1.) 1300-1648
European diplomacy from 1300-1648 was often characterized by dynastic feuds between
noble families each trying to press their claims and become the sovereign of their nation. In
1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church in Wittenberg, diplomacy became
centered on religious alliances as well. Each European power would eventually settle into a
political alliance based off of mutual religious agreements. This is one of the first instances of
balance of power diplomacy. The idea that no country should dominate the whole of Europe set
in wave a series of alliances throughout the centuries that would result in increasingly deadly
wars of continental domination.
1. Between the years of 1337 and 1453, England and France engaged in the Hundred Years
War over trade in Flanders and the throne of France.
2. The Peace of Lodi in 1454 established a 50 year peace on the Italian Peninsula between
the five major city states thus forming Balance of Power politics.
3. In the late 15th to the mid-16th century, new monarchs emerged in several nations to try
and create a unified nation under their dynasties. The Henry VII would win the War of
the Roses and create an English nation under total control of the Tudor line. Louis XI
engaged in strategic marriages with other nobles to create a unified French
nation. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon complete the Reconquista in 1492
creating the new Kingdom of Spain. In Russia, Ivan III drove out the Mongol rulers and
established the Duchy of Muscovy as the most powerful Eastern Orthodox power after
the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
4. In 1516-55, Charles V rules as Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Spain. He attempts
to create a unified Western Europe but is countered by the Valois monarchy in France,
the Ottoman Empire in the east, and the growing influence of Protestants in Germany.
5. Henry VIII’s creation of the Church of England in 1534 leads to years of unrest between
Catholics and Protestants. Stability is achieved after Elizabeth I’s defeat of the Spanish
Armada in 1588 ending the possibility of a Catholic takeover.
6. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 ends years of religious warfare in Germany.
7. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 ends the War of the Three Henrys in France and secures the
French throne for the formally Calvinist and now Catholic Bourbons.
8. The Thirty Years War begins in 1618 with the Defenestration of Prague. What started as
conflict between the Catholic Hapsburg’s of the Holy Roman Empire and their Protestant
elector states quickly turns into a continental conflict between anti and pro Hapsburg
nations. The war ends in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia and a defeat for the
Hapsburgs.
2) 1648-1815
The Treaty of Westphalia was a great diplomatic achievement which ushered in a new
era in international relations
The Treaty of Dover signed by Charles I England with Louis XIV agreeing to reintroduce
Catholicism in England
Treaty of Ryswick 1697 ended the Nine Years war between France and the Holy Roman
Emperor
Peace of Utrecht 1714 ended the War of Spanish Succession: France and Spain against England,
the Netherlands and the Holy roman Empire, leaving, Philip V to become the Bourbon ruler of
Spain
English Parliament agreed in 1707 to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain
The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 France and Russia allied with the Habsburgs against
Prussia, forcing Britain on the side of Prussia to prevent a power imbalance
The Treaty of Hubertusburg 1756 allowed Frederic II to hold onto Silesia and ended the 7 years
war
The Treaty of Paris between France and Great Britain. Great Britain secured sole access to N.
America east of the Mississippi River and gained the dominant position in India. France kept its
profitable sugar islands in the Caribbean
Prussia and Russia saw Poland's internal instability and found it advantageous to
eliminate its independent existence
There were three partitions: 1772, 1793, and 1795
The partitions of Poland maintained the balance of power in eastern Europe
Poland was carved up by enlightened despots who under the guise of enlightened reform held
the potential of upsetting the basis for traditional governments
Napoleonic era
The unpopular Continental System forced nations on the continent to embargo British goods
Napoleon created a new diplomatic system. As he conquered, he created republics in Italy, the
Low Countries and Switzerland, often appointing family members
In 1806 he abolished the Holy Roman Empire replacing it with the new 35-state Confederation
of the Rhine
He recreated a new smaller Duchy of Warsaw in order to gain Polish support.
Peninsular War in 1808 napoleon coerced the Bourbon king of Spain to abdicate and then
replaced him with his brother Jerome
After the Napoleonic wars the great powers of Europe met in Vienna to rebuild a stable
diplomatic order
Legitimacy Rightful monarchs were restored to those nations that experienced revolutions
Compensation nations that lost territory in one area received compensation in another.
Created a series of buffer states to quarantine France should revolution break out there again
3.) 1815-1914
From 1815-1914, the rise of nationalism, the industrial revolutions (first and second),
and imperialism would mainly affect the relationship between countries from the end of the
Napoleonic era to the beginning of WW I.
The revolutions of 1848 created reform in only a few countries where they succeeded,
however they generally didn’t change much at all. The main result of this on diplomacy was that
it set up the attitudes of citizens and governments that would later affect countries’ relationships
to one another. For example, Slavic nationalism in Serbia would be the cause for WW I.
The Crimean War from 1853-1856 would set up later diplomacy by weakening the Ottoman
empire until its collapse after the first WW. This would also further develop France and Britain’s
alliance. The concert of Europe was also destroyed as a result, allowing countries to pursue
national interests, disregarding the disruption in the balance of power. Piedmont-Sardinia got the
recognition it needed to unify Italy, effectively making it another country to ally with in the
WWs to come.
Alexander II’s reforms contributed to the diplomacy of Russia as he freed all the serfs. This
created more dissatisfaction for the serfs as they wanted more and more rights. The reason
communism would rise in Russia was because the serf majority later supported the Bolshevik
revolution. The rise of communism in Russia would isolate it from Western Europe and the U.S.
in the 20th century.
Resulting from the Crimean War was the unification of Italy. This proved significant to the
diplomacy in the WWs as Italy became an ally of the triple entente in the first WW but the axis
in the second WW. The resulting Italy still wasn’t at peace because of the separation of culture in
the north and south, which still remains different today.
The election of Bismarck as Chancellor showed the importance of the balance of power as it
allowed Germany to ally with Austria-Hungary and remain friendly with Russia and Britain. The
dismissing of Bismarck was a mistake by Kaiser Wilhelm as he wanted Germany to become the
dominate power in Europe. This allied France and Russia, creating a two front war and the cause
of the loss of both WWs.
The Russo-Japanese war was another loss to Russia as it humiliated Russia. The diplomatic
result was Russia continued looking towards the Balkans for power and partially caused the first
WW. This also caused the revolution of 1905 in Russia. Dissatisfied with the results of the
revolt, many of these workers and students would led the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, which
links back to communism and Europe’s exclusion of Russia in the later 20th century.
With Serbian nationalism in place, the diplomatic relationships of the triple alliance vs the
triple entente, the Russian serfs freed, and Italy unified, WW I was set. This WW set the stage
for WW II as the treaty of Versailles was made unfair to the Germans, and fascism took hold.
The theme of states and other institutions of power is apparent here as different states, such
as Piedmont-Sardinia were creating and unifying the country of Italy. The institution of
Alexander II created the freedom of serfs that allowed for the creation of communism.
4.) 1914-present
After WWII, a series of negotiations took place between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt
to decide the fate of Europe
Yalta Declaration on Liberated Europe, promised free elections in Eastern Europe. Formation of
the United Nations
Potsdam agreement to hold War Crime trials and division of Germany into 4 occupation zones
Diplomacy after 1945 was marked by a series of actions and reactions by the two rival
superpowers
Berlin, Western powers merge the three occupied zones in Germany and introduce new
currency
Soviets respond with a blockade on Berlin hoping to "Starve it out". Americans supply Berlin
with an air lift. Germany was officially divided into two countries
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An alliance created to ensure containment of the
Soviet Union and agreeing to rearm West Germany. The Soviets form Warsaw Pact in response.
National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency are created in 1947
The Marshall Plan gained Americans influence abroad and opened markets for American goods.
Truman Doctrine offered financial assistance to any nation facing an armed uprising
Stalin's death in 1953 led to de-Stalinization raising the possibility of peaceful
coexistence with the west
In 1954 the U.S. announced the policy of Massive Retaliation, threatening a nuclear attack in
response to communist aggression anywhere in the world
The summit in Geneva, led to the evacuation of forces from Austria and its neutralization
The Berlin Wall is erected by East Berlin to prevent a steady stream of defections to the west
In 1962 the Soviets plans to install nuclear missiles in Cuba creates the Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1963 a hot line is established between the two leaders establishing direct contact
In 1963 The Soviet Union, Britain and the U.S. sign a Limited Nuclear Test Ban prohibiting
testing of nuclear weapons underground, in outer space or underwater
In 1964 The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allows the U.S. a path for sending US forces into Vietnam.
In 1967, Six-Day war, the U.S. backs Israel, the Soviets back the Arab forces
The Brezhnev doctrine treats a threat to socialism in one nation as a threat to socialism
The 1970's brought Detente and a general ease of tensions between the superpowers
The Treaty of Moscow established diplomatic relations between W. Germany and the Soviets
In 1972 the first agreement to limit nuclear weapons, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, (SALT
1). In addition, Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) reduced the potential for a first-strike
launch
In 1973 the Vietnam War ends, with Vietnam unified under communism
President Nixon visits Communist China, leading to formal diplomatic relations
The 1975 Helsinki Accords formally end World War II, recognizing national borders; it included
a human rights provision which allowed dissent within the Soviet Block
In 1979 the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, U.S. responds by, refusing to ratify the SALT II
agreement, limiting grain shipments, boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and backing
resistance
In 1985, Gorbachev becomes soviet leader. He and Reagan agree to the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Force Treaty (INF) eliminating an entire class of weapons
In 1988 following Gorbachev's withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, he and Reagan
sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) reducing the number of long-range missiles
1989 marks the Fall of Communism and begins the reunification of Germany
In 1991 Gorbachev resigns after a failed coup attempt