两次世界大战之间的国际关系 (1939)

《两次世界大战之间的国际关系1919-1939》（英语：International Relations Between the Two World Wars: 1919–1939）是英国历史学家、国际关系学家爱德华·霍列特·卡尔的代表作之一。该书简明扼要地介绍了两次世界大战之间的历史，并且指出了第二次世界大战爆发的必然性。

主要内容

本书出版于1939年。全书以巴黎和会为开端、德国入侵波兰为结局，简明扼要地介绍了第一次世界大战之后国际关系的建立和发展，一针见血地指出了第二次世界大战爆发的必然性。书中辛辣地指责了美、英、法等国为了一己私欲操纵国际关系、奴役战败国、一味姑息讨好纳粹德国的野心不惜牺牲小国利益的可耻行为。

本书主要篇幅关注于欧洲大陆，尤其是德国和苏联两国。对于亚洲、太平洋地区的历史事件仅仅一笔带过。

The Twenty Years' Crisis: 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations is a book on international relations written by E. H. Carr. The book was written in the 1930s shortly before the outbreak of World War II in Europe and the first edition was published in September 1939, shortly after the war's outbreak; a second edition was published in 1946. In the revised edition, Carr did not "re-write every passage which had been in someway modified by the subsequent course of events", but rather decided "to modify a few sentences" and undertake other small efforts to improve the clarity of the work.

In the book, Carr advances a realist theory of international politics, as well as a critique of what he refers to as the utopian vision of liberal idealists (which he associates with Woodrow Wilson). Carr's realism has often been characterized as classical realism. Carr argues that international politics is defined by power politics. He describes three types of power: military power, economic power, and power over opinion. He argues that political action is based on a coordination of morality and power. He also delves into the relationship between power and morality.

Description

The text is considered a classic in international relations theory, and is often dubbed one of the first modern realist texts, following in the fashion of Thucydides, Machiavelli and Hobbes. Carr's analysis begins with the optimism that followed World War I, as embodied in the League of Nations declarations and various international treaties aimed at the permanent prevention of military conflict. He proceeds to demonstrate how rational, well-conceived ideas of peace and cooperation among states were undermined in short order by the realities of chaos and insecurity in the international realm. By assessing the military, economic, ideological, and juridical facets and applications of power, Carr brings harsh criticism to bear on utopian theorists who forget to consider the exigencies of survival and competition.

Carr does not, however, consider the prospect of human improvement a lost cause. At the end of The Twenty Years' Crisis, he actually advocates for the role of morality in international politics, and suggests that unmitigated Realism amounts to a dismal defeatism which we can ill afford. The sine qua non of his analysis is simply that in the conduct of international affairs, the relative balance of power must be acknowledged as a starting point.

He concludes his discussion by suggesting that "elegant superstructures" such as the League of Nations "must wait until some progress has been made in digging the foundations".

Summary

In 1936 Edward Hallett Carr resigned from the Foreign Office to take up the position of Woodrow Wilson Chair in the Department of International Politics at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He began writing The Twenty Years' Crisis under the working title Utopia and Reality.

The book talks about international relations in general but more specifically it is devoted to the interwar period, although the author originally wanted to debunk the pretensions of liberalism while providing a way out of the impasse that was the inter-war crisis. Furthermore, he also wanted to show his criticism towards Woodrow Wilson who used as a slogan the right of national self-determination and Carr considered to be one of the reasons for the crisis during the period between wars. The writer was determined to find a solution or at least an alternative to what was happening, to what he named a "new society based on new social and economic foundations".