international relations midterm II
italian aggression
- 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia again - League convened a special conference to get around the unanimity requirement - Invoked sanctions - Arms embargo - Cutoff of loans and imports - Embargo on certain exports - Didn't embargo steel, coal, oil, or break off diplomatic relations - Britain and France needed a balance against Germany - Threat of Germany was greater than that of Italy Created the Hoare-Laval Plan - Divided Ethiopia in 2 parts - One for the League - One for Italy
Social Darwinism
- A 19th century worldview that saw a struggle among nations for survival of the fittest - Only strong nations survived, and the strength of a nation involved tis military power and cultural cohesion - Race inevitably became a measure of cultural cohesion for Social Darwinists
Otto von Bismarck - secret diplomacy
- Although Germany's power rose from 1870-1890, Bismarck's diplomacy was able to preserve the peace - Systemic factors were driving Bismarck's policy, not individual level factors - He was a highly secretive man and kept many of his plans/agreements unwritten and secret, so that when he died, they went to the grave with him
Japan and the pacific war
- America enjoys strategic immunity - as long as it stays out of foreign commitments, it is invulnerable to attack - In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany - Declaration of opposition to communism - Declared intent to create a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere - In 1939, the US tightened oil deliveries to Japan - In Sept. 1940, Italy signed the Tripartite Pact - In Apr. 1941, Stalin signed a neutrality pact with Japan - In Dec. 1941, Japan preemptively struck the US (Pearl Harbor)
but why must bipolarity of of alliances be unstable?
- An explanation that hinges on whether weapons are offensive or defensive slides into the liberal or identity explanations of the outbreak of WWI - depends on bureaucratic and cognitive factors that influence perceptions and cause misperceptions - In this case, military leaders had incorrect information about weapons or saw only the facts they wanted to see based on their ideas or beliefs - From a strictly realist perspective, perceptions are not a primary variable -----Power realities speak for themselves------
liberal perspective state level WW2
- British foreign minister finesses opposition to divide Ethiopia - US rejected the League - Domestic collapse in Germany
Another 2 Front War
- By 1930/40, Germany was superior again - Germany strengthened its position in the East, West, and turned its sights towards Russia again - Britain and France had defense commitments to Poland and Romania - The Triple Entente was struggling to re-emerge without the USSR - The USSR joined the league in 1933 and buckpassed with France and Britain - Buckpassing - Stalin negotiated with both sides and announced in 1939 a nonaggression pact with Hitler (Split Poland in two Secret) - Called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement - Stalin thought bandwagoning was the way to go
liberal perspective systemic level WW2
- Change in individual and collective identity - Shared norms of self-determination not uniformly practice or applied create many small, weak states - National identities diverge - different nationalisms drive security dilemma - Spread of fascism, socialism, and racism - Retreat of democracy
Liberal Perspective systemic level WW2
- Collective security problems and the failure of the League - Major powers not involved to create a preponderance of power - Centralized commitments too weak to establish collective security as a collective good and provide incentives to disarm - Aggressor states not members of the League - Economic depression reduced interdependence - Misperceptions of Threat - UK think France is stronger than Germany - UK appeases Hitler - UK fails to align with the USSR in 1939 - Spread of Immoderate Goals - Japan and Germany seeking to overturn the Versailles Treaty
Collective Security
- Decentralization of the balance of power had failed disastrously - New approach of collective security would centralize, not decentralize military power - It would require all nations to join together in a single institution and pool their military power to create an overwhelming central military force. - This force would be so powerful it could reduce the overall level of force through disarmament and operate largely on the basis of economic sanctions
weak domestic institutions
- Diplomats may not be in control of institutions and they malfunction - Institutional weaknesses contributed to fragmentation and faulty coordination of policy - Known was the Iron-Rye Coalition, it excluded for the most part of the working classes and its socialist leaders who held the majority in the Reichstag - The only way this growing division could be overcome was by war
State level identity perspective WW1
- Domestic racist clique hijacks German foreign policy - Hyper-nationalism (mix of race and militarism) drives Germany to war - Liberal nationalism in the US and Great Britain precipitates alliance of democracies that isolates Germany
Power balancing
- Either: - The off-setting alliances become too rigid and converted a flexible multipolar balance of power into a rigid bipolar balance - This intense standoff eventually precipitated a preemptive war, an attack by one country on another because the second country was getting ready to attack the first - A bipolar distribution is the most stable, but the problem was not the current balance of power, but the potential future balance of power
Identity perspective individual level
- Evil or emotionally unstable leaders: - Bethmann-Hollweg - Kaiser Wilhelm II
power balancing realists
- From a realist perspective and systemic level of analysis, alliances tend to develop in a checkerboard rather than domino pattern - Threatened countries leapfrog their neighbors to counterbalance rivals
Liberal perspective state level WW2
- German decision makers stir the witch's brew of domestic racism and foreign threat - Bolshevism (USSR) - Racism (Germany/Japan) - Exceptionalism (US)
Liberal perspective state level - WW1
- German elite use imperial expansion to unify domestic society - Cartelized domestic politics in Germany result in overexpansion - Division between Congress and the Presidency in the US delay entry into war and counterbalance threats in Europe - Domestic disintegration of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires invites aggression
Realist state level WWI
- German leaders use Machiavellian diplomacy to provoke war and unite domestic interests - German bureaucratic efficiency - Russia not so efficient - causing a shift in power at the structural level - Cartelized German domestic interests combine expansionist aims and provoke other major powers
realist - the rise of german power WW1
- German unification in 1871 - can convert population and wealth into military power - Power conversion reflects one of the ways in which the levels of analysis interact in the Realist perspective and in international affairs more generally - Different domestic capacities to convert resources into power affect the relative systemic structural balance of power
rapallo and locarno
- Germans met with the Russians in April 1922 in Rapallo, Italy - Agreed to establish full diplomatic relations - Russia helped Germany evade Versailles restrictions ----------- Locarno Pact - 1925 - French, British, and Germans met to add Germany to the League and guaranteed its western borders - Treaties of guarantee
why didn't diplomacy save 1914 from WWI
- Germany expected Britain to remain neutral in 1914, as it had done in previous crises, permitting a local settlement - Mobilization plans were finalized in 1913 that called for an automatic escalation to war - Military plans mobilization now made diplomacy difficult - Civilian institutions in various countries broke down, contributing to a last-move situation familiar in game theory, when the only choice remaining was to go to war
realist - germany was the problem
- Germany triggered a virulent security dilemma of encirclement and fear - It was either too small (being vulnerable to its neighbors) or too large (being a threat to its neighbors)
versailles treaty
- Gutted the former German Empire - Lost territory and colonies - Alsace-Lorraine went to the French - Rhineland was de-militarized - Poland was restored and added Danzig - Germany was forbidden to have a standing military - War guilt clause
Germany Expands
- Hitler rejected limits put on expansion by the Versailles Treaty - 1933 - Hitler pulled Germany from the League and started rearming - 1936 - Germany re-militarized the Rhine - No one opposed - Created the Axis Powers - 1938 - Annexed Austria and demanded the Sudetenland and the Munich Conference served to appease Hitler, gave it to him. - Appeasement
Trade and Hague Conferences
- International commerce and banking had expanded dramatically in the last quarter of the 19th century. Not only colonial trade but also trade among the industrial powers reached levels before WWI that would not be reached until the 1970's - Trade and law were becoming more important aspects of international affairs than power and secret diplomacy
japanese aggression
- Japan invaded Manchuria - China appealed to the League; League called on Japan to withdraw troops but Japan voted against it - After Japan blocked action, the League created the Lytton Commission but did not invoke Article 16.
clumsy diplomacy - Wilhelm II
- Kaiser Wilhelm was clearly a less capable diplomat than Bismarck and quickly stoked further antagonism between Germany and Russia, contributing to the Franco-Russian alliance of 1894 - Wilhelm was related to both George V of Great Britain and Nicholas II of Russia
Liberal nationalism
- Liberal societies take a better care of their citizens (e.g. the United States and Britain) - britain and france encouraged public indifference, US encouraged isolationism - The idea of nation-states and national unification for the peoples of Europe (e.g. Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Greeks, and others) - Nationalism that focused on political ideologies and called for wider participation and the rule of law in both domestic and international politics - More ideological and political than racial - Emphasized culture and military struggle
Liberal WW2
- Liberals see the balance of power itself as the problem. As the dilemmas with German encirclement suggested, such a balance of power could never be stable - Had to be replaced by a new, institutional arrangement - The concept of collective security organized force on a different principle - The League of Nations embodied this approach but didn't work
Socialist nationalism
- Nationalism driven by ideologies of dominant class(es) and colonial relationships (e.g. Russia and the USSR) - Nationalism that sought greater economic equality and social justice, especially in class and colonial relationships - Socialist parties emerged and sharpened conflicts with liberal and conservative parties. They met in international conferences and denounced militarism and war
american isolationism
- One group of legislators opposed the League and any US military entanglements - Another didn't oppose military commitments but wanted specific ones and feared Article 15 - Last group supported it
Wilson's 14 Points
- Open diplomacy - Freedom of the seas - General disarmament - Removal of trade barriers - Impartial settlement of colonial claims - Establishment of the League of Nations - Internationalization of the Dardanelles - Territorial and militaristic readjustments - restoration of Belgium, - returning of Alsace-Lorraine to France - Evacuation of Russian territory - Creation of Poland with access to the sea - Wilson expected that self-determination would lead to democracy
Causes of WWII - identity and democracy FASCIST AND RACIST NATIONALISM
- Prominent in Germany, Italy, and Japan • Introduced genocide • Massive human rights abuses (slavery, vigilantism) • Justified by nationalist ideologies -------- - Radicalization on the left was matched by radicalization on the right - Fascist parties rallied conservative forces to recall old glories of national triumph and merge militaristic virtues with heroic symbols borrowed from ancient Greece and Rome - Racism became a big part of nationalism in Germany and Japan
causes of WWII - identity and democracy COMMUNIST NATIONALISM
- Prominent in the Soviet Union • Eradicated party system + individual liberties • Forced industrialization + modernization • Purged military officer corps ---------------- - The Communism movement brought a radical edge to socialism - It designated the Communist party as the sole vanguard of the proletariat and used state institutions to uproot reactionary forces - conservative nobility and peasants- to commandeer the nation's property and industry
realist ww2 summary
- Realists ask if WWII wasn't really a continuation of WWI. The basic problem of anarchy, the security dilemma, and the unstable balance of power - After WWI, Germany was not occupied or destroyed, it remained a looming menace - Versailles limited Germany's arms and colonies, but it continued to have the largest population and one of the most resilient societies - The major powers of Europe did not see this problem in the 20's, and were distracted by utopian, liberal schemes of collective security centered on the League of Nations
realist systemic WWI
- Rise of German power engenders threat of empire - Decline of British power signals end of Pax Britannica - Loss of flexibility, rise of rigid alliances that intensifies bipolarity, which is unstable and increases incentives for preemptive war - Future rise of Russian power - bipolarity is stable in the present, not the future - Power vacuum - no more Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires - Alliances: interactive formation of Triple Entente and Triple Alliance - causing rigidity at structural level
Systemic level identity perspective WW1
- Social Darwinism - Spread or alignment of ideas and ideologies: - Loss of moderation - spread of the Cult of the Offensive, militarism drove mobilization plans - Britain and the US align as democracies even though they are the two largest powers
future balances and preventive war
- The balance ultimately broke down not because of imbalances, but of fears of future imbalances - Hinges on Germany's fear of Russian power and whether that fear was reasonable - Germany feared Russia would surpass Germany in military and industrial power in 1916-17 - Diplomacy plays a role, but as an intervening, not independent variable - The projection of future relative Russian predominance drives the diplomacy, not the other way around.
rigid alliances and preemptive war
- The current balance of power required Britain to align against Germany - Encirclement and confrontation of the two alliance arrangements may have been unavoidable It was a consequence of Germany's superior power AND its position at the center of the European continent -(Outgrowth of the security dilemma) - Any effort to counterbalance Germany within Europe would necessarily have involved encirclement, which mean Germany had to plan to fight a war on two fronts - Meant Germany had to prepare - led to the Schlieffen Plan - Strategic situation dictated the military strategy was the primary cause of war
Last move - WW1
- The process of interaction broke down - Interactive game theory (i.e. Prisoner's dilemma) encourages cooperation but if one comes to believe that they are playing the game for the last time, they face the static prisoner's dilemma or realist situation and defect - No one wanted war, but by a process of action-reaction, the Great Powers became dependent on a path that eventually resulted in war.
power transitions and hegemonic decline
- WWI was not caused by the rising power of Germany or the projected future dominance of Russia, but by the declining hegemony of Great Britain - It is not the present or future balances of power that produce stability, but hegemony - The dominant power has interests that span the system as a whole and, therefore, more than any other country, looks after the maintenance of the balance of power - The absence of a hegemonic power to stabilize the situation draws from the power transition school of realism, which alerts us to dangerous periods of transition when a declining power falls and a challenging power closes in
liberal perspective systemic level WWI
- Weaknesses of common institutions initiated by the Hague Conferences - Collapse of the Concert of Europe Conference system - Secretive German diplomacy: drops treaty with Russia, antagonizes Great Britain - Automatic mobilization plans - last move - Growing but insufficient trade, social, and legal interdependence
liberal democracy
- emerged most prominently in the U.S - Built a community ethos around the constitutional rights of individuals instead of around the homogeneous culture of the nation and promoted a free-market economic system based on private property and competition
disarmament (wwi)(Kellogg-Briand Pact)
- getting rid of arms and war itself was the motivation - U.S held out reservations based on self-defense, regional security and sovereignty which gutted the commitment so the pact became meaningless -Called on all signatories to condemn war as a solution for international scuffles and to renounce it is an instrument of national policy
social democracy
- more prominent in europe - Put more emphasis on community than on individual rights and favored state regulation and ownership of key sectors of the economy to manage the class struggle between management and labor
cultural nationalism
- pride in one's own culture - The glorification of one national culture over others - Hit its high point right after WWI
appeasement
A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war. Associated with Neville Chamberlain's policy of making concessions to Adolf Hitler. - munich
Isolationism
A policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations - Wilson wanted so badly to join the league but he did so nope
league of nations articles
ARTICLE 2 - Created the -Council: Composed of 9 members -Assembly: Composed of all members ARTICLE 3 - Established responsibilities of the assembly ARTICLE 4 - Made the great powers who won the war permanent members of the council and established its responsibilities ARTICLE 5 -Established unanimity: - A principle that all nations, regardless of size or identity, participate in institutions and decision making ARTICLE 8 - called for the reduction of armaments ARTICLE 10 AND 11 - established collective commitments to deter or defeat aggression ARTICLE 12 - made members submit disputes to peaceful arbitration, judicial settlement, or the council, countries couldn't declare war until the league made a decision ARTICLE 13 AND 14 - set up the precursor to the permanent court of international justice ARTICLES 15 - required the council to settle the dispute or issue a report with recommendations ARTICLE 16 - established that if anyone went to war despite the leagues recommendation, sanctions would be immediate
Choose the factors that best explain the weaknesses of the League of Nations: (Note: there is more than one correct answer).
American isolationism, utopian disarmament schemes, and japanese and italian aggressions
The collective defense mechanism
Country inside an alliance will attack outsiders as a group to holor their collective defense mechanism
Irredentist Nationalism
Demanded changes in national boundaries to bring together peoples sharing historical memories and speaking the same languages
social constructivists
Emphasize the collective identities constructed in the interwar period that glorified nationalist traits and military exploits
fascist nationalism
Engulfed Italy and later Germany and Japan
Schlieffen Plan
Germany's mobilization plan that called for an attack on France first, by way of Belgium, followed by an attack on Russia
Locarno Pact
In 1925 the leaders of Europe signed a number of agreements at Locarno, Switzerland. Germany and France pledged to accept their common border, and Britain and Italy agreed to fight either France or Germany if either one invaded the other. Other boundary disputes were also settled.
liberal perspective individual level
Ineffective leadership of Congress by President Wilson
identity perspective WW1
It was shared and competitive identities. Nationalism and Social Darwinism especially. All this constructed a particularly virulent form of anarchy, which drove nations apart and eventually proved a stronger force than peace movements
According to an argument from the liberal perspective, what caused both the naval competition between Germany and Britain and the military provocation of France and Russia?
Kaiser Wihelm II's clumsy diplomacy - stoked further antagonism between france and germany and started a naval rivalry with great britain
Militant (and racist) nationalism
Nationalism driven by aspirations to control large parts of Europe (e.g. Prussia & the German Reich) -------- - Nationalism that focused on cultural and racial differences and advocated for an aggressive, heroic approach to international relations - Industrial revolution completed the transformation - Created not only new technologies of military power but also a whole new arms industry that profited and thrived on accelerating arms races - Military technological changes contributed to a widespread belief among European military establishments that offensive strategies would hold the advantage in the next war - Led to the need for rapid mobilization plans and secret military planning - Military mentality created the Cult of the Offensive - a belief in the advantage of using the military offensively
liberal perspective individual level WW1
Some individuals (Bismarck) are more efficient than others who are clumsy (Wilhelm II)
Liberal perspective individual level
Stalin's belief capitalism would fail
During and shortly after World War I, liberal nationalism developed primarily in:
The United States and Britain
Versailles Treaty
The compromise after WW1, settled land and freedom disputes. Germany had to take full blame for the war in order for the treaty to pass, among other things. The US Senate rejected it.
Chain-ganging
The creation of alliances which elevate the risk of a multinational conflict (e.g., WWI). - opposite of buckpassing
American Exceptionalism
The idea that the American experience was different or unique from others, and therefore America had a unique or special role in the world, such as a "city upon a hill." ---------- - US suffered economic crisis but because of leadership and national experience, avoided the violent class and cultural cleavages of Europe - The country was tied together less by a common culture and more by a common ideological creed of political and economic freedom - It acquired an identity of exceptionalism, a country set apart from the rest of the world by its progressive, freedom-loving pacifist nature
Rapallo Treaty
This was a treaty between Germany and the USSR formed in 1922, at a time when both countries were international pariahs. It provided for economic and military cooperation. Germany gave the USSR much-needed technical expertise and equipment, and the USSR let Germany design and train with forbidden weapons such as tanks on its soil. Although the exact terms of the treaty weren't known, its existence made Britain more willing to compromise with Germany for fear of driving Germany into a closer relationship with the USSR. - classic realist alignment
cartelized domestic politics and german aggression
WWI was caused by German aggression and that German aggression was caused by German domestic politics - Germany's domestic politics was cartelized or united among various elite groups, all of which had independent interests in one or another aspect of German belligerence and expansion
individual realist WWI
Weak leaders: Emperor Franz Joseph (tired, weak old man), Tsar Nicholas II (isolated autocrat), and Kaiser Wilhelm II (weak ruler)
Which U.S. president championed worldviews that emphasized open markets, the rule of law, and collective security during World War I?
Woodrow Wilson
Zolverein
a customs union created by Prussia involving other German states that lowered barrier to trade and ignited rapid industrial development beginning in the 1830's
buckpassing
a free-riding strategy wherein one country allows others to fight conflicts while it stays on the sidelines - France and Britain wanted the other to stop hitler
Entente Cordiale
an agreement signed in 1904 between Great Britain and France that settled colonial disputes between them and ended a century of British isolationism from conflicts on the continent
triple entente
an agreement signed in 1907 in which Great Britain and France expanded the Entente Cordiale to include Russia
Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
an alliance formed first between Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879 then joined by Italy in 1882 that accounted for 50% of all European wealth in the early 20th century
Geopolitics / geography (realist) - WW1
encircles because of its power and considered preemptive war (Blitzkrieg) • Pre-WWI Plans: avoid war on two fronts • The Schlieffen Plan: two-front war against France and Russia is possible • Innovation about Germany's mobilization capabilities
The argument that World War I started because of Germany's insecurity due to its location in the vulnerable northern plains of Europe can be attributed to:
geopolitics explanation
Which of the following varieties of nationalism focuses on cultural and racial differences and advocated an aggressive, heroic approach to international relations during World War I?
militant nationalism
World war I realist
power ! - the role of political geography (Germany felt encircled by neighbors and built up military forces) - changes in the distribution of power (Germany unified and created a power that caused its neighbors to ally - security dilemma) - alliance politics: triple entente and triple alliance
disarmament (wwi)(Washington Naval Conference)
set ceilings on sea power, placing the US on par with Great Britain and made Japan 3/5s of the U.S. - reduces the role of military power and increases trust
Bandwagoning
the aligning of states with a greater power to share the spoils of dominance - stalin sided with hitler and not france and britain
genocide
the systematic persecution and extermination of a group of people on the basis of their national, ethnic, racial, or religious identity
Failing cooperation Liberal WW1
• Bismarck's secret and manipulative diplomacy preserves stability - Creation of secret alliance with Austria-Hungary • Wilhelm II's clumsy diplomacy creates instability - Colonial and naval rivalry with Britain - International crises & responses
Sources of Diplomatic Failure - Liberal WW1
• Domestic variables: ─ Merchants and laborers benefiting from int'l trade were poorly represented in political decision-making • Systemic variables: ─Germany expected Britain to be neutral ─Mobilization plans locked states into decisions with very limited options
Liberal perspectives of WW1
• Failure of diplomacy due to rigidity of alliances and excessive concerns about the DoP -The war was avoidable until the "last move" -Path dependence •Weak domestic institutions: economics and political interests of the iron-rye coalition •Misperception among leaders (good personalities, poor judgements)
Balance of Power Theory (realist) WW1
• German unification leads to formation of rival alliances. Balancing dynamic to ensure survival: -Triple Entente (Russia, France, Britain) -Triple Alliance(Germany, Austria-Hungary) •Alliances form a "checker board"pattern (to counterbalance bordering rivals)
realism and WWII - why did balancing fail
• Germany and Japan expanded, but no great powers available stop them in the 1930s - Both states had revisionist intentions • Great powers pursued alternatives to balancing - Buckpassing - Appeasement (Munich Conference) - Bandwagoning (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
Power Transitions Theory WW1
• Germany grows in power while Britain and France decline in power • Russia's industrialization, economic growth and expanding power capabilities • Germany challenges British hegemony -Naval power (naval arms race with Britain) -Global influence (colonies in Africa, intervention in Morocco)
realist ww1 - the domestic factor
• Germany's aggressiveness can be attributed to domestic influences & interests: -"Cartelized" political economy • Agricultural landowners •Industrial leaders •Military elites-Groups forming coalitions and "logroll"interests, leading to aggressive policies
why did the league fail
• Not all great powers are members of the organization - U.S. and russia never joined; USSR joined late - Germany and Japan withdrew • National interests were not protected - Security guarantees not effective - Disarmament without credible security commitments led to more security fears • Kellogg-Briand Pact and the Washington Naval Conference • Aggressive states were not deterred - Italy in Ethiopia; Japan in Manchuria - unanimity was its achilles heel
realism and WWII - why do states act offensively? Polarity and Domestic Politics
• Offensive imperatives - Anarchy encourages states to maximize power • Preventive war - Similar to WWI, Germany feared that the Soviet Union will be stronger in the future • Domestic politics(similar to WWI) - Germany's late industrialization created a cartelized system(labor, industry, farmers), which encouraged expansion
Realism and WW II: The Treaty of Versailles
• Peace Treaty signed after WWI intentionally weakened Germany - Berlin lost territory and all of its colonies - German military power was greatly reduced - Germany and its allies were found guilty for the war + compensations: • "War guilt" (Article 231) and reparations • Germany uses diplomacy to advance its national interests (never bought into collective security) -Rapallo, Locarno, non-aggression pacts • Germany begins to expand - Rhineland, Austria, Sudetenland, Polish Corridor
WW1 liberal perspective
• Problems or concerns with the course of IR during interbellum: (liberal perspective downplay military power) -The idea of Collective Security did not work as expected -International Institutions were divided or not to fully embraced -Weakened trade relations during the Great Depression in the 1930s
Realism and WWII - why do states act offensively The Role of Misperception
• Realism assumes accurate assessments of power but it may be inaccurate due to: - Processes and institutions internal to the state - Political ideology and domestic regimes • Misperceptions alter accurate assessments of: - Offensive and defensive advantage: chain gangs - Threat and risk assessments
the identity perspective on WWII
• Rise of nation states in the interbellum validated nationalism's influence. Patterns: - Self-determination in Eastern Europe and USSR (right to decide their own domestic identities) - Backlash against liberal and social democracy(France and the UK) - American exceptionalism - Communist nationalism(led by USSR) - Fascist and racist nationalism (Germany, Japan, Italy and Spain) • Nationalist forces: - Irredentism - Alignment of like minded regimes
Causes of WWII - shifting distribution of identities
• Rising nationalism led to greater militarism • Patterns of alignment driven by ideological similarities: - Spanish Civil War (fascism vs. socialism) - In Britain and France, fascist parties want to ally with Germany and socialist parties want to ally with the Soviet Union - In Germany, military leaders want to ally with Britain and France against the Soviet Union
The architecture of the league of nations
• The League formed after World War I and the paris peace conference in 1919 • The League's Covenant. Principles: - Unanimity - Collective security - first international institution to use it - Minimal military force • The League's Organizational Structure (article 2): - Council ((9) five permanent members, plus others, each with veto power) - Assembly (all states)
Realist Perspective on World War II
• The Rise of German Power: - German preponderance --a continuation of pre-WWI patterns of int'l politics • Preeminence of the balance of power (BoP) - Collective security failed - BoP persisted after the end of collective security (e.g. USSR and Germany aligned)
critical theory perspective on WWII
• USSR approached IR through an ideological lens: - Let capitalists fight each other - Seek ideological alliances with left wing parties in the West • US Foreign policy driven by: - Special arms interests at home - Capitalist expansion overseas
World War II and Collective Security
•After World War I, Wilson sought to eliminate power politics • Collective security was proposed as an alternative to power politics-Power is centralized in one institution • All states are members-Power is used against the sources of threats • Tools: diplomatic action, economic sanctions, and deterrence (not war)
