This book asks anew whether there really was European integration before 1914. By focussing on quantitative (economic indicators) and qualitative data (the international regulation of patents, communication networks, social policy and plant protection), the authors re-evaluate European integration of the time and address the politics of seemingly apolitical cooperation. The authors show that European integration was multifaceted and cooperation less the result of intent, than of incentives. National polities and international regimes co-shaped each other. The result is a book that achieves two things: offer stand-alone chapters that shed light on specific developments and - these read altogether - develop a bigger picture. It will be of interest to researchers and students of economic history, as well as those interested in the history of internationalism and globalisation.
"The Politics and Policies of European Economic Integration, 1850-1914 combines an older existing strand of the literature-the role of technology in European integration pioneered by the Tensions of Europe network- with a relatively newer one ... . the book offers new understandings of how international organization-in the broadest sense of the term-took shape in the European realm since the nineteenth century." (Vincent Lagendijk, Technology and Culture, Vol. 65 (1), January, 2024)