The previous chapter contained two sketches, the first of the traditional society of states, the second of the same society as modified under the impact of nationalism. These sketches focused deliberately on the essential features of the design. The hope was that this process of simplification and reduction would expose those elements in the landscape such as sovereign statehood, diplomacy, inter-state rivalry and war which have withstood the onslaught of nationalism, from those, such as the principle of dynastic legitimacy, imperial agrandisement, and political justifications for the use of force which have succumbed to it. Little was said, however, about the process by which the old model was transformed into the new. This is the purpose of the present chapter.

Essentially, my argument is that an accommodation was reached between the prescriptive principle of sovereignty and the popular principle of national self-determination. The result of this accommodation was the creation of over 100 new states and the development of the first truly global international society that the world had known. But the old world did not surrender unconditionally to the new: as in any accommodation, compromise was involved. The principle of national self-determination which was built into the new system turned out to be much less permissive, or popular, than attention to its philosophical origins and meaning might lead one to expect. Moreover, the global integration of international society on the basis of a principle of popular sovereignty was accompanied by an unprecedented attempt to freeze the political map.