Perpetual Peace

Written in 1795, as Prussia signed its own treaty with revolutionary France, Kant’s short essay takes the form of a peace treaty itself. Its preliminary articles ban secret clauses, standing armies, and the buying and selling of states. Its three definitive articles argue that lasting peace requires republican constitutions at home, a federation of free states abroad, and a right of hospitality for the stranger who arrives on foreign soil. Kant is careful to insist he wants no world government, only a league that independent republics join because peace serves them. The tone is dry, almost legalistic, and occasionally sly. The ideas ran straight through to the League of Nations and the United Nations. Free PDF and EPUB editions here.