Abstract
The quest to maintain a balance in interstate relations, achieve collective security, and mutual support in case of war led to the formation or the emergence of the alliance system. As such, the alliance system was an unsteady and delicate system of interstate relation which started in Europe during the period of the evolution of state formation roughly between 1500 and early 1900. Although the alliance system sometimes prevent war, it was used most times to tilt the balance of power in favour of the allies. Consequently, the alliance system began to define several activities in the world ranging from economic, social, political, to cultural life. Attempts have been made to examine the alliance system and its effective attraction in conducting modern diplomacy. The study was carried out with the aid of secondary sources and internet materials. The result of the findings in this study shows that the main idea underpinning the alliance system was collective security for it was believed that since all the major European powers had strong allies, a major war could not break out since an attack on one power would lead to a counterattack not only by that country, but their allies. The paper concludes that the alliance system has had an effective attraction in conducting modern diplomacy.
Keywords
References
- “Alliance System.” Encyclopaedia of Modern Europe: Europe 1789-1914: Encyclopaedia of the Age of Industry and Empire. Encyclopedia.com (April 15, 2021). https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/alliance-system. Accessed May 3, 2021.Google Scholar ↗
- Bell, P. M. H. France and Britain, 1900–1940: Entente and Estrangement. London: Longman, 1996.Google Scholar ↗
- Berridge, G. R., Keens-Soper, Maurice & Otte, T.G. Diplomatic Theory from Machiavelli to Kissinger. New York: Palgrave, 2001.Google Scholar ↗
- Cornago, Noe´. “Diplomacy” in Lester Kurtz (Editor-in-Chief), Encyclopaedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict, Vol. 1. Oxford: Elsevier Inc., 2008.Google Scholar ↗
- “Diplomacy: The U.S. Department of State at Work.” Bureau of Public Affairs, June 2008. Jan 20, 2009, https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/dos/107330.htm. Accessed May 3, 2021Google Scholar ↗
- Haglund, David G. “Alliance.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/alliance-politics. Accessed 1 May 2021.Google Scholar ↗
- Hildebrand, Klaus. German Foreign Policy from Bismarck to Adenauer: The Limits of Statecraft. Translated by Louise Willmot. Boston: Unwin Hyman 1989.Google Scholar ↗
- Kennan, George F. The Fateful Alliance. France, Russia, and the Coming of the First World War. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984.Google Scholar ↗
- Llewellyn, Jennifer & Thompson, Steve. “Alliances as a Cause of World War I”, Alpha History (August 9, 2017), https://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/alliances/#What_is_an_alliance. Accesses May 3, 2021.Google Scholar ↗
- Marks, Sally and Freeman, Chas W. “Diplomacy.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 Dec. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/diplomacy. Accessed 1 May 2021.Google Scholar ↗
- McGlinchey, Stephen. “Diplomacy,” Jan 8, 2017, https://www.e-ir.info/2017/01/08/diplomacy/. Accessed 2 May 2021.Google Scholar ↗
- Nicolson, Harold. Diplomacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.Google Scholar ↗
- Rose, Andreas. Between Empire and Continent. British Foreign Policy before the First World War. New York: Berghahn Books, 2017.Google Scholar ↗
- Schroeder, Paul W. Systems, Stability, and Statecraft. Essays on the International History of Modern Europe, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.Google Scholar ↗
- The Alliance System before 1900, https://www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/02._the_alliance_system_before_1914.pdf. Accessed May 3, 2021Google Scholar ↗
- Usman, M. M. “Trends in World Diplomacy: What is Diplomacy?” Lecture Note. Kaduna: Nigerian Defence Academy, 2021.Google Scholar ↗
- Watson, Adam. Diplomacy: The Dialogue Between States. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1983.Google Scholar ↗