The Rise of Global Powers: International Politics in the Era of the World Wars

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Does a system of great powers necessarily imply a struggle for world primacy? Do great states merely hold onto what is theirs, or do they reach for more? Anthony D'Agostino offers a fascinating new answer to these questions through a fundamental reassessment of the international history of the first half of the twentieth century. From the spatial limits of a purely European great power politics the book looks out to the new horizon of world politics. From the time limits of 1914 to 1945 it considers the interface with nineteenth-century imperialism at one end and the impact of the world wars on the Cold War at the other. This is a global retelling of the expansion of Europe coming up against its limits in the most violent conflicts and explosive social movements yet known to history, the two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Russian and Chinese revolutions. CONTENTS MAPS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION 1 THE GREAT POWERS AT THE DAWN OF WORLD POLITICS 2 GLOBAL ORIGINS OF WORLD WAR I: FROM THE CHINA SCRAMBLE TO THE WORLD CRISIS OF 1904–1906 3 GLOBAL ORIGINS OF WORLD WAR I: A CHAIN OF REVOLUTIONARY EVENTS ACROSS THE WORLD ISLAND 4 BALANCE AND REVOLUTION, 1914–1918 5 A RAGGED PEACE, 1919 6 SCRAMBLE FOR EURASIA, 1919–1922 7 DRASTIC ACTS OF UNHAPPY POWERS, 1922–1923 8 STORMS IN THE LULL, 1924–1927 9 POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF THE GREAT SLUMP, 1928–1933 10 A VOGUE FOR NATIONAL ECONOMY 11 MUSSOLINI’S MOMENT, 1933–1935 12 THE GLOBAL CIVIL WAR, 1936–1937 13 LAST YEARS OF PEACE, 1937–1939 14 THE EUROPEAN WAR, 1939–1941 15 THE WORLD WAR 16 BALANCE AND HEGEMONY MAPS NOTES Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The great powers at the dawn of world politics 2 The China scramble to the world crisis of 1904–1906 3 A chain of revolutionary events across the world 4 Balance and revolution, 1914–1918 5 A ragged peace, 1919 6 Scramble for Eurasia, 1919–1922 7 Drastic acts of unhappy powers, 1922–1923 8 Storms in the lull, 1924–1927 9 Politics and economics of the great slump, 1928–1933 10 A vogue for national economy 11 Mussolini’s moment, 1933–1935 12 The global civil war, 1936–1937 13 Last years of peace, 1937–1939 14 The European war, 1939–1941 15 The world war 16 Balance and hegemony INDEX