The International Society Tradition | 2021
The French Revolution: Concert, Progress and Civilization—Gentz, Wheaton and Lorimer
Abstract
The chapter considers the effects of the French Revolution on the society of states, including constitutionalism, concerting and a new idea of the balance of power. It considers the French Revolution as it generated the new idea of the ‘civilized state’ and the effects of the Standard of Civilization (SOC) on the reception of new states into the international order. It considers the secondary imperialisms of the late imperialists and the influence of the SOC into the twentieth century. It points to the legacy of the Revolution in Wheaton’s Elements of International Law and the innovations it introduced into the international order.