Modernity and the past, the dawn of the distant future and the flickering shadow of bygone centuries - all this can be described with only one word - history.
This science arose as soon as man learned to write, read and count, when people came to the top of their evolutionary status. History allows not only to see the past through the prism of time, shrouded in mystery, but also to predict some future events. At its core, history is not a single science. For a clear idea of the past, in order to know the way of life, the foundations of society, the political system, architecture and culture of bygone times, history includes a whole array of other sciences, each of which has its own importance. All these sciences help to piece together the whole picture of the distant past.
What is diplomacy?
Modern scientists are increasingly trying to understand and see the history of bygone years. But in the process of long studies, people were able to see and describe almost all historicalevents in general. Thus, it was possible to create a kind of "historical tree", the facts of which are known to everyone who graduated from high school.
But the "tree" itself is not the truth in its pure form, so scientists of the 21st century are increasingly engaged in recreating microhistory, which will help more accurately see what once was.
In the process of creating this category, people study almost everything: everyday life, culture, architecture, law, etc. But documents of that time that have legal status are of the greatest importance. It follows that diplomacy is a historical science that studies historical documents or acts, as they are most often called. Documents include not only domestic acts of legislative bodies, but also interstate treaties. Many believe that diplomacy is an auxiliary discipline, although this is fundamentally not the case, because it has its own functions, tasks, subject and methods. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about the auxiliary role of this science, since diplomacy is a kind of boundary between general history and microhistory.
Types of documents studied by diplomacy
Diplomatics, as a special historical discipline, does not study all documents, but only those that have a unique historical value, and they, in turn, are very few. Their characteristic features allow us to distinguish several main groups, namely:
1. Legal acts first appeared when people learned to write and read, and also moved from a communal system to a slave system. This led to the creation of a complex mechanism, the purpose of which was to manage.
Relying only on brute force became impossible, so people began to use special acts to control each other in the middle of the state. The first group can include domestic acts of various authorities. Therefore, diplomacy is a science that studies the acts of the authorities of a single state.
2. The second group includes international acts, the purpose of which was to create certain relations between states, for example, diplomatic or trade.
3. The third group includes domestic acts, but there is one remark.
If the first group included acts of legislative power, then the second group includes legal acts that implemented domestic policy.
Subject of science diplomacy
What does diplomacy mean? To answer this question, it is necessary to study in detail the subject of this science. The subject of diplomacy is historical legal acts that are of particular value. With their help, you can find out those relations (internal or external) that were relevant at the time the act was adopted. Thus, the subject of diplomacy is a kind of framework in which its object is studied - state-legal relations contained in legal acts. The subject studies the historical events that took place before and after the adoption of the act, as well asdocument structure.
Methodology of diplomacy
No science can exist without a particular range of methods that it uses to study its subject. Diplomacy in this sense is no exception. The mere meaning of the word "diplomatics" (from French - letter, document) makes it possible to understand the methodological basis of science.
The main method of diplomacy is the historical-legal method. Its essence is that it studies the legal essence of the act itself and helps to see the historical and political situation that accompanied the adoption of the document. The methodological base can help not only in the process of studying the document, but it will also answer the question of what diplomacy is. Because in the process of its application, a comprehensive knowledge of a certain situation occurs, for the elimination or creation of which a legal act was issued.
Diplomatics: science and academic discipline
Such a scientific category as diplomacy can be viewed in two different dimensions: as a science and as an academic discipline. The science of diplomacy is of practical importance for scientists engaged in scientific research of historical documents. It is science that influences the process of cognition by people of legal acts of different times. Also in the field of view of science is the process of creating theories and concepts that make it possible to implement the entire methodological base of diplomacy as efficiently as possible.
As an academic discipline, diplomacy is a "school" that trains true professionals in the field of research work on ancient texts. It is with the help of this discipline that highly qualified specialists in their field are trained in special educational institutions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, diplomacy is an important science in the entire array of historical disciplines. It helps to see the distant past in much more detail, by studying the legal acts of certain powers.
