从分歧到共识:英国反对法国继承西班牙王位态度的形成

Disagreement and Consensus:How England Opposed France’s Claim to the Spanish Throne in 1700?

1700年11月法国宣布接受西班牙王位继承遗嘱,英国对此事的态度经历了从默认到一致反法的大逆转。英国态度转变的过程反映出光荣革命后英国统治阶层对国家外交定位存在分歧,托利党代表了岛国视域下的外交传统,辉格党代表了积极对外扩张的外交战略。英国对法态度的转变是政党政治兴起以来首次影响英国重大外交决策,政党政府的形成使托利党得以推行承认政策,选举政治的发展则使辉格党得以诉诸议会外力量,最终利用反法公共舆论迫使托利党改变态度。议会外力量是君主政治过渡到政党政治后出现的新的影响外交决策的因素,在18世纪英国外交中发挥了重要作用。

The present paper,analyzing changes taking place in England’s attitude towards the French succession to the Spanish throne,contends that England’s orientation of foreign policy had changed significantly since the Glorious Revolution and the party politics started to deeply influence the country’s diplomatic endeavors.Moreover,it points out that the extra-parliamentary forces,which helped the Whigs change the Tories’attitude in this matter,played quite an important role in the eighteenth-century England’s foreign policy.