Network Neutrality : Switzerland's role in the genesis of the Telegraph Union, 1855-1875.
Title:
Network Neutrality : Switzerland's role in the genesis of the Telegraph Union, 1855-1875.
Author:
Balbi, Gabriele.
ISBN:
9783035107449
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (230 pages)
Series:
Europäisierung des Gewaltmonopols
Contents:
Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 - Switzerland takes on Telecommunications. The politics, economics, technology and society of the period -- Introduction -- 1.1 The beginnings of telecommunications in Switzerland -- 1.2 Federalism and democracy -- 1.3 Neutrality and defence -- 1.4 Geography and international relations -- 1.5 Liberalism and telecommunications -- 1.6 Foreign trade -- 1.7 Radicalism and telecommunications -- 1.8 Know-how and technical elite -- 1.9 National and international interests -- Chapter 2 - "Bringing Together the Two Large Electric Currents Dividing Europe" (1849-1865) -- Introduction -- 2.1 Bilateral conventions -- 2.2 The Austro-German Union -- 2.3 The Western European Union -- 2.4 En route to convergence -- 2.5 Paris 1855: the birth of WETU -- 2.6 Turin 1857: the invite to Austria -- 2.7 Stuttgart 1857 and Brussels 1858 -- 2.8 Bern 1858: an attempt to clone Stuttgart -- 2.9 Friedrichshafen 1858: Switzerland holding the balance -- 2.10 Bregenz 1863: a European Union in view -- 2.11 Switzerland's solutions -- 2.12 Diplomacy and imbroglio in the 1850s and 1860s -- Chapter 3 - The Birth of the Telegraph Union: the 1865 Paris Conference -- Introduction -- 3.1 Austria's presence -- 3.2 The Federal Council calls the tune -- 3.3 Louis Curchod emerging -- 3.4 Switzerland scores -- 3.5 Switzerland beefs up -- Chapter 4 - The 1868 Vienna Conference -- Introduction -- 4.1 A special agent for international telegraphy -- 4.2 Challet-Venel decodes Curchod -- 4.3 The anti-dumping regulation -- 4.4 The debate over the Bureau -- 4.5 Swiss reactions -- 4.6 Organization and ambiguity -- Chapter 5 - Towards Rome Conference: Moves and Counter-moves (1868-1872) -- Introduction -- 5.1 Replacing Curchod -- 5.2 The Bureau as a peacemaker -- 5.3 Briefing the Swiss delegate(s) for Rome.
5.4 The German move to snaffle the Bureau -- 5.5 The Germans at work -- 5.6 The Bureau left in Swiss hands -- 5.7 Swiss reactions -- Chapter 6 - The "Bureau"cratisation of the Telegraph Union: St Petersburg (1875) -- Introduction -- 6.1 Continuity and change -- 6.2 Curchod mentoring the Russian delegate -- 6.3 The Bureau-cratic system -- 6.4 The separation of the ways -- 6.5 The Bureau as a Swiss body -- Conclusion -- References.
Abstract:
This book uses new sources to indepth the early history of the Telegraph Union (today the International Telecommunication Union) and focuses on the key role - political, diplomatic, economic and technical - Switzerland played in promoting its birth and managing its structures during the ten years preceding and following its creation (1855-1875). The history of the ITU tends to be neglected in telecommunication history and the role of Switzerland in its formation and management has been largely overlooked. This is surprising for three reasons: first, it was (and still is) the seat of the Bureau; second, until World War Two the secretary was a Swiss national; finally, the Bureau was under the direct control of the Swiss government. The main statement of this book is that the political economy of Switzerland, based on neutrality, diplomacy, internationalism and technical expertise, exerted a decisive influence over the origins of the ITU.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Electronic Access:
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