ABSTRACT
The concept of a state system has been intensely and repeatedly discussed in recent years. 1 This discussion about the character of such a system has taken place mainly among philosophers, political philosophers and political scientists. Historians have often been very reluctant to participate in it. This does not mean that historians do not use the term “state system”, but rather that they often do so in a rather uncritical manner. This of course is also true of early modern historians. One important exception among German historians of early modernity is Heinz Duchhardt. Some time ago he criticised the somewhat unspecific use of the concept of system in a way similar to the criticism of the use of the term “state organism” (Organismus der Staaten) by an earlier generation of historians. At the same time, he warned historians against introducing excessively abstract notions of “system” that are hardly applicable to their normal source-based work. 2 On this basis, he then proposed a definition of a “state system”.
