Editing Diplomatic history (section)

===Ranke===
In the 5th century BCE the Greek historian  [[Thucydides]] was highly concerned with the relations among states. However [[Leopold von Ranke]] (1795–1886), the leading German historian of the 19th century, codified the modern form of diplomatic history.  Ranke wrote largely on the history of [[Early Modern Europe]], using the diplomatic archives of the European powers (particularly the [[Republic of Venice]]) to construct a detailed understanding of the history of Europe ''wie es eigentlich gewesen ist'' ("as it actually happened").  Ranke saw diplomatic history as the most important kind of history to write because of his idea of the "Primacy of Foreign Affairs" (''Primat der Aussenpolitik''), arguing that the concerns of international relations drive the internal development of the state. Ranke's understanding of diplomatic history relied on using as sources the large number of official documents produced by modern western governments; he argued that historians should examine such sources in an objective and neutral spirit.<ref name="Matusumoto pages 314-316"/><ref>Philipp Müller, "Doing historical research in the early nineteenth century. Leopold Ranke, the archive policy, and the relazioni of the Venetian Republic." ''Storia della storiografia'' 56 (2009): 81–103. [https://www.academia.edu/download/64762971/2009_Muller_-_Doing_Archival_Research_SDS_2009_2.pdf online]</ref>