The Emergence of the Modern International System
When did ideas such as state sovereignty, independence, or international law begin to emerge?
In the 17th century.
What does the term 'state system' refer to?
It refers to the relationships between politically organized groups that have distinctive territories, are not influenced by higher authorities, and exercise a measure of independence from one another.
What are the three characteristics of a modern state according to Paul Hirst?
A modern state has a definite territory, sovereignty and hierarchy.
What was the the Greek state system based on?
On a shared language, culture, and common religion.
What was the dominant state system in Europe after the defeat of the Western Roman Empire until the 16th century?
After the defeat of the Western Roman Empire, a feudal state system came to dominate Western Europe until the 16th century.
What were the main reasons for Medieval wars to be fought?
To defend the faith (the Crusades), to resolve conflicts over dynastic inheritance (the Hundred Years’ War), or to punish outlaws or social banditry.
Where did the Renaissance first emerge?
In Italy.
What made the Renaissance possible to emerge in cities such as Florence, Venice, Siena, and Milan?
The economic prosperity and the social dynamism of city-states.
What did Machiavelli believe politics was based on?
Human action.
Where did the Reformation emerge?
It first started in the German lands.
Why is the Peace of Augsburg important?
It ended a decades-long conflict between Catholics and the Protestants in 1555.
The Peace of Augsburg did not end the rivalry between Catholics and Protestants, and a series of vicious religious wars broke out again in 1618 in the German states. What is the term given to these wars?
These religious wars were called the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648).
What were the three important principles of the Peace of Westphalia?
The king is emperor in his own realm, the ruler determines the religion of his realm, balance of power.
Who was Hugo Grotius?
Author of the book The Law of War and Peace (De Jure Belli ac Pacis).
What does the term 'diplomacy' refer to?
Diplomacy means the conduct of affairs between states by official agents through peaceful means with several ends in mind.
What does the term 'mercantilism' refer to?
Mercantilism refers to an economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation’s economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers.
What are the purposes of colonialism?
Economic exploitation of the colony’s natural resources, the creation of new markets for the colonizer, and the extension of the colonizer’s way of life beyond its national borders.
What does the term 'absolutism' refer to?
Absolutism refers to a “political doctrine and the practice of unlimited centralized authority and absolute sovereignty of a monarch.
What can be said to have been the two goals of Louis XIV?
“To lessen the threat posed to France by the Habsburg powers that surrounded it in Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Holy Roman empire, and to promote the dynastic interests of his own family” (Coffin and Stacey, 2005: 546).
What was the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession?
The Peace of Utrecht.