threads / diplomacy #9

1. c. 880

   Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum

   also in State, law, and coercion

   Pact between Alfred the Great of Wessex and the Viking king Guthrum defining the boundary between English and Danish rule. It formalized the Danelaw and set legal terms between the two peoples.

2. c. 911

   Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte

   also in State, law, and coercion

   Agreement between King Charles the Simple of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo, granting Rollo lands around Rouen in exchange for defense and baptism. It created what became the Duchy of Normandy.

3. 4 September 1479

   Treaty of Alcacovas

   also in State, law, and coercion

   Treaty between Castile and Portugal ending the War of the Castilian Succession and dividing Atlantic spheres, with Portugal keeping the African coast and most island groups. It was the first European treaty partitioning overseas zones of expansion.

4. 16 June 1494

   Treaty of Tordesillas

   also in Colonization: the making of the modern world, Religion and ideology, The Catholic Church as a world power

   treaty dividing territory between Portugal and Spain

5. 22 April 1529

   Treaty of Saragossa

   also in State, law, and coercion

   Treaty between Spain and Portugal fixing the antimeridian of the Tordesillas line in the Pacific, with the Moluccas falling to Portugal. It completed the division of the globe into two Iberian spheres.

6. 1 July 1569

   Union of Lublin

   also in State, law, and coercion

   Treaty merging the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with a shared elected king and parliament. It created one of the largest states in Europe.

7. 27 August 1689

   Treaty of Nerchinsk

   also in State, law, and coercion

   First treaty between Russia and Qing China, fixing their border along the Argun and Stanovoy ranges and opening regulated trade. Russia gave up the Amur valley for over 150 years.

8. 5 August 1772

   First Partition of Poland

   also in State, law, and coercion

   Conventions among Russia, Prussia, and Austria annexing about a third of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's territory. It began the process that erased Poland from the map by 1795.

9. 30 April 1803

   Louisiana Purchase

   also in Anatomy of a superpower: the American state, State, law, and coercion

   Treaty by which the United States bought the Louisiana territory from France for 15 million dollars, roughly doubling the size of the country. It opened the trans-Mississippi West to American expansion.

10. 22 February 1819

    Adams-Onis Treaty

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Treaty in which Spain ceded Florida to the United States and the two powers fixed a boundary across North America to the Pacific. It defined the western limits of the Louisiana Purchase.

11. 6 February 1840

    Treaty of Waitangi

    also in Colonialism: the conquest of the world, State, law, and coercion, The British Empire

    Agreement between the British Crown and Maori chiefs that made New Zealand a British colony while promising Maori possession of their lands. Differences between the English and Maori texts remain central to New Zealand law and politics.

12. 15 June 1846

    Oregon Treaty

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Treaty between Britain and the United States dividing the Oregon Country along the 49th parallel. It settled the last major boundary dispute between the two powers in North America.

13. 30 March 1867

    Alaska Purchase

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Treaty by which Russia sold Alaska to the United States for 7.2 million dollars. Mocked at the time as Seward's Folly, it later proved strategically and economically valuable.

14. 15 November 1884 to 26 February 1885

    Berlin Conference

    also in Hinges of history, State, law, and coercion

    Conference of European powers and the United States that set rules for claiming African territory and recognized King Leopold's Congo Free State. It accelerated the Scramble for Africa without any African participation.

15. 11 February 1929

    Lateran Treaty

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Treaty between Italy and the Holy See creating the sovereign State of Vatican City and settling the Roman Question. It defined church-state relations in Italy.

16. 7 September 1977

    Torrijos-Carter Treaties

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Treaties between the United States and Panama providing for the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama by the end of 1999 while guaranteeing its neutrality. They ended nearly a century of US control of the canal zone.

17. 19 December 1984

    Sino-British Joint Declaration

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Agreement providing for the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 under the one country, two systems formula, with its way of life guaranteed for fifty years. Its status has been central to later disputes over Hong Kong.