Great power

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)

Jump to: navigation, search

Current revision

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop

Featured:

Rhombicuboctahedron by Leonardo da Vinci

A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power influence, which may cause middle or small powers to consider the great powers' opinions before taking actions of their own. International relations theorists have posited that great power status can be characterized into power capabilities, spatial aspects, and status dimensions.

While some nations are widely considered to be great powers, there is no definitive list of them. Sometimes the status of great powers is formally recognized in conferences such as the Congress of Vienna or the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States serve as the body's five permanent members).

The term "great power" was first used to represent the most important powers in Europe during the post-Napoleonic era. The "Great Powers" constituted the "Concert of Europe" and claimed the right to joint enforcement of the postwar treaties. The formalization of the division between small powers and great powers came about with the signing of the Treaty of Chaumont in 1814. Since then, the international balance of power has shifted numerous times, most dramatically during World War I and World War II. In literature, alternative terms for great power are often world power or major power, but these terms can also be interchangeable with superpower.

[edit]

 {{Template}}
-A '''great power''' is a [[nation]] or [[state]] that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess [[economics|economic]], [[military]], [[diplomacy|diplomatic]], and [[soft power|cultural]] strength. Nations often consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions of their own.
+A '''great power''' is a [[sovereign state]] that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its [[influence]] on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess [[military]] and [[economy|economic]] strength, as well as diplomatic and [[soft power]] influence, which may cause [[middle power|middle]] or [[small power]]s to consider the great powers' opinions before taking actions of their own. [[International relations theory|International relations theorists]] have posited that great power status can be characterized into power capabilities, spatial aspects, and status dimensions.
-The term "great power" was first used to represent the most important powers in [[Europe]] during the post-[[Napoleon I of France|Napoleonic]] era. Since then, power has been shifted numerous times, most dramatically during the [[World War I|First]] and [[World War II|Second]] [[World war|World Wars]]. While some nations are widely considered to be great powers, there is no definitive list, leading to a continuing debate.
+While some nations are widely considered to be great powers, there is no definitive list of them. Sometimes the status of great powers is formally recognized in conferences such as the [[Congress of Vienna]] or the [[United Nations Security Council]] ([[China]], [[France]], [[Russia]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[United States]] serve as the body's [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|five permanent members]]).
-== Modern Powers (1400-1815) ==
-===France (1450s - 1945)===
+The term "great power" was first used to represent the most important powers in Europe during the post-[[Napoleon I of France|Napoleonic]] era. The "Great Powers" constituted the "[[Concert of Europe]]" and claimed the right to joint enforcement of the postwar treaties. The formalization of the division between [[small powers]] and great powers came about with the signing of the [[Treaty of Chaumont]] in 1814. Since then, the international [[Balance of power in international relations|balance of power]] has shifted numerous times, most dramatically during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. In literature, alternative terms for great power are often world power or major power, but these terms can also be interchangeable with [[superpower]].
-France was a dominant empire possessing many [[colonies]] in various locations around the world. [[First French Empire|The Empire of the French]] (1804-1814), also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France. It was the dominant power of much of continental Europe during the early 19th Century.
-Napoleon became Emperor of the French (L'Empereur des Francais) on 18 May 1804 and crowned Emperor December 2 1804, ending the period of the French Consulate, and won early military victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, Portugal, and allied nations, notably at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) and the Battle of Friedland (1807). The Treaty of Tilsit in July 1807 ended two years of bloodshed on the European continent.
-Subsequent years of military victories known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the French Empire had 130 départements, ruled over 44 million subjects, maintained extensive military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and could count Prussia and Austria as nominal allies. Early French victories exported many ideological features of the French Revolution throughout Europe. Seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice were abolished, aristocratic privileges were eliminated in all places except Poland, and the introduction of the Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems, and legalized divorce. Napoleon placed relatives on the thrones of several European countries and granted many noble titles, most of which expired with the fall of the Empire. Historians have estimated the death toll from the Napoleonic Wars to be 6.5 million people, or 15% of the French Empire's subjects.
-The [[French colonial empire]] is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s (some see the French control of places such as New Caledonia as a continuation of that colonial empire). In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000&nbsp;km² (4,767,000 sq. miles) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. Including metropolitan France, the total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 12,898,000&nbsp;km² (4,980,000 sq. miles) at the time, which is 8.6% of the Earth's total land area.
-France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean and India, following Spanish and Portuguese successes during the Age of Discovery, in rivalry with Britain for supremacy. A series of wars with Britain during the 1700s and early 1800s which France lost ended its colonial ambitions on these continents, and with it is what some historians term the "first" French colonial empire. In the 19th century, France established a new empire in Africa and South East Asia. Some of these colonies lasted beyond the invasion and occupation of France by Nazi Germany during World War II.
-===Venetian Republic in Modern Era (1489 - 1718)===
-In the high Middle Ages the Republic of Venice was able to become a very wealthy and powerful state through the rich trade between Europe and the [[Levant]]. During the Modern Era started the decline of Venice, but it was a very long and "golden" decadence, in fact for almost three centuries the Republic was the only Italian state able to preserve his independence; in particular Venice was able to match the invading powers of the French and Spanish monarchies in Italy and in the same time, the Republic was also able to stop many times the expansion of [[Ottoman Empire]] in South-East Europe and Mediterranean. The last main success of Venice was the conquest of [[Morea]] between [[1669]] and [[1718]]. The Republic of Venice ended in [[1797]] when [[Napoleon]] conquered the city and ceded its territories to Austria.
-===Qing Empire (1660s - 1800s)===
-The Qing Dynasty, occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the ruling [[Chinese Dynasties|dynasty]] of [[China]] from 1644 to 1912.  The Qing Dynasty was the last [[Dynasties in Chinese history|Imperial dynasty of China]]. During its reign, the Qing Dynasty consolidated its grip on China, integrated with [[Culture of China|Chinese culture]], and saw the height of [[Late Imperial China|Imperial Chinese]] influence. The collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912 brought an end to over 2,000 years of imperial Chinese rule.
-===Safavid Empire (1550s - 1700s)===
-The Safavids (1501-1722) are considered as the greatest [[Iranian Empire]] since the [[Islamic conquest of Persia]]. The Safavid empire originated from [[Ardabil]] in [[Iranian Azerbaijan]] in northern Iran. It was a Turkic-speaking dynasty whose classical and cultural language was Persian. The Safavid dynasty had its origins in a long established [[Sufi Order|Sufi order]], called the ''[[Safaviyeh]]''. The Safavids established an independent unified Iranian state for the first time after the Islamic conquest of Persia and reasserted Iranian political identity, and established [[Shia Islam]] as the official religion in Iran.
-===British Empire (1600 - 1997)===
-The '''British Empire''' was the [[World's largest empires|largest empire]] in world history and between 1815-1914 was unchallenged as the foremost [[Superpower|global power]]. The empire began in the [[17th century]] as a combination of factors led to its creation, such as the growth in British trade with [[India]] and the [[Far East]], the success of the [[British East India Company]], numerous British maritime explorations around the world, and the vast [[Royal Navy]].
-British colonies were created along the east coast of [[North America]] during the [[17th century]] and [[18th century]] but by the late 18th century most of these colonies rebelled against British rule, leading to the [[American War of Independence]] and formation of the [[United States of America]]. Nevertheless Great Britain retained significant colonies in [[Canada]], the [[Caribbean]] and [[British India|India]], and shortly thereafter began the settlement of [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. Following France's defeat in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815, Great Britain took possession of many more overseas territories in [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], and established informal empires of free trade in [[South America]], [[China]] and [[Persia]].
-It was after this period during the [[19th century]] that the [[United Kingdom]] became the first country in the world to industrialise and embrace free trade, giving birth to the [[Industrial Revolution]]. This rapid industrial growth transformed Great Britain into the world's largest industrial and financial power, while the world's largest navy gave it undisputed control of the seas and international trade routes, an unassailable advantage which helped the British Empire, after a mid-century liberal reaction against empire-building, to grow faster than ever before. The Victorian empire colonised large parts of [[Africa]], including such territories as [[South Africa]], [[Egypt]], [[Kenya]], [[Sudan]], [[Nigeria]], and [[Ghana]], most of [[Oceania]], colonies in the [[Far East]], such as [[Singapore]], [[Malaysia]], and [[Hong Kong]], and took control over all the [[Indian Subcontinent]], making it the largest empire in the world.
-After victory in the [[First World War]] the empire gained control of territories such as [[Tanzania]], and [[Namibia]], from the [[German Empire]], and [[Iraq]], and [[Palestine]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. By this point in 1920 the British empire had grown to become [[list of largest empires|the largest empire in history]], controlling approximately 25% of the world's land surface and 25% of the world's population. Because of its magnitude, it was often referred to as [[the empire on which the sun never sets]].
-The political and social changes and economic disruption in the United Kingdom and throughout the world caused by First World War followed only two decades later by the [[Second World War]] caused the empire to gradually break up as colonies were given independence. Much of the reason the empire ceased was because many colonies by the mid 20th century were no longer as undeveloped as at the arrival of British control nor as dependent and social changes throughout the world during the first half of the 20th century gave rise to national identity. The British Government, reeling from the economic cost of two successive world wars and changing social attitudes towards empire, felt it could no longer afford to maintain it if the country were to recover economically, pay for the newly created [[welfare state]], and fight the newly emerged [[Cold War]] with the [[Soviet Union]].
-Nonetheless, most former colonies of the British Empire remained members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], with [[Queen Elizabeth II]] as head of the Comonwealth. Some members have retained the [[British monarch]] as their [[head of state]] as [[Commonwealth realms]] and remain in intimate if informal association. A few scattered islands remain under direct British control as [[British Overseas Territories]].
-=== Low Countries/The Netherlands ===
-The '''Dutch Empire'''{{ref|name}} is the name given to the various territories controlled by [[the Netherlands]] from the 17th to the 20th century. Their skills in [[shipping]] and [[trade|trading]] aided the building of an overseas colonial Empire from the 16th to 20th centuries. The Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis of indirect state capitalist [[corporate colonialism]], with the dominant [[Dutch East India Company]]. A cultural flowering roughly spanning the 17th century is known as the [[Dutch Golden Age]], in which Dutch trade, science, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world.
-===Mughal Empire (1550s - 1700s)===
-The '''Mughal Empire''' was an [[Islamic state|Islamic]] imperial power that ruled the [[Indian subcontinent]] which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of [[Hindustan]] ([[South Asia]]) by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century. In 1526, [[Babur]], a [[Timurid Dynasty|Timurid]] descendant of [[Timur]] and [[Descent from Genghis Khan|Genghis Khan]], swept across the [[Khyber Pass]] and established the [[Mughal Empire]], which lasted for over 200 years. The [[Mughal Dynasty]] ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600; it went into a slow decline after 1707 and was finally defeated during the [[1857 War of Independence]] also called the Indian Rebellion of 1857. This period marked vast social change in the subcontinent as the Hindu majority were ruled over by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperors; most of them showed religious tolerance, liberally patronising Hindu culture. The famous emperor Akbar, who was the grandson of Babar, tried to establish a good relationship with the Hindus. However, later emperors such as Aurangazeb tried to establish complete Muslim dominance and as a result several historical temples were destroyed during this period and taxes imposed on non-Muslims. During the decline of the [[Mughal Empire]], which at its peak occupied an area similar to the ancient [[Maurya Empire]], several smaller empires rose to fill the power vacuum or themselves were contributing factors to the decline. The Mughals were perhaps the richest single dynasty to have ever existed.
-===Maratha Empire (1674 – 1820)===
-The '''Maratha Empire''' or the '''Maratha Confederacy''' was a [[Hindu]] state located in present-day [[India]]. It existed from 1674 to 1818.  At its peak, the empire's territories covered much of [[South Asia]]. It expanded greatly after the death of Mughal Emperor [[Aurangzeb]] in 1707, only to lose [[Punjab region]] in [[Third battle of Panipat]] in 1761. Later, the empire was divided into confederacy of Maratha states which eventually lost to the British in the [[Anglo-Maratha wars]] by 1818.
-===Ottoman Empire (1400s - 1800s)===
-'''Ottoman Empire''' (1299 to 1922) was a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] state, which at the height of its power ([[16th century|16th]] - [[17th century|17th centuries]]) spanned three continents (see: [[List of Ottoman Empire dominated territories|extent of Ottoman territories]]) controlling much of [[Southeastern Europe]], the [[Middle East]] and most of [[North Africa]].  The empire has been called by historians a "Universal Empire" due to both [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Islamic]] traditions.
-The empire was at the center of interactions between the [[Eastern world|Eastern]] and [[Western world|Western]] worlds for six centuries. The Ottoman Empire was the only Islamic power to seriously challenge the rising power of [[Western Europe]] between the [[15th century|15th]] and [[19th century|19th centuries]]. With [[Istanbul]] (or [[Constantinople]]) as its capital, the Empire was in some respects an Islamic [[successor state|successor]] of earlier Mediterranean empires - the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] empires.
-===Poland-Lithuania (1569 - 1795)===
-The '''Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth''', also known as the '''First Polish Commonwealth''', ({{lang-pl|Pierwsza [[Rzeczpospolita]] Polska}} or ''Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów'' (Commonwealth of Both Nations); {{lang-lt|Abiejų tautų respublika}}) or as the "First Commonwealth," was one of the largest, most powerful and most populous countries in [[16th century|16th]], [[17th century|17th]], and [[18th century]] [[Europe]]. Its political structure — that of a semi-federal, semi-confederal [[aristocracy|aristocratic]] [[republic]] — was formed in 1569 by the [[Union of Lublin]], which united the [[Jagiellon Poland|Kingdom of Poland]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], and lasted in this form until the adoption of the [[Constitution of May 3, 1791]].
-===Portugal (1415 - 1999)===
-The '''Portuguese Empire''' was the first [[global empire]] in history, and also the earliest and longest lived of the [[Western Europe]]an [[Colonialism|colonial]] empires, existing from 1415 to 1999. [[Portugal]]'s small size and population restricted the empire to a collection of small but well defended outposts along the shoreline. The height of the empire power was reached in the [[16th century]] but the indifference of the [[Habsburg]] kings and the competition with new colonial empires like the [[British Empire|British]], [[French colonial empires|French]] and [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] started its long and gradual decline. After the [[18th century]] Portugal concentrated in the [[colonization]] of [[Brazil]] and [[Portuguese-speaking African countries|African possessions]].
-===Prussia===
-The [[Kingdom of Prussia]] dominated northern [[Germany]] politically, economically, and in terms of population, and was the core of the unified [[North German Confederation]] formed in 1867, which became part of the [[German Empire]] or ''[[Deutsches Reich]]'' in 1871.
-Prussia attained its greatest importance in the 18th and 19th centuries.  During the 18th century, it became a [[Europe]]an great power under the reign of [[Frederick II of Prussia]] (1740–86).  During the 19th century, Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] pursued a policy of uniting the German principalities into a  "[[Kleindeutsche Lösung|Lesser Germany]]" which would exclude the [[Austrian Empire]].
-===Russian Empire===
-The Russian Empire as a state, existed from 1721 until it was declared a [[republic]] the 1st of September 1917.
-The Russian Empire formed from what was [[Tsardom of Russia]] under [[Peter the Great]]. Peter I, (1672–1725), played a major role in bringing his country into the European state system, and laid the foundations of a modern state in [[Russia]]. From its modest beginnings in the 14th century, Russia had become the largest state in the world by Peter's time. Three times the size of continental Europe, it spanned the [[Eurasian landmass]] from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]].
-===Spanish Empire===
-In the 16th century Spain and Portugal were in the vanguard of European global exploration and colonial expansion and the opening of trade routes across the oceans, with trade flourishing across the Atlantic Ocean between Spain and the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean between Asia-Pacific and Mexico via the Philippines. Conquistadors toppled the Aztec, Inca, and Maya civilizations, and laid claim to vast stretches of land in North and South America. For a time, the Spanish Empire dominated the oceans with its navy and ruled the European battlefield with its infantry, the famous tercios. Spain enjoyed a cultural golden age in the 16th and 17th centuries as Europe's foremost power.
-From 1580 to 1640 the [[Portuguese Empire]] and the [[Spanish Empire]] were conjoined in a [[personal union]] of its [[Philippine Dynasty|Habsburg monarchs]], during the period of the [[Iberian Union]], though the empires continued to be administered separately.
-From the middle of the 16th century silver and gold from the American mines increasingly financed the military capability of Habsburg Spain in its long series of European and North African wars. Until the loss of its American colonies in the 19th century, Spain maintained one of the largest empires in the world, even though it suffered fluctuating military and economic fortunes from the 1640s. Confronted by the new experiences, difficulties and suffering created by empire-building, Spanish thinkers formulated some of the first modern thoughts on natural law, sovereignty, international law, war, and economics — they even questioned the legitimacy of imperialism — in related schools of thought referred to collectively as the School of Salamanca.
-Constant contention with rival powers caused territorial, commercial, and religious conflict that contributed to the slow decline of Spanish power from the mid-17th century. In the [[Mediterranean]], Spain warred constantly with the Ottoman Empire; on the European continent, [[France]] became comparably strong. Overseas, Spain was initially rivaled by [[Portugal]], and later by the [[England|English]] and [[Netherlands|Dutch]]. In addition, English-, French-, and Dutch-sponsored privateering and piracy, overextension of Spanish military commitments in its territories, increasing government corruption, and economic stagnation caused by military expenditures ultimately contributed to the empire's weakening.
-Spain's European empire was finally undone by the [[Peace of Utrecht]] (1713), which stripped Spain of its remaining territories in Italy and the [[Spanish Netherlands|Low Countries]]. Spain's fortunes improved thereafter, but it remained a second rate power in Continental European politics. However, Spain maintained and enlarged its vast overseas empire until the 19th century, when the shock of the [[Peninsular War]] sparked declarations of independence in Quito (1809), [[Venezuela]] and [[Paraguay]] (1811) and successive revolutions that split away its territories on the mainland (the Spanish Main) of the Americas. Spain retained significant fragments of its empire in the Caribbean ([[Cuba]] and [[Puerto Rico]]); Asia ([[Philippines]]), and Oceania ([[Guam]], [[Micronesia]], [[Palau]], and [[Northern Marianas]]) until the [[Spanish–American War]] of 1898. Spanish participation in the [[Scramble for Africa]] was minimal: [[Spanish Morocco]] was held until 1956 and [[Spanish Guinea]] and the [[Spanish Sahara]] were held until 1968 and 1975 respectively. The [[Canary Islands]], [[Ceuta]], [[Melilla]] and the other ''[[Plazas de Soberanía]]'' on the northern African coast have remained part of Spain.
-===Sweden===
-The seventeenth century saw [[Rise of Sweden as a Great Power|the rise of Sweden]] as one of the [[Great Power]]s in Europe.Sweden also had colonial possessions as a minor [[Swedish colonial empire|colonial Empire]] that existed from 1638-1663 and later 1784-1878.
-The mid 1600s and the early 1700s were Sweden's most successful years as a Great Power. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent during the rule of [[Charles X of Sweden|Charles X]] (1622–1660) after the [[treaty of Roskilde]] in 1658. However, after more than a half century of almost constant warfare the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It would become the lifetime task of Charles' son, [[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]] (1655-1697), to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden [[Charles XII of Sweden|Charles XII]], was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, [[Russia]], had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training. The Swedish army crushed the Russians at the [[Battle of Narva]] in 1700, one of the first battles of the [[Great Northern War]]. This led to an overambitious campaign against Russia in 1707, however, ending in a decisive Russian victory at the [[Battle of Poltava]] (1709). The campaign had a successful opening for Sweden, which came to occupy half of [[Poland]] and making Charles able to claim the Polish throne. But after a long march exposed by [[cossack]] raids, the Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]]'s scorched-earth techniques and the [[Russian Winter|cold Russian climate]], the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered confidence, and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for Sweden as an empire.
 ==See also==
-*[[Superpower]]
+* [[Big Four (Western Europe)]]
-*[[World domination]]
+* [[G7]]
-*[[Pax Americana]]
+* [[List of modern great powers]]
+* [[NATO Quint]]
+* [[Power (international relations)]]
+* [[List of ancient great powers]]
+* [[List of modern great powers]]
 {{GFDL}}

Great power

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Current revision

See also

Views

Personal tools

Search

Metas

Navigation