PS 203 Lecture Outline 9 27 13 Rise of the Modern State System Learning Goals by the end of this lecture you should be able to 1 Explain the key causes and consequences of the Habsburg bid for mastery of Europe France s bid for mastery of Europe and Prussia s wars for unification 2 Describe the four revolutions in Europe that took place between the 18th and 19th centuries 3 Define the following key concepts and illustrate each with an example where appropriate balance of power Treaty of Westphalia sovereignty nationalism Concert of Europe revisionist actor status quo actor imperialism Rise of the Modern State System I Why study the rise of the modern state system a Politics did not start today so we must study history in order to learn about where the problems that we have today originated from b Talking about this history will give us all a common background and begin to introduce key concepts so that they can be illustrated with examples II What explains Europe s rise to power a Why did other civilizations decline i Ming Dynasty of China 1 Became isolationists a Banned the construction of seagoing vessels and tried to worry about themselves ii Ottoman Empire 1 Tried to over extend themselves a Sent troops everywhere so they were spread too thin 2 Overspent themselves in the position of power iii Both were above Europe in everything technology culture etc 1 Europe was in a constant struggle with small fights b Why did Europe surge ahead i Consequences of key reason political fragmentation ii diversity of ideas allowed for technological innovation iii diversity of economies economics growth in the country iv competition between different rulers military competition was created v 1 Arms race was also created which fueled economics and technology Increased power of European powers a huge advantage because they were developed vi All of these came together to create a virtuous circle that helped them move forward over the other powers III Habsburg bid for mastery of Europe 1526 1648 a What was the Habsburg Empire i Kingdom over Austria and Spain that covered of Europe ii Developed over war and marriages over the 1500s b What caused the Thirty Years War defining moment for the empire 1 Broke up the empire and allowed France to form ii Religious conflict indulgences 1 Martin Luther rejected the Pope and said that the church was selling a Within ten years of Luther posting his thesis printing presses published it and other states left Catholicism b Pope tried to keep the Catholics alive but Bohemia tried to fight back against Pope i War started c Catholic France joined the fight on the side of the Protestant north rather than the Catholic south i Went from being a religious war to being a war about balancing power iii Balance of Power a theory that stability comes from the distribution of power amongst states 1 no one single State can dominate the rest 2 States shifting and forming opposing alliances in order to counter 3 Creates a stalemate so it is difficult for the other side to move moves things forward forward a Equilibrium is met 4 Gangs up on the leader a France thought if they opposed the Hasburgs they could defeat them and then maybe the French could ascend to the top position in Europe 5 Transitioned from a religious conflict to a balance of power on the continent deaths a 2 million combatants died in the war 8 million civilian b War is known as the hardest of blood i Soldiers descended on towns to resupply themselves like locust kill everyone and then raise the town 6 New technologies a Canyons c What were the consequences i Ended Habsburg big for mastery of Europe 1 Spain would never again be a great power ii Treaty of Westphalia 1648 1 Europeans used treaty to end the practice of empire in Europe instead each state would use their own ways to solve domestic affairs iii sovereignty 1 A state is sovereign when it is free of foreign control and has control IV France s Bid for Mastery of Europe 1667 1815 over its own territory a What explains French ambition i Key rulers of France at the time 1 Louis XIV a French people did not necessarily like him as kind i French Revolution ii Napoleon takes power 1 Takes France to war again 2 Key mistake attacking Russia a Never fight a land war in Asia 3 Napoleon s army was weakened as he headed towards Russia iii Defeated by a grand alliance of European powers at Waterloo ended French mastery of Europe b Why did France fail i Balance of power c What were the consequences i Warfare innovation 1 mass conscription 1 Nobody wanted to be under French thumb a Counter alliance formed as result a Recruiting people into an army b Napoleon s technique i Went overboard 2 total war a You get the home front involved in fueling the war machine i Civilians and army men alike are fighting for the ii Rise of nationalism iii Concert of Europe cause 1 The people who defeated France decided that they would have a loose diplomatic league created by the victors and engage in conversing if conflict happened a Try to avoid another major war on the continent of Europe 2 Purpose create a balance of power in Europe 3 Principles contain France reciprocal compensation a Contain France i Don t dismember France ii Keep France whole so that it can compete against the new rising power of Britain b Reciprocal compensation i If a rising power wanted to take a chunk of territory outside the core of the great European nation it would have to get permission from the other great powers before being allowed to do that c Exclusive club of the great European powers i How successful 1 Kept peace in Europe for 40 years a Until Russia squared off again against the Ottomans and Britain and France i Began as a project to unify Germany rather than to master all of Europe 1 League of 38 states in Germany 2 Prussia and Austria were vying for control and influence in them a Appeared that Austria had upper hand b Bismarck becomes chancellor of Prussia i Calls for German unification under Prussia ii Says that blood will be spilled in order for unification to happen iii Cannot do peacefully at this point V Prussia s bid for mastery of Europe a This rise of power was very different from Habsburg and France 1 Prussia is surrounded on all sides by enemies nobody to count on 2 Need to unite small states for the sake of security iv Bismarck takes Prussia to war 3 times b What explains Bismarck s war of unification i Second Schleswig War 1864 against Denmark 1 Fighting over two small states
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