19th Century and Balance of Power Flashcards
Key developments in the 19th century power, balance of power and the alliance system in Europe as well as the four senses of the balance of power
What were the two core principles that emerged in the aftermath of the American and French revolutions?
- The monarch derives LEGITIMACY from the consent of the governed.
- The second principle was NATIONALISM, wherein a people comes to identify with a common past, language, customs, and territory.
If individuals in a nation, possess the characteristic of nationalism, what usually happens?
They are motivated to participate actively in the political process of a nation. For example, during the French Revolution, a patriotic appeal was made to the French masses to defend the French nation and its new ideals.
The political impact of nationalism in Europe was evident because of what country?
France
Why was France’s status as a revolutionary power made in an enticing target for other European states?
Other European states were intent on stamping out the contagious idea of government by popular consent. They wanted to prevent the idea of their citizens rising up to them to take root on their own nations.
How did Napoleon used the second principle, nationalism?
Napoleon made use of French National zeal and led large, well-armed, and passionately motivated armies.
With the help of nationalism, Napoleon was able to?
The system made it possible for the French to field larger, more mobile, and more reliable armies that could employ innovative tactics unavailable to the smaller professional armies of France’s rivals like Prussia.
However, the same nationalist fervor that brought about much of Napoleon’s success also led to his downfall. How did that happen?
In Spanish and Russia, Napoleon’s armies met nationalist who fought a different sort of war. Rather than facing French forces in direct
confrontations, Spanish fighters used intimate local knowledge to mount hit-and-run attacks on French occupying forces. These fighters also enjoyed the support of
Britain, whose unrivaled mastery of the seas meant the country could lend supplies and occasional expeditionary forces.
How did Napoleon eventually lost the war?
When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 with an army of 422,000, the Russians retreated toward their areas of supply, destroying all available food and shelter behind them in what came to be known as a “scorched earth” policy.
A military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and infrastructure.
Scorched earth policy
Where did Napoleon met his final defeat?
At the battle of Waterloo
Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 and the establishment of peace by the Congress of Vienna, who were the five powers or also known as the Concert of Europe?
The five powers of Europe or also known as the Concert of Europe was “Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia”
The great powers fought no major wars after the defeat of Napoleon until?
Crimean War in 1854
What was the significance of the series of ad hoc conferences that the Concert of Europe did?
Through these meetings, these countries legitimized both the independence of new European states and the division of Africa among the colonial powers.
Why was peace among great powers during the 19th century considered surprising?
It was considered surprising since major economic, technological, and political changes were radically altering power relationships.
Why was industrialization, a critical development during the nineteenth century, considered a double-edge sword?
One, industrialization spread through virtually all areas of western Europe as the masses flocked to the cities and entrepreneurs and middle-men scrambled for economic advantage.
BUT on the other hand, industrialization led the middle class to capture political power at the expense of the aristocratic classes.
How did the middle class capture political power at the expense of the aristocratic classes?
Unlike the aristocratic classes, the middle classes did not depend on land for wealth and power; their ability to invent, use, and improve industrial machines and processes gave them political power.
What are the three factors that discouraged war?
First, Europe’s political elites were united in their fear of revolution among the masses.
Second, two of the major conflicts of interests confronting the core European states took place within, rather than between, culturally close territories: the unifications of Germany and Italy.
Third, supporting peace in Europe was the complex and crucial phenomenon of imperialism-colonialism, wherein rivalries between European states were played out in distant places.
What is the annexation of distant territory (most often by force) and it’s inhabitant to an empire?
Imperialism
Often followed or accompanied by Imperialism, this refers to the settling of people from a home country like Spain among indigenous peoples of a distant territory like Mexico.
Colonialism
Why did Europeans overcame the resistance with very little cost or risk?
They met spears with machine guns and horses with heavy artillery. In the dawning machine age, it became more common to target indigenous civilians deliberately, often with near genocidal results.
How did the industrial revolution helped the European states on their conquest?
It provided them with the military and economic capacity to engage in territorial expansion.
What were the different motivations for the expansion to Africa and Asia that imperial states had?
Some imperial states were motivated by economic gains, seeking new external markets for manufactured goods and obtaining, in turn, raw materials to fuel their industrial growth.
For others, the motivation was cultural and religious, to spread Christian faith and the ways of white “civilization” to the “dark” continent and beyond.
For others, the motivation was political. Since the European balance of power prevented direct confrontation in Europe, European state rivalries were played out in Africa and Asia.
Many leaders with the now-unified Italy and Germany felt that to have _________________________ and to guarantee cheap imports of raw materials, both states “needed” to ___________ or __________ countries in Asia or Africa.
(1) international respect
(2) annex
(3) colonize
____________ attempted to conquer and colonize Ethiopia, a Christian empire in the Horn of Africa, but suffered a humiliating defeat in 1896.
Italy
