Talk:Treaty of Utrecht

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[edit] Balance of Power

It says in the article that the concept of Balance of Power first appeared in the Treaty of Utrecht, but this is not the case. The concept is first mentioned in Daniel Defoe's April 19, 1709 Review. I don't feel as though I should be the one to change the article as I'm not even a registered user, but I thought that I should point this out and that someone with more experience in these matters should go about it.

The Balance of Power was actually first mentioned in 1701 by Charles Davenant in his "Essays on the Balance of Power"

• In studies of International Relations, the Treaty of Utrecht is usually mentioned as significant because it was seen afterwards as an important precedent establishing the importance of the balance of power, a paradigm that would continue to be explicitly important for several centuries and arguably remains so today. I have not seen it claimed that it is in any way the 'first mention' of the balance of power, and the article should be changed to reflect that, as it appears prior mentions have been found. 141.161.58.24 05:16, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

I've added these assertions to the article with my recent edits and have removed the tag. Ordinarily a tag is added in an article after discussion has failed, not at the outset. --Wetman 07:07, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fisheries

I read that the treaty left Spain out of the whale and cod fisheries off Newfoundland. When Spanish mariners returned in the 1920s, they had to learn from the Bretons. --Error 01:52, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] De vous, chez vous, sans vous / Dutch influence

The last paragraph says that the importance and influence of the treaty for the Dutch was small. This seems incorrect to me. For the Dutch, the influence was huge: it marked the end of the era in which the Dutch were the rulers of the oceans. The proverbial saying De vous, chez vous, sans vous is rather explained by the fact that the Dutch, as many other powers, could do nothing else than agree to what the British and the French had agreed. I, not being a registered user, neither being a historian, neither being a native English speaker, suppose that someone changes the last paragraph to something like the following:

The Dutch, not willing to be ruled out by an arrangement between England and France, accepted the French proposal to negotiate in Utrecht, but the negotiations proved to be a fait accompli anyway, which led to the proverbial saying De vous, chez vous, sans vous, meaning: about you, in your surroundings, but without you.----131.211.198.148 15:18, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't see how this section is relevant to the article.

A completely recast paragraph concerning Dutch desires (the fortifications in the south are the ones I'm aware of) and the results for the Dutch in the final Treaty would be a much-to-be- desired contribution from you. --Wetman 07:11, 6 September 2006 (UTC)