Chapter 4 Outline

GREAT POWERS RILVARIES AND RELATIONS PART 1 09/21/2007 SUMMARY LECTURE The ancient Roman civilization extends from 509 BC to 27 BC. THE ROMAN EMPIRE The Roman Empire extends from 50 BC to 476 AD The Roman Empire covered much of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. It was a conglomeration of land. The political system changed from a monarchy to a republic and then it became a monarchy again. The language was Latin, and the capital was Rome. The Roman Empire fell in 476 AD to the barbarians. The BYZANTINE EMPIRE extended from 300 AD to 1453 AD. The capital was Constantinople and it was located in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The language was Latin and it developed as a monarchy. The HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE After the fall of the Roman Empire (479 AD), the Holy Roman Empire emerged. Latin had disintegrated by that time, and became Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and other languages. Much of Western Europe had developed into feudalism. The Holy Roman Empire was a conglomeration of kingdoms, principalities, and counties in Central Europe. The preeminent authority was the Church (the Pope), the emperor, and the local lords. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Charlemagne. The pope gave authority to Charlemagne to unite Western Europe in the name of Christianity. The pope made him the first emperor. Charlemagne, who was a French military leader, offered the pope protection and an army. THIRTY YEARS WAR- The Thirty Years War began in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire (1618-1648 AD). It was a religious conflict which began in the territory that today belongs to Germany. Individual principalities became Lutherans. The German principalities opposed the pope. Sweden and Holland (which was a county of the Holy Roman Empire) joined the Protestant principalities against the pope. France, which had emerged as a Catholic kingdom, also joined the German principalities. The goal of France was to weaken the Hapburg Dynasty in the Austrian Empire, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Treaty of Westphalia formally ended the war. The Holy Roman Empire disintegrated into monarchies. Some monarchies emerged as Protestant and others as Catholics. The pope lost power and was reduced to the Papal States. The Treaty recognized the right of the monarch to choose the religion of the state. HEGEMONS AFTER 1648: A period of peace follows the Thirty Years War. The following emerge as hegemons during this period of time: England, France, United Provinces (today the Netherlands), Austria, Russia, and Prussia. England, France, and the United Provinces became capitalist. Austria, Russia, and Prussia reverted towards feudalism. THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (1792 ? 1815): These are a series of wars fought by Napoleon from 1792-1815. Napoleon conquered most of Europe and brought most of it under his rule. The French power gradually collapsed: Napoleon was defeated by Great Britain in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Napoleon invaded Russia and was defeated in 1812. A coalition formed by Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, and Sweden defeated Napoleon in 1815 in the Battle of Waterloo. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, France was no longer a superpower. HEGEMOS AFTER 1815 The four new superpowers by 1815 were the UK, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. The Congress of Vienna was celebrated in 1815 and brought together major powers in Europe. The goal was to establish peace after the Napoleonic Wars and begin the process of reconstruction in Europe after the wars. After 1815 the great powers entered into a process of peace known as the Concert of Europe (1815-1914). No major wars were fought during this time, with some exceptions like the Crimean War (1854-1856). What explains the process of peace in Europe from 1815 to 1914? Italy was unified in 1870. Before that, Italy was a conglomeration of kingdoms under the control of the Holy Roman Empire. Italy?s efforts were directed towards territorial unification rather than fighting a war. The German Empire was also formed in 1871 from thirty nine different fragments. The biggest fragment being Prussia. Both Italy and Germany were dealing with territorial unification. Industrial Revolution: 1848 was also the time where revolutionary movements spread throughout Europe. The Industrial Revolution brought the emergence of a new working class. The proletariat rebelled against the elites. New ideas, such as socialism and nationalism spread throughout Europe. This is a time where the leaders are brought together against revolutionary movements. Colonization: European powers competed for land, not within Europe, but within Africa and Asia. This is a time where colonization of Africa begins. Great Britain, for example, colonized South Africa, France colonized Algeria, etc. There was also a feeling of solidarity. Europeans felt part of the same group: they were Europeans, Christians, white, and ?civilized?. The multi-polar balance of power system. The coexistence of equally independent powerful states also explained why there is peace in Europe during this time. The UK, Russia, Prussia (which became the German Empire in 1870), and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were considered the powerful states of the time. From 1870 to the 1890?s the Concert of Europe began to fall apart. Germany was unhappy with the way Africa had been distributed. Germany felt the repartition of land had been unfair. During the 1880?s, two alliances had already been formed. The Triple Alliance: Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, and the Triple Entente: composed by France, Russia, and the UK. Italy joined the Triple Entente in 1904 and the United States joined in 1917. PART II Look in your book for the causes of World War I.