The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe: Size, Identity and International Relations since 1800

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Rather than simply assuming that some states are small and others are big, The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe delves deep into the construction of different size-based hierarchies in Europe and explores the way Europeans have thought about their own states size and that of their continental neighbours since the early 19th century. By positing that ideas about size are intimately connected with both basic discourses about a states identity and policy discourses about the range of options most appropriate to that state, this multi-contributor volume presents a novel way of thinking about what makes one state, in the eyes of both its own inhabitants and those of others, different from others, and what effects these perceived differences have had, and continue to have, on domestic, European, and global politics. Bringing together an international team of historians and political scientists, this nuanced and sophisticated study examines the connections between shifting ideas about a states (relative) size, competing notions of national interest and mission, and international policy in modern Europe and beyond.

Reviews

Finally, a full study of how small states experience and narrate their smallness. Welcome to Small State Studies, dear historians! * Iver B. Neumann, Co-Editor of Small States in International Relations *
At a time when all attention is going towards great power competition and grand strategy, The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe offers us food for thought on how small states in the international system have navigated the demands for autonomy and agency within challenging circumstances in the past. The book shows how indeed small can be great. * Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Professor of International Studies and Global History, Leiden University, Netherlands *

Author Bio

Samul Kruizinga is Senior Lecturer in Military and Modern History at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He recently edited, along with Ruud van Dijk, Vincent Kuitenbrouwer, and Rimko van der Maar, Shaping the International Relations of the Netherlands, 1815-2000: A Small Country on the Global Scene (2018).