the lower classes by instilling discipline in their most virile members, it would also nourish their love for Belgium and, much like the colony had done for diplomats, give them pride as the defenders of a strong empire.
This article investigates Peter Paul Rubens's diplomatic mission to the court of Charles I of Eng... more This article investigates Peter Paul Rubens's diplomatic mission to the court of Charles I of England by order of Philip IV of Spain. Bringing together arguments from diplomatic history, anthropology and art theory, it revises the traditional view of Rubens as a heroic figure who brought peace to England and Spain, and honour to himself. Rubens's mission to London should be considered instead as a gift sent by Philip IV to Charles I. The diplomatic culture of the early seventeenth century, which underscored the importance of painting as a means of communication and in which reciprocity was regarded as a fundamental mechanism, profoundly influenced the favourable outcomes of both Rubens's and the Spanish court's diplomatic strategies. It was not just Rubens's personality and genius that brought about political change. Rather, it was the symbolic action of the gift and its subsequent materialization in a painting that Rubens donated to Charles I.
Book Reviews by Michael Auwers
Contemporanea, 2023
De Koude Oorlog is terug van nooit helemaal weggeweest. Dat is althans een van de indrukken die d... more De Koude Oorlog is terug van nooit helemaal weggeweest. Dat is althans een van de indrukken die deze 'biografie van 1947', gepubliceerd driekwart eeuw na het begin van dat conflict in precies dat jaar, op de lezer nalaat. Tussen de leeftijden van de auteurs, de sociale wetenschapper Luk Van Langenhove en de historicus Yannis Skalli-Housseini, zit een tijdsverschil bijna zo groot als de initiële Koude Oorlog tussen de Verenigde Staten en de Sovjet-Unie duurde. De auteurs zetten dit boek dan ook met reden in de markt als een intergenerationeel en interdisciplinair werk.
Diplomatica, 2024
Consuls rank among the favoured persons of interest among scholars working in new diplomatic hist... more Consuls rank among the favoured persons of interest among scholars working in new diplomatic history. Previously often overlooked as mediators in international political and economic processes to the benefit of higher ranking diplomats and political leaders, in recent decades historians and political scientists have come to realize that consular lives provide us with unique perspectives from the grassroots level of interstate relations. Research has so far focused primarily on the institutional history of their profession.
BMGN, 2023
In een zestal lijvige hoofdstukken schetst Aldert Jan van Galen Last
nauwgezet de geschiedenis va... more In een zestal lijvige hoofdstukken schetst Aldert Jan van Galen Last
nauwgezet de geschiedenis van de ‘buitenlandse dienst’ vanaf de vroegmoderne Republiek totdat die de Buitenlandse Dienst werd zoals veel Nederlanders die vandaag kennen. De meeste aandacht gaat daarbij uit naar de lange negentiende eeuw. Met behulp van drie criteria (werving, selectie, opleiding) evalueert de auteur voor drie groepen (diplomaten, consuls, tolken) veranderingen op het vlak van drie processen (bureaucratisering, professionalisering, democratisering).
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Videos by Michael Auwers
Books by Michael Auwers
Papers by Michael Auwers
in newspapers, and how they perceived and reacted to these representations. Focusing on the case
of Belgium, it looks, on the one hand, at the occurrence and/or co-existence of certain frames used
by journalists to stereotype diplomats, and evaluates how changes in Belgian foreign policy and
European politics altered framing strategies throughout this period. On the other hand, it sheds
light on how diplomats coped with the penetration of the mass media into their professional
space, which forced them to reckon with changing media logics in this age of accelerating
democratization.
Book Reviews by Michael Auwers
nauwgezet de geschiedenis van de ‘buitenlandse dienst’ vanaf de vroegmoderne Republiek totdat die de Buitenlandse Dienst werd zoals veel Nederlanders die vandaag kennen. De meeste aandacht gaat daarbij uit naar de lange negentiende eeuw. Met behulp van drie criteria (werving, selectie, opleiding) evalueert de auteur voor drie groepen (diplomaten, consuls, tolken) veranderingen op het vlak van drie processen (bureaucratisering, professionalisering, democratisering).
in newspapers, and how they perceived and reacted to these representations. Focusing on the case
of Belgium, it looks, on the one hand, at the occurrence and/or co-existence of certain frames used
by journalists to stereotype diplomats, and evaluates how changes in Belgian foreign policy and
European politics altered framing strategies throughout this period. On the other hand, it sheds
light on how diplomats coped with the penetration of the mass media into their professional
space, which forced them to reckon with changing media logics in this age of accelerating
democratization.
nauwgezet de geschiedenis van de ‘buitenlandse dienst’ vanaf de vroegmoderne Republiek totdat die de Buitenlandse Dienst werd zoals veel Nederlanders die vandaag kennen. De meeste aandacht gaat daarbij uit naar de lange negentiende eeuw. Met behulp van drie criteria (werving, selectie, opleiding) evalueert de auteur voor drie groepen (diplomaten, consuls, tolken) veranderingen op het vlak van drie processen (bureaucratisering, professionalisering, democratisering).
Zie verder https://www.contemporanea.be/nl/article/20222recensieauwersoverponsaers
Zie ook: https://www.contemporanea.be/nl/article/20222recensieauwersoverlaptos
Watch on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=476kXRn1zOo
Keynote speakers:
Manu Karuka (Barnard College, New York)
Daniel Laqua (Northumbria University, Newcastle)
Deadline submission abstracts:
December 30, 2023.