An Abridged Version of the Project for Perpetual Peace

Seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe was a cauldron of wars and upheavals. However, in the midst of this turmoil, some of the more imaginative and gifted Europeans were able to think outside the box, on how to establish a lasting peace in Europe. One of these enlightened Europeans was Charles I [...]
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Seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe was a cauldron of wars and upheavals. However, in the midst of this turmoil, some of the more imaginative and gifted Europeans were able to think outside the box, on how to establish a lasting peace in Europe. One of these enlightened Europeans was Charles Irenee Castel de Saint-Pierre, better known as the Abbe de Saint-Pierre. Throughout his life, Saint-Pierre wrote several volumes on a wide range of subjects. However, the one closest to his heart and which he promoted with the greatest vigour, was the 1713 "Project for Perpetual Peace", known as the "Projet", and its abridged version, the "Abrege", which was published for the first time in 1729. In these works, Saint-Pierre proposes the signing of a treaty binding all the nations of Europe in a Grand Alliance and the establishment of a European Assembly in a City of Peace. He also proposed the setting up of a European army to guard the Continent's frontiers. The Abbe de Saint-Pierre also wrote on how to eradicate Berber piracy in the Mediterranean once and for all.A translation of this unpublished project, in which Malta plays the principal role, is also included in this publication as an Annex. The Abbe admitted that he owed the ideas expressed in it to his brother, Francois-Antoine de Castel de Saint-Pierre, who commanded the galleys of the Order of St. John from 1705 to 1708. The style in which this Project is written reflects that which the Abbe de Saint-Pierre used in writing the others, not least amongst them the Abrege itself.