Evolution of the International System, 1814-1914

This lecture series is based on a course I taught at the university of Brussels. It has so far traced the evolution of the 19th-century Great Powers (France, Britain, Prussia/Germany, Russia, Austria and the United States) and their interaction in the realm of diplomacy and conflict from the Vienna Settlement to the eve of World War I. Highlights so far included the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the re-drawing of the map of Europe, Balance of Powers and Congress Diplomacy, the Crimean War, the Wars of German and Italian Unification, the emergence of the United States as a Great Power, and the “New” Imperialism.

Our last lecture topic will look at The Origins of World War I. As this is a complex and debated subject, it shall take about four sessions, i.e. through April.