Sometimes referred to as "Rankian History", diplomatic history focuses on politics, politicians and other high rulers and views them as being the driving force of continuity and change in history. History is a term for information about the past. ... Politics is the process and method of making decisions for groups. ...

This is the most common form of history and is often the classical and popular belief of what history should be.

Leopold von Ranke, a German, started this school of historical thought in the 1870s. It relies on the large number of official documents produced by modern western governments to create its history. Leopold von Ranke (December 21, 1795- May 23, 1886) was one of the greatest German historians of the 19th century, and is frequently considered the founder of scientific history. ... Events and Trends Technology Invention of the telephone (1876) and phonograph (1877) WTF Science Ludwig Boltzmanns statistical definition of thermodynamic entropy War, peace and politics Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) results in the collapse of the Second French Empire and in the formation of both the French Third Republic...

External link

• Documents of Diplomatic History (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/irhistry.htm)
• Fletcher School at Tufts International Relations Resources (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/inter_resources/dhpgenresources.html)