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Rise of the Modern State System. 1900-1950. Outline. 1900 – early part of the cold war. Effects of WWI & Versailles Rise of the Soviet Union League of Nations – Western Europe Isolationist State – United States Post WWII Peace. Imperialism. WWI. Major Restructuring of World Politics
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Rise of the Modern State System 1900-1950
Outline • 1900 – early part of the cold war. • Effects of WWI & Versailles • Rise of the Soviet Union • League of Nations – Western Europe • Isolationist State – United States • Post WWII Peace
WWI • Major Restructuring of World Politics • The three dominant states that collapsed were: Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire.
Lenin & Stalin • Russia & surrounding area: Civil War 1917-1922 • Total Death Toll in WWI: 15 million • Russ Civil War: 10 million • Soviet Union under Stalin: 20 million
Collective Security • League of Nations was created in 1919, following the Treaty of Versailles. • The hope of the envisioned collective security would protect individual states and prevent secret treaties, which was one of the factors that caused WWI. • The main problem in IR was war; war needed to be prevented. • The idea behind the League of Nations was that International cooperation would promote peace. • Political idealism dominated international politics. • Issue of reparations: France and Britain wanted Germany to pay for the entire cost of the war. • Both Britain and France was in debt to US due to costs of the war. • United States had not officially signed the League of Nations.
Post WWII Period • Altered the distribution of power in the world. • The map of Europe changed during the “big three conference” of Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at Yalta in 1945. • Post WWII saw the recreation of states by the allied powers and the Soviet Union. • The post war period saw emergence – United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers. • European colonial powers had been weakened.
Post WWII Realism • By mid-twentieth century the balance of power had shifted from the European Colonial Powers to the Superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. • A new kind of arms race began, new alliances were formed. • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – the alliance of Western Europe and North America. • However, it is interesting to note that the post war period also saw the creation of the United Nations. • The twentieth century marks a period in history where we see the international struggle for power continue, but increasingly a need for international cooperation.