War Did Make States: Revisiting the Bellicist Paradigm in Early Modern Europe

International Organization: 1–39.

Charles Tilly’s classical claim that “war made states”in early modern Europe remains controversial. The “bellicist”paradigm has attracted theoretical criticism both within and beyond its original domain of applicability. While several recent studies have analyzed the internal aspects of Tilly’s theory, there have been very few systematic attempts to assess its logic with regard to the territorial expansion of states. In this paper, we test this key aspect of bellicist theory directly by aligning historical data on European state borders with conflict data, focusing on the period from 1490 through 1790. Proceeding at the systemic, state, and dyadic levels, our analysis confirms that warfare did in fact play a crucial role in the territorial expansion of European states before (and beyond) the French Revolution.

URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/war-did-make-states-revisiting-the-bellicist-paradigm-in-early-modern-europe/03778BD632D40115AF31D06A3F81F91D

DOI: 10.1017/S0020818322000352

Cederman, Lars-Erik, Paola Galano Toro, Luc Girardin, and Guy Schvitz. 2023. “War Did Make States: Revisiting the Bellicist Paradigm in Early Modern Europe.” International Organization: 1–39.

@article{war-did-make-states,
   abstract = {Charles Tilly's classical claim that \textquotedblleft war made states\textquotedblright  in early modern Europe remains controversial. The \textquotedblleft bellicist\textquotedblright  paradigm has attracted theoretical criticism both within and beyond its original domain of applicability. While several recent studies have analyzed the internal aspects of Tilly's theory, there have been very few systematic attempts to assess its logic with regard to the territorial expansion of states. In this paper, we test this key aspect of bellicist theory directly by aligning historical data on European state borders with conflict data, focusing on the period from 1490 through 1790. Proceeding at the systemic, state, and dyadic levels, our analysis confirms that warfare did in fact play a crucial role in the territorial expansion of European states before (and beyond) the French Revolution.},
   author = {Cederman, Lars-Erik and Galano Toro, Paola and Girardin, Luc and Schvitz, Guy},
   title = {War Did Make States: Revisiting the Bellicist Paradigm in Early Modern Europe},
   DOI = {10.1017/S0020818322000352},
   journal = {International Organization},
   publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
   year = {2023},
   pages = {1\textendash39},
   url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/war-did-make-states-revisiting-the-bellicist-paradigm-in-early-modern-europe/03778BD632D40115AF31D06A3F81F91D}
}