ULUSLARARASI İLİŞKİLER TARİHİ

The 19th century is usually labelled as the ‘long’ 19th century, this era has significant characteristics to mention. First, while the world had been geographically integrated into a single map by the end of the 18th century, the center of the international system appeared to be Europe (Hobsbawm, 1962:7). In this sense the major actors of the system were all European powers. Second, there was a tension between rulers and ruled throughout most of the century, which led to numerous mass movements, uprisings, and revolutions. Third, the century witnessed the rise of ideologies such as liberalism, nationalism, and socialism that reshaped the geographical and political borders of the European system. Fourth, the gap between absolutism and constitutionalism was a constant rivalry that challenged governments’ sovereignty. According to these information, the correct answer is option B.

The cornerstones that the Industrial Revolution stood on can be summarized into three main topics: technological advance, improved production, and the redistribution of labor. Accordingly, the correct answer is option D.

The spreading tide of the Industrial Revolution also transformed the dynamics of the traditional state and the society it governed. Growing numbers of tradable merchandise created a class of investors and merchants, which weakened the older landed aristocracy’s hold on power. Yet apart from this new moneyed aristocracy, a new working class was also emerging. Though the traditional absolutist rule of kings still prevailed, society was dynamically changing. Initially, higher revenues from both domestic and international trade and taxes from increasing production increased kings’ capacity to arm themselves, better govern their realm, and fight wars of territorial acquisition. In the short run, therefore, the Industrial Revolution rocketed the economies of traditional states and transformed them into highly centralized ones. As monarchs made use of their recently acquired means of power for more centralized models of government, the first image of the nation-state in history began to emerge (Hobsbawm, 1962:27-53). In this sense, the expression in option E is incorrect.

The Declaration of Independence in 1776 was merely assumed as a crack in the politics of the British Empire, not a social upheaval of subjects against their kings; the role of the American bourgeoisie was neglected. Ratifying its constitution by 1791, the United States of America was declared as a federal republic, announcing a new type of sovereignty based upon the people rather than an absolute monarch. According to this, the correct answer is option A.

It should be noted that it is essential to separate the French Revolution into three respective periods: the revolutionary phase of 1789-1793; the revolutionary wars of 1793-1802; and the Napoleonic Wars of 1802-1815. In this sense, the correct answer is C.

Aiming to weaken the British economy, the continental system was the strategy of Napoleon that prohibited the British trade with neutral states and French allies. According to these, the correct answer is given in option B.

Signed on September 18, 1815, the Holy
Alliance was a compact crowned by an extremely
conservative spirit whose motivating factor
was to isolate France and the nationalist and
revolutionary ideas she had unleashed. It was the
product of the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, and
Romanov monarchies (Austria, Prussia, and Russia
respectively). Its scheme was proposed by Alexander
I of Russia and became a manifesto of absolute
monarchy—from the divine right of the kings that
appears in Holy Scripture to Christianity’s value
system, in which a king should rule with justice and
love his subjects as the shepherd does his flock or
the father his family (Mowatt, 1922: 23-24). The
alliance was also proposed as a spiritual bonding of
the three sects of Christianity, Catholic, Protestant,
and Orthodox, in which all three monarchs
accepted each other as brothers and equals and
promised to rule their subjects through Christian
charity, justice, and peace, and help one another
fulfill the role given to them by God. According to these information, the phrase in option A is wrong.

It is usually stated that Klemens von Metternich of Austria was the architect of the Concert of Europe. The correct answer is C.

What were the main characteristics of the post-Vienna political system of Europe?
1. Initially, at the Congress of Vienna, the fundamentals of peace were determined by agreement among the four major powers, be it the Holy or Quadruple Alliance. These were Austria, Britain, Russia, and Prussia. In 1818, France was also granted a great power status and accepted into the European Concert.
2. The Napoleonic map was redesigned as much as possible to pre-1789 borders by the dissolution of Napoleonic states and the restoration of European monarchies. No state was to be reformed in a nationalistic fashion.
3. Monarchism, anti-nationalism, and antiliberalism were the main fundamentals of the post-Vienna peace, while wars of conquest within Europe were now assumed to be a hostile action by the major actors and the great powers now countered the aggressive use of force to redraw borders. If war became inevitable with the failure of diplomacy, any power would first have to collectively to quarantine the belligerent power with the other Concert members.
4. The major powers agreed to reconcile matters among themselves rather than take individual action. Diplomacy was always to take precedence over the use of force, a last resort.
5. Preserving the peace by acting in concert became the major powers’ common goal, for which diplomacy became an effective instrument of action.
6. Among the great powers, Austria stood out as both the organizer and balancer of the system.

According to these, the correct answer is option D.

To summarize the effects of the revolutions of
1848 upon the Concert of Europe, it can be
argued that:
• The revolutions of 1848 effectively
destroyed the absolutist regimes in Europe
(except in Russia), thus ending the very
basis upon which the Holy Alliance was
built. As such, monarchist, anti-liberal,
and anti-nationalist characteristics became
obsolete as almost every European state
was transformed into a constitutional
monarchy.
• As Metternich was taken out of office, the
last political figure from the Congress of
Vienna had departed. The signatories of the
Holy Alliance and founders of the Concert
system eventually ceased to exist.
• The revolutions in Austria demonstrated
the weakness of the Habsburg monarchy as
its empire came to the brink of dissolution.
Her role as manager and balancer of the
Concert system could no longer be fulfilled.
• The rise of liberalism and nationalism
with the revolutionary movements and
their success in establishing constitutional
regimes affected the policy-making of the
states. Unlike absolute monarchies, the new
governments were responsible to people
for legitimizing their policies. Therefore,
cooperation among actors under these new
circumstances was not as easy.
• The major powers found themselves in an
atomized state in which each state shifted
to its own individual interest rather than
compromise on a common interest that
promised mutual gains from the existing
status quo.

According to these arguments, the correct answer is option C.

The Treaty of Paris signed in March 1856 demilitarized the Black Sea and secured the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, all strategies put forward by Britain at the expense of Russia.

The Glorious Revolution is the event in English history that involved the overthrown of King James II and replacement of him with his protestant daughter Mary II and her husband, William III, prince of Orange and stadtholder of the Netherlands. The Glorious Revolution ultimately established the supremacy of parliament over the monarchy, (www.britannica.com).

When the American Revolution, also known as the United States War of Independence, began in 1775, it was seen by continental Europe as an internal conflict between Britain and her North American colonies.

It should be noted that it is essential to separate the French Revolution into three respective periods: the revolutionary phase of 1789-1793; the revolutionary wars of 1793-1802; and the Napoleonic Wars of 1802-1815.

This would be done with great force by a young military cadre who would rise up the ranks of battle to become,
initially, First Council of the Republic, and later the Emperor of France: Napoleon Bonaparte.

As such, the Napoleonic era can be interpreted in three periods: rise, stall, and fall.

Though the French Revolution had spread the idea of nationalism throughout Europe, these had comparatively less impact on the German masses, many of who were still in the throes of feudalism.

The Concert of Europe represents an era of the 19th century in which major European states cooperated to resolve their conflicts through negotiation rather than arms.

From 1905 onward, Europe was polarized between the Triple Entente –Britain, France, and Russia- and Triple Alliance – Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy-, each of which confronted each other diplomatically or with the threat of war.

The first crack appeared in Bismarck’s system in 1890, immediately after his resignation, when the Reassurance Treaty was not renewed by Germany.