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fandomhigh2006-10-16 03:19 pm
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Interstellar Relations, Monday, 5th Period
Professor Roslin was seated on the front edge of her desk, glasses
perched on her nose, as the students entered. Her attention was
focused on the piece of octagonal paper in her hand, folded in thirds,
and written by hand. The lights at the front of the room had been
dimmed, leaving the ones in the back on, so was displayed.
After a few moments, she looked up, readjusting her glasses. The paper
was folded as she stood, and stuffed into an envelope. Anyone sitting
toward the front of the room could probably see that it was addressed
to her, and the return was marked simply "W. Adama," with no
accompanying address.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Laura began, "I hope you all had a good
and very restful weekend because today, we're delving into the
Twentieth Century International System as it existed here, on Earth.
Well, in Europe, specifically. I'll try not to put you to sleep, so
long as you try to stay awake." A wry grin touched the corners of her
lips.
Picking up the SmartBoard remote, she directed
attention to the screen. "The European international systems between
1815 and 1914 have been labeled as a careful 'balance of power.' In
reality, there were three different 'balance of power' systems
established in this time period: the first, established with the
Congress of Vienna, between 1814 and 1815; the second, by German
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the 1870s; and the last established
after the dismissal of Bismarck as Chancellor in 1890. Of these, the
first came closest to fulfilling its original intention."
Laura readjusted her weight a bit, leaning against the front edge of
the desk. "In the years prior to the Congress of Vienna, Europe had
been conquered by an invading French army, led by the self-appointed
emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. Once Napoleon had been defeated, the
other nations of Europe sought to prevent history from repeating
itself.
The Austrian chancellor, Metternich, and the British Prime Minister,
Castlereigh, led the Congress in establishing a core doctrine which
focused not on restoring Europe as it was prior to the wars, but
instead focused on the part of each power to resist any unilateral
attempts at universal domination: Russian gains in Poland were
balanced with Austrian gains in Italy and Prussian gains in the
Rheinland; "buffer zones" were created between the larger nations in
the north, and by German states in the south, between Prussia and
Austria."
On the screen, the map changed to reflect the distribution of
boundaries. "It was also suggested that one executive body be
established to deal with the threat of someone like Napoleon. The
result was the 'Quadriple Alliance,' a system which lasted through the
1850s and 1860s. Can anyone suggest to me what could have
contributed to the success of such a system in this time period?"
As the discussion wound down, Roslin continued the lecture, the map
changing slightly with each press of a remote button. "Four major wars
disrupted the system, creating an imbalance from which it never
recovered: the Italian War of 1859, between Austria, Piedmont, and
France; war between Denmark and the German states in 1854; the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866; and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
"The territories -- which the powers had been so careful to distribute
-- changed yet again. Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine; Austria sought
influence in the Balkan Islands, angering the Russians, who
traditionally held the region; and the Italians of the time sought to
take back from Austria areas with Italian minorities." A section of
the map was highlighted in turn, illustrating the various "hot spots.
"At the center of many of these wars was the German chancellor, Otto
von Bismarck. He had successfully orchestrated the unification of the Germanic states in 1871 by
amplifying tensions and acting on them. Now that he had established
the German Empire, however, he sought to hold on to the new gains. He
found, however, that because of the wars of unification, the
traditional alliances were no longer reliable; no all-embracing
framework remained. So, he replaced the careful balance of power
system with a system of secret alliances, all centered around the
German capital, Berlin.
"Since there's yet another system to discuss, why do you suspect
that Bismarck's system of alliances failed?"
Discussion continued, and Laura glanced at the clock. Seeing that
class time was running short, she lauched into the final portion of
the lecture. "Given his failures and the changing political currents,
Chancellor Bismarck was dismissed in 1890. Almost immediately, policy
changes began in Germany. Alliances with Russia were dropped in favor
of existing alliances with Austria; Germany also began an 'aggressive
and offensive' policy overseas, dabbling in other countries' colonial
systems. This, extending from the period of 'secret' alliances, only
fanned the flames. Paranoia grew between the nations. The result was
the establishment of the 'Triple Alliance' and the 'Triple Entente'
... both of which we'll discuss a bit more in depth next week.
"Okay, folks," she said, slipping off her glasses. "I appreciate your
patience. One more lecture, and we get back into the thick of things.
For next week, review the packet of information I gave you at the
beginning of the term. Be thinking about, if you were writing the
'rules' for balance of power, what would those rules be? We'll lead
off with that on Monday."
Flipping her wrist, she glanced at the watch there, rather than the
clock on the wall. "And all that with thirty seconds to spare." Laura
grinned. "Go on. Get out of here! And have a good afternoon!"
[Sorry this is a few minutes late. I've had gasp real
work to do. Not that it's exciting. Which is why I got this done at
all. Anyway, if the first person to respond to the sign-in and to the
discussion questions could set up each thread, I would appreciate it.
I'm still trying to find a way around the webfilters here at work.
Which is irritating because, honestly, I wasn't supposed to be here
this long... ::sigh:: But I digress. I'll pick up after class and OOC
threads afterward. Thanks!
Oh, and I used Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Problems of Our
Time by Gordon Craig and Alexander George for some of the notes
for the lecture.]
perched on her nose, as the students entered. Her attention was
focused on the piece of octagonal paper in her hand, folded in thirds,
and written by hand. The lights at the front of the room had been
dimmed, leaving the ones in the back on, so was displayed.
After a few moments, she looked up, readjusting her glasses. The paper
was folded as she stood, and stuffed into an envelope. Anyone sitting
toward the front of the room could probably see that it was addressed
to her, and the return was marked simply "W. Adama," with no
accompanying address.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Laura began, "I hope you all had a good
and very restful weekend because today, we're delving into the
Twentieth Century International System as it existed here, on Earth.
Well, in Europe, specifically. I'll try not to put you to sleep, so
long as you try to stay awake." A wry grin touched the corners of her
lips.
Picking up the SmartBoard remote, she directed
attention to the screen. "The European international systems between
1815 and 1914 have been labeled as a careful 'balance of power.' In
reality, there were three different 'balance of power' systems
established in this time period: the first, established with the
Congress of Vienna, between 1814 and 1815; the second, by German
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the 1870s; and the last established
after the dismissal of Bismarck as Chancellor in 1890. Of these, the
first came closest to fulfilling its original intention."
Laura readjusted her weight a bit, leaning against the front edge of
the desk. "In the years prior to the Congress of Vienna, Europe had
been conquered by an invading French army, led by the self-appointed
emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. Once Napoleon had been defeated, the
other nations of Europe sought to prevent history from repeating
itself.
The Austrian chancellor, Metternich, and the British Prime Minister,
Castlereigh, led the Congress in establishing a core doctrine which
focused not on restoring Europe as it was prior to the wars, but
instead focused on the part of each power to resist any unilateral
attempts at universal domination: Russian gains in Poland were
balanced with Austrian gains in Italy and Prussian gains in the
Rheinland; "buffer zones" were created between the larger nations in
the north, and by German states in the south, between Prussia and
Austria."
On the screen, the map changed to reflect the distribution of
boundaries. "It was also suggested that one executive body be
established to deal with the threat of someone like Napoleon. The
result was the 'Quadriple Alliance,' a system which lasted through the
1850s and 1860s. Can anyone suggest to me what could have
contributed to the success of such a system in this time period?"
As the discussion wound down, Roslin continued the lecture, the map
changing slightly with each press of a remote button. "Four major wars
disrupted the system, creating an imbalance from which it never
recovered: the Italian War of 1859, between Austria, Piedmont, and
France; war between Denmark and the German states in 1854; the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866; and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
"The territories -- which the powers had been so careful to distribute
-- changed yet again. Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine; Austria sought
influence in the Balkan Islands, angering the Russians, who
traditionally held the region; and the Italians of the time sought to
take back from Austria areas with Italian minorities." A section of
the map was highlighted in turn, illustrating the various "hot spots.
"At the center of many of these wars was the German chancellor, Otto
von Bismarck. He had successfully orchestrated the unification of the Germanic states in 1871 by
amplifying tensions and acting on them. Now that he had established
the German Empire, however, he sought to hold on to the new gains. He
found, however, that because of the wars of unification, the
traditional alliances were no longer reliable; no all-embracing
framework remained. So, he replaced the careful balance of power
system with a system of secret alliances, all centered around the
German capital, Berlin.
"Since there's yet another system to discuss, why do you suspect
that Bismarck's system of alliances failed?"
Discussion continued, and Laura glanced at the clock. Seeing that
class time was running short, she lauched into the final portion of
the lecture. "Given his failures and the changing political currents,
Chancellor Bismarck was dismissed in 1890. Almost immediately, policy
changes began in Germany. Alliances with Russia were dropped in favor
of existing alliances with Austria; Germany also began an 'aggressive
and offensive' policy overseas, dabbling in other countries' colonial
systems. This, extending from the period of 'secret' alliances, only
fanned the flames. Paranoia grew between the nations. The result was
the establishment of the 'Triple Alliance' and the 'Triple Entente'
... both of which we'll discuss a bit more in depth next week.
"Okay, folks," she said, slipping off her glasses. "I appreciate your
patience. One more lecture, and we get back into the thick of things.
For next week, review the packet of information I gave you at the
beginning of the term. Be thinking about, if you were writing the
'rules' for balance of power, what would those rules be? We'll lead
off with that on Monday."
Flipping her wrist, she glanced at the watch there, rather than the
clock on the wall. "And all that with thirty seconds to spare." Laura
grinned. "Go on. Get out of here! And have a good afternoon!"
[Sorry this is a few minutes late. I've had gasp real
work to do. Not that it's exciting. Which is why I got this done at
all. Anyway, if the first person to respond to the sign-in and to the
discussion questions could set up each thread, I would appreciate it.
I'm still trying to find a way around the webfilters here at work.
Which is irritating because, honestly, I wasn't supposed to be here
this long... ::sigh:: But I digress. I'll pick up after class and OOC
threads afterward. Thanks!
Oh, and I used Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Problems of Our
Time by Gordon Craig and Alexander George for some of the notes
for the lecture.]
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Very, very late