Abstract: The most unique character of John Seeley as a historian lies in his insistence on treating history and politics as two cognate and entwined disciplines. Seeley's primary contribution to the study of the English history is to put modern England in the global context to survey its development. Seeley indicates that the overseas expansion of England has laid down the foundation of a potential World State which comprised Britain and its settler colonies, or “Greater Britain” in Seeley's terminology. Seeley seeks to explore the possibilities and necessities of transforming “Greater Britain” from a potential World State to a real one. For Seeley, a World State should model the United States, in which its federal arrangements based on a carefully designed constitution could effectively help govern a continentsize country and ensure individual liberty within it. In addition its major influence on modern geopolitics, Seeley's historical studies also have formed the basis for the AngloSaxon conception of international politics.

Key words: John Seeley, history and politics, the British Empire, Greater Britain, the World State

摘要： 约翰·西利作为一名历史学家的独特性在于将历史与政治看作是两个密切依存的领域，他对历史研究的首要贡献在于将现代英国的成长置于一种全球背景中进行考察。西利认为英国海外扩张奠定了一个由英国及定居者殖民地构成的世界性国家的基础，他关注的重点就是构建这种世界性国家的可能性与必要性。西利眼中的世界性国家乃是以美国为样本的，因为美国的经验证明一种以合理的宪法为基础的联邦制，能够在保障个人自由的同时满足对一个超大规模国家的治理。西利的影响主要体现在地理政治研究领域，且他思想中的核心要素也是此后英美国际政治观的基础。

关键词: 约翰·西利, 历史与政治, 英帝国, 大大不列颠, 世界性国家