Here is a synopsis of a book by Sebastien Dubois, on Belgium's historical
boundaries. While the abstract is in English and French, the book is only in
French. You can buy copies fomr the addresses at the bottom of the page.
For further info, email the author at
duboisermand@...
>S�BASTIEN DUBOIS
>
>LES BORNES IMMUABLES DE L��TAT
>La rationalisation du trac� des fronti�res au si�cle des Lumi�res
>(France, Pays-Bas autrichiens et principaut� de Li�ge)
>
>
>Au d�but du XVIIIe si�cle, les connaissances g�ographiques des princes
>n��taient encore gu�re brillantes. Rares �taient les descriptions
>administratives de l�enti�ret� du territoire soumis, en principe, � leur
>autorit�. On manquait de bonnes cartes. Les diff�rends territoriaux avec
>les pays voisins �taient nombreux. Entre les Pays-Bas autrichiens et la
>principaut� de Li�ge, la souverainet� d�une centaine de localit�s �tait
>contest�e. Longtemps, on a pens� pouvoir opposer au trac� lin�aire et
>pr�cis de la fronti�re actuelle, � la fronti�re d�Ancien R�gime �,
>sinueuse, discontinue, floue. Pour beaucoup, l�Ancien R�gime se serait
>presque complu � pr�server terres � pesle m�l�es � et pl�thore d�enclaves.
>Le pr�sent ouvrage d�montre que cette th�orie doit �tre remise en question,
>notamment que le XVIIIe si�cle fut le moment d�une inflexion majeure. Le
>mouvement fut g�n�ral en Europe occidentale. La territorialit�, relation
>entre les hommes et le sol, devint plus forte. Bien avant la R�volution,
>l��tat se donna les moyens d�assurer son h�g�monie sur l�espace, cr�ant des
>institutions charg�es de rendre la fronti�re plus � nette �, profitant des
>progr�s de la science cartographique, renon�ant aux revendications et aux
>droits � historiques �. Bas� sur un important corpus d�archives belges,
>autrichiennes et fran�aises, ce livre constitue une contribution originale
>tant � l�histoire des relations internationales qu�� la g�ographie
>historique. Il se concentre sur le cas des n�gociations entre les
>gouvernements de Bruxelles, Li�ge et Versailles pour saisir au plus pr�s
>cette rationalisation du trac� des fronti�res qui devait donner � l��tat
>des bornes � immuables �.
>
>S�bastien Dubois
>Aspirant du Fonds national de la Recherche scientifique
>a l�Universite catholique de Louvain
>Unite d�histoire des Temps modernes
>1, Place Blaise Pascal
>B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
>BELGIUM
>dubois@...
>Fax. ++ 32 10 47 49 29
>
>
>S�bastien DUBOIS, Les bornes immuables de l��tat. La rationalisation du
>trac� des fronti�res au si�cle des Lumi�res (France, Pays-Bas autrichiens
>et principaut� de Li�ge), pr�face de Claude BRUNEEL, Courtrai-Heule, UGA,
>1999, 486 p. (Collection Anciens Pays et Assembl�es d��tats, volume 102),
>in-8�, ISBN 90-6768-234-9.
>
>Commandes :
>soit par �crit/by mail to:
>�ditions UGA Uitgeverij
>Stijn Streuvelslaan, 73
>B-8501 KORTRIJK-HEULE
>BELGIQUE-BELGIUM
>
>soit par fax/by fax to :
>00 32 56 356096
>
>soit par courrier �lectronique/by e-mail to :
>publ@...
>
>(ENGLISH VERSION)
>
>The unalterable boundaries of the State
>The rationalization of the frontier during the Age of Enlightenment
>(France, Austrian Netherlands and principality of Liege)
>by
>S�bastien Dubois
>Research Fellow the Belgian National Found for Scientific Research
>to the Catholic University of Louvain
>
> This book is an essay of new geographical history (interesting too the
>history of geography and cartography) : not only know the boundaries, but
>know how the frontier and the territory were thought and understood. It�s
>too a contribution to the history of ideas (particularly the politicals
>ideas) and to the history of the international relations (not the classical
>diplomatic history but a study of the relations between the governments �
>and � between the peoples).
> Most French historians think always that the Revolution and the republican
>model is the source of all the innovations, the origin of all the most
>important principles of our contemporary political system. The absolutist
>regime have not developed a sense of territoriality : boundaries were
>vague, enclaves were numbrous,... I made the demonstration this thesis -
>defended, e.g., by the famous French historian Lucien Febvre - is false.
>During the 18th century, different states of Western Europe peacefully make
>end to their territorial conflicts : it�s a phenomenon I call the
>rationalization (or � purification �) of the frontier.
> At Versailles in France, at Brussels in the Austrian Netherlands, at Liege
>by the episcopal governement, institutions were specially founded to study
>these problems, to collect informations on the border incidents, to make
>good maps, ... One thing was really important : to protect the rights of
>their Sovereign.
> During the eighteenth century, the border incidents between the Austrian
>Netherlands (the Belgian provinces) and the episcopal principality of Liege
>happened daily. The actual Belgian territory was cutted by this of the
>principality of Liege from North to South, from the Netherlands to France.
>The principality represented 20% of the actual Belgian territory and its
>boundaries were caracteristic : a lot of enclaves, more or less one hundred
>villages disputed between the two governments of Brussels and Liege, ...
> To do it, I researched archives in Belgium, France and Austria : at
>Brussels (Archives generales du Royaume/General Record of the Kingdom of
>Belgium), Namur and Liege (Archives de l�Etat dans les provinces/Record
>Office of the State in the provinces), at Lille (France, Archives
>d�partementales du Nord/Departemental Record of the North), at Paris
>(Ministere des Affaires etrangeres/French Foreign Office, Archives
>nationales de France/National Record of France, Service historique de
>l�Armee de Terre/Historical Service of the Army), at Vienna (Haus-, Hof-
>und Staatsarchiv/ Record of the House, the Court and the State of Austria).
>
>Territoriality and sovereignty : the idea of State
>
> How is it possible, for instance, for the modern mind to conceive
>distinctly a travelling political organization, a State without territorial
>boundaries or the need of them, composed of persons, but associated with no
>fixed or certain habitat? Drawn by the processes of feudalization,
>sovereignty found at last a local habitation and a name : a national
>identity will be founded on a definite territory. Modern definitions of a
>State always limit sovereignty to some definite land. "A State" - runs the
>modern definition - "is a People organized for law within a definite
>territory". For the modern thought, the idea of territoriality is connected
>with the existence of a State.
> During the Age of Enlightenment, the State strives to have the means of
>his hegemony : progress of the cartographic science (with a vast campaign
>of systematic cartography by the military engineers), researchs in the
>official records to find the proofs of the sovereign�s rights, growing
>presence of the authorities in the daily life of the men, ... The state
>need to carefully close its territory, as a peasant would enclose its field
>; need to fix the limits and to place boundary markers on its frontiers to
>define a linear territorial boundary.
> The state�s insistence on territory in the 18th century was also several
>steps away from becoming the vehicle or excuse of international strife :
>the � territorial violations � properly belong to nationalism...
>
>There are three parts in the book :
>
>I. The Imbroglio
>(1. An international boundary? Unity and diversity from two countries ; 2.
>The territorial disputes)
>
>II. The Defense
>(1. The political and diplomatic organs at work for preserving the rights
>of the Sovereign ; 2. Good law and juridism ; 3. International and economic
>stakes)
>
>III. The Reason
>
>Conclusion : Smithereens of Europe and maxims of State
>
>Sebastien Dubois
>Aspirant du Fonds national de la Recherche scientifique
>a l�Universite catholique de Louvain
>Unite d�histoire des Temps modernes
>1, Place Blaise Pascal
>B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
>BELGIUM
>dubois@...
>Fax. ++ 32 10 47 49 29
>
>The book is published in French : S�bastien DUBOIS, Les bornes immuables de
>l��tat. La rationalisation du trac� des fronti�res au si�cle des Lumi�res
>(France, Pays-Bas autrichiens et principaut� de Li�ge), pr�face de Claude
>BRUNEEL, Courtrai-Heule, UGA, 1999, 486 p. (Collection Anciens Pays et
>Assembl�es d��tats, volume 102), in-8�, ISBN 90-6768-234-9.
>
>TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK :
>by mail to:
>�ditions UGA Uitgeverij
>Stijn Streuvelslaan, 73
>B-8501 KORTRIJK-HEULE
>BELGIQUE-BELGIUM
>
>by fax to :
>++ 32 56 356096
>
>by e-mail to :
>publ@...
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