Using the cases of the Austrian Empire, Switzerland, France, Prussia, and czarist Russia, the volume examines the history of policing in relation to diplomacy, national defense, and the rise of totalitarian countries. The discussion begins by tracing the origins of the modern police system in the response of police organizations to revolutionary activities in the 19th Century. The shifting balance of power from the Franco-Prussian War provides the background for the European-wide crisis during the turn of the century. At this time, the idea of an international police system first arose as a means of guarding against international crime, anarchism, and the danger of total war. Instead, national police organizations retrenched during the total mobilization before World War I. Finally, the analysis focuses on how the special case of Prussia's militarism contributed to the complicity of its police institutions in the rise of Nazi Germany before World War II. Footnotes, lists of abbreviations and archival files consulted, and index