This article aims to show that concepts originating in the vocabulary of international relations were crucial to the rhetoric of nation-building in mid-nineteenth-century Europe. A close examination of the Romanian context elucidates in a more general way historical actors’ reflections and critiques of this conceptual vocabulary as well as the permeable nature of the (inter)national in the given historical context. The article explores two conceptual pairs: jus Gentium versus jus publicum Europaeum , and sovereignty versus suzerainty. In the process, it shows how Romanian nation- and state-builders became scholars of international relations. This they did in an effort to demonstrate the historically grounded sovereignty of the Romanian Principalities, in a manner compatible with the prevailing norms of the law of nations. The emphasis on a contractual relationship with the Ottoman Empire allowed for the assertion of national agency, both in the past and in the present. Increasingly focused on the imperfect translatability of concepts forged by the Western historical experience, pamphleteers of all stripes ultimately came to jettison the supposedly feudal, anachronistic vocabulary of suzerainty, militating for the inclusion of the Principalities as full parties in European public law. Thus, the article elucidates some significant conceptual tensions in the development of mid-nineteenth-century nationalism, simultaneously contributing to a growing body of scholarship on the intellectual history of international relations.

中文翻译：

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作为契约史的国家历史

本文旨在表明源自国际关系词汇的概念对 19 世纪中叶欧洲的国家建设修辞至关重要。对罗马尼亚语境的仔细考察以更一般的方式阐明了历史参与者对这一概念词汇的反思和批评，以及在特定历史语境中（国际）民族的渗透性。本文探讨了两个概念对：万古法与欧洲公共法，以及主权与宗主权。在这个过程中，它展示了罗马尼亚的民族和国家建设者如何成为国际关系学者。他们这样做是为了以符合现行国际法规范的方式展示罗马尼亚公国的历史主权。在过去和现在，强调与奥斯曼帝国的合同关系允许国家机构的主张。越来越关注西方历史经验所塑造的概念的不完美可译性，各行各业的小册子最终放弃了所谓的封建、不合时宜的宗主权词汇，促使公国成为欧洲公法的完整政党。因此，本文阐明了 19 世纪中叶民族主义发展过程中的一些重要的概念张力，同时也为越来越多的国际关系思想史研究做出了贡献。越来越关注西方历史经验所塑造的概念的不完美可译性，各行各业的小册子最终放弃了所谓的封建的、不合时宜的宗主权词汇，促使公国成为欧洲公法的完整政党。因此，本文阐明了 19 世纪中叶民族主义发展过程中的一些重要的概念张力，同时也为越来越多的国际关系思想史研究做出了贡献。越来越关注西方历史经验所塑造的概念的不完美可译性，各行各业的小册子最终放弃了所谓的封建、不合时宜的宗主权词汇，促使公国成为欧洲公法的完整政党。因此，本文阐明了 19 世纪中叶民族主义发展过程中的一些重要的概念张力，同时也为越来越多的国际关系思想史研究做出了贡献。