Key terms from lectures Balance of power a theory that stability comes from the distribution of power amongst states When the Habsburg Empire starting fighting the Thirty Years War because the Pope tried to keep Catholics alive but Bohemia decided that they wanted to fight against the Pope However instead of joining on the side that had the same beliefs Catholic France chose to join the fight alongside the Protestant north in order to create a balance of power France thought if they opposed the Habsburgs and defeated them then maybe they could move to the top position in Europe Treaty of Westphalia a treaty in 1648 that ended the practice of empire in Europe causing instead each state to create their own ways to solve domestic affairs Find example Sovereignty a state is sovereign when it is free of foreign control and has control of its own territory States such as America and Great Britain are both currently sovereign nations Nationalism Nationalism is a belief that the state is a divine manifestation by the group of people living in it Concert of Europe After France s Bid for Mastery of Europe the people who defeated France decided that they should create a loose diplomatic league created by the victors that would engage if future conflict did occur Revisionist actor someone who seeks to change their borders through expansion and therefore constantly trying to revise their current state Napoleon was a revisionist actor because he tried to take over other countries on his quest for mastery of Europe Status quo actor a state that is satisfied with their territorial borders After completing his three wars Bismarck was satisfied with his territorial borders and therefore not wanting to create another war to expand Imperialism extending the power of owns own state over another especially by conquest When Unitary actor a group that behaves as if it were one individual Example Rational Actor someone who behaves in the most efficient ways to obtain some desire outcome i e Best means to a desired end Every state is a unitary actor and a rational actor Anarchy absence of a central authority to center the world In Somalia there is no truly functioning government Therefore if something bad is to happen within the country the people really have nowhere to truly look for help On an international level the international system is anarchy If a country is going to get into trouble there is not a government or police that is automatically going to come to their aid and help them out of the situation Self help States must look out for themselves since they cannot rely on the help of other states When the Melians were standing up to the Athenians they thought that for sure Sparta would come to their aid However Sparta decided to look out for its own interests and therefore Melians only truly had themselves to rely on Relative gains the actions of state only in respect to the balance of power without true regard to other factors such as economics Russia and the US both have 2 000 nuclear war missiles pointed at each other 20 years ago we agreed to reduce our stockpile but this is a difficult process since each state is obsessed with being more powerful than the next most powerful state You always want to be more secure than the next biggest threat Security dilemma When any increase in one state s security automatically results in other state s security whether intended or not during the cold war with USA and Soviet Union both states were obsessed with being more powerful than the other As a result if one state created another nuclear missile then the opposing state was therefore less secure and felt that it too needed a create another missile in order to continue to be secure A bandwagoning ally with most powerful states and therefore hopes to get a kickback When Italy allied with Germany during WWI it was not because of any longstanding treaty Instead they hoped that if they sided with Germany and Germany was to succeed that it would help them become more powerful US and Canada Balancing balance against more powerful states and when you form alliances make sure to make them so that they oppose the more powerful states When France allied with Protestant states to fight the bully known as Prussia When Stalin and Churchill decided to work together during WWII even though it was widely known that they did not care for each other Freedom of conscience basic individual rights Freedom of speech religion Freedom of opportunity commitment to guaranteeing economic and social rights Quality and economic opportunity in employment Freedom to elect one s own government if all people have the freedom to elect their own government then the other two principles will follow Mutual caution democracies are deliberate and people debate policy decision so that therefore decisions are not made on a whim War is costly in both blood and money and in a democracy the people get to choose whether it is worth the price that they will be paying which differs from a dictatorship where the dictator does not care because it is not his price to pay Obama not choosing to go into Syria although he had said that he would Now that the time is here he is realizing that lots of American blood may spill and he does not appear willing to allow that to occur Mutual respect Democracies respect each other and they respect their own citizens Can sympathize with citizens in other democratic states and mutual respect makes violence between states less likely Mutual interest Mutual economic interest Democracies are hospitable and will great other democracies in trade By doing this these states become interdependent and it solidifies the bond between democracies Diversionary war an incentive for leaders to launch distraction for the people so that they rally together and get away from domestic problems When Clinton s scandal came out he military operations just happened to take place Also the night before the congress was meant to debate his impeachment there were military strikes This was an attempt to takes the public s eye away from the domestic problem and show them the international problem instead LEARNING GOALS 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 The Habsburg bid for mastery of Europe Key Causes The Thirty Years War was caused when a Habsburg Prince Ferdinand II was chosen as king of Bohemia He chose to close some