On (Some) European Ways of Waging War and Making Peace

The history of Europe is as much about violence and divisions as it is about shared cultural, social, and economic accomplishments. War has been a constant feature of Europe’s history, shaping a shared European space. However, efforts to reduce the destructiveness of war, leading to the development of Jus ad bellum and international law, have also been key to defining Europe. The authors explore some European ways of conceiving of war and peace from the early eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, showing how these debates helped shape the concept of ‘Europe’.