Discussing Peace Congresses and early modern Diplomacy in academic writing and on Twitter

Peace making is a difficult and challenging task – today as well as in the early modern period. In my research I focus on the Westphalian peace congress (1643-1649) and how the diplomats on-site tried to balance all the conflicting interests in order to make peace. Thereby, I also analyze what made early modern peace congresses a special diplomatic sphere that differed from permanent courtly diplomacy. I want to get a deeper understanding on the different forms of early modern diplomacy; parts of this I explore with a colleague on Twitter (@emdiplomacy).

I love being a historian: analysing sources and thereby getting a feeling for how historical societies functioned, writing and presenting my ideas and thereby telling a story of my own. Having a historical perspective sharpens my view on modern society.

Exchange and cooperation with colleagues are key for me and my work. I get so much encouragement, motivation and inspiration by talking to collegues from all disciplines. Often enough I am more clever when working together with someone else and exchanging ideas, than when working alone. Knowing that others face similar (or different) challenges in life and we try to support each other helps a lot. Academia should be more about cooperation and support then about competition.