Search

This article examines the emergence of Austria-Hungary from the perspective of uneven and combined development (UCD), which unifies social and geopolitical modes of explanation. It argues that UCD can explain the 'paradoxical' role of Hungary, a relatively backward society that was at the forefront of the 1848 revolutions and the political reorganisation of the Austrian Empire in 1867. However, it maintains that potentials of UCD have not been realised even in recent UCD interpretations of the Monarchy due to declinist assumptions. The article argues that the international management of UCD via the Concert of Europe inflated Austrian power, but could not prevent sociopolitical change, laying the ground work for its later deflation. The Austrian Empire also faced the challenge of revolutionary Hungary. The article demonstrates that its intersocietally generated peculiarities resulted in the gentry initiating the transition to capitalism to counter the geopolitical threat of industrialising Austria and arrest its social decline. Despite defeating Hungary and introducing capitalist social relations, the strength of Austrian dynasticism prevented the emergence of a hegemonic bloc and political stabilisation. It was this political weakness rather than economic backwardness that might better explain its expulsion from Germany in 1866. The article then turns to a comparison of the political economies of Prussia/Germany and Austria-Hungary and questions the overemphasis on Austro-Hungarian backwardness. By offering a new interpretation of Austria-Hungary, the article contributes to a rethinking of nineteenth century international relations and the long-term causes of World War 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates British policy fluctuations regarding the Cretan Question from 1893 to 1913 by examining Great Britain’s participation in the European Concert, as well as its plans to achieve an economic foothold in Crete. Running parallel, these two factors expose the critical factors determining British policy through an analysis of the development of British international relations in the Levant and the fulfilment of the City’s investment plans in Crete. Moreover, the examination of British policy regarding the Cretan issue helps explain why and to what degree London shifted from a soft to a hard-line exercise of power towards the key aspects of the Cretan problem. The article closes by suggesting that Britain’s main priority was to avoid diplomatic isolation over the Eastern Question, while maintaining closer relations with Russia, and re-entering the arena of the Eastern Question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses world politics, with a particular focus on attitudes towards and reactions against U.S. power. According to the author, the world is emerging from a unique period of Unipolar Concert, characterized by widespread acceptance of U.S. power and international leadership. Details on increasing counterbalancing and revisionism against U.S. power from countries such as Russia and China are presented. It is suggested that the U.S. must modify its grand strategy in order to adapt to the changing international order. Other topics include the 19th-century political era known as the Concert of Europe, the Cold War, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The pattern of cooperative behavior seen in the Concert of Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century resulted from a commitment to uphold the settlement, which hinged on the credibility of enforcement threats and a distribution of benefits commensurate with military capabilities. The equilibrium was self-enforcing because the powers that could oppose an alteration of the system had incentives to do so, and the powers that could upset it did not have incentives to do so. This behavior is markedly different from eighteenth-century practices, although no change in state preferences is necessary to explain the change in behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopts a middle position in the debate between the optimists and pessimists. Information on several hypotheses about the provision and potential positive and negative effects of transparency; Facts about the war that erupted between Russia and Turkey on October 6, 1768; Investigation on how the early nineteenth century's new practice of multilateral crisis-management called the Concert of Europe helped states manage crises.