History of International Relations Mid-term Exam

Name: Pandu Jean Bruno

Student # 1C3098

Answer the following two questions with more than 800 words each. If your answer is less
than 800 words, you get zero point. Each question weighs 15 points.

There are several questions in each question. Please answer all of them.

These are essay questions. You need to write academic essays with paragraphs and indents.

You are not allowed to use generative AI. Your answers will have AI and plagiarism check.

Deadline is the noon of October 30. Please send your answer through Google Classroom as a
MSWord file.
1. Treaty of Westphalia established the principles of international law and the Western
international order. Describe the principles and the difference between the European
international order before and after the treaty. Could the Western international order co-
exist with that of East Asia before the Opium War? Explain the 2022 Russian attack on
Ukraine by using the concept of sovereignty.

The Treaty of Westphalia was concluded in 1648. This treaty was a very turning point in
European history and furthermore the world order. It put an end to two major conflicts
between European powers at that time, the thirty years’ war, and the Eighty years’ war.
Indeed, this treaty established the basis of modern international order through the definition of
two main interlinked principles of national sovereignty and equality among states. So, in the
following lines we are going to portrait these principles and what was the context in which
these principles were instigated.

The treaty of Westphalia established the principles of national sovereignty with mutual
recognition of states and their sovereignty over their territory. Each state defines its own
domestic policies and fully exercises its sovereign authority. This implies that no state can
interfere in the internal affairs of a neighboring state. The Westphalian treaty has redefined
new borders in Europe after several decades of interstates wars. The principle of sovereignty
ended the feudal system in Europe, providing extensive power to princes and kings to rule
with more autonomy over their territory and people under their control. In this respect, the
concept of “raison d’état” and the “national interest” made their first appearance in Europe,
representing not the glorification of power but an attempt to rationalize and contain its use so
that to ovoid all kind of authoritarian drift damageable for other states (Kissinger, 2015, p.
30).

Another principal established by the treaty of Westphalia is the equality between states,
whereby no state had superior right over another. This principle also applies within the holy
roman empire causing the imperial cities to enjoy identical advantages and any decision is
subject to the approval of the States during the diet of empire. The equality between states had
been a key principle of the modern international order and had played an important role to
preventing conflicts between states since then.

The European order shifted under the treaty of Westphalia. small states in central
Europe obtained the status of sovereign states. Historically, prior to the Westphalia treaty, the
Holy Roman Empire governed central Europe constituted with small states that were not
sovereigns. These regions were in dispute on the behalf of their religion. It is important to
note that, religion during that period is involved in politics at all costs and concerned every
socio-political area. The involvement of the religion in politics rendered the states totally
dependent and influenced all the sphere of societies by controlling the belief system of the
people (Kennedy, 1989, p. 33).

Undoubtfully, the treaty of Westphalia confirmed the provisions made during the peace
of Augsburg in 1555 in religious matter. It created the concept of “cujus regio ejus religio
regio” meaning “such prince, such religion” that was the principle given to the ruling leaders
to determine which religion to adapt to their people. Thanks to this treaty, equal possibility
has been given to Catholics and Protestants to exert their religious rights (Kinsinger, p. 26).
This put an end to the religious conflicts that ravaged Europe for several decades and
introduced the idea of secularization of the international relations. On this viewpoint, states
are gradually freeing themselves from religious norms by the establishment of inter-state
relations that reinforce the diplomatic relations among nations worldwide. Although the treaty
of Westphalia put an end to decades-long conflict, it has particularly marked the international
history by defining international relations establishing new relationship between states,
representing the commencement of the implementation of the notion of national sovereignty,
equality between states and nation-state as well.

Furthermore, the international order framework in China was different from the one that
prevailed in Europe. Unlike the international European order, China was organized as a
hegemonic power in east Asia. Its organizational pyramid was represented in terms of
tributary system considered as the legendary and special pride of China. On the top that
pyramid, is the Sino-centrism with the viewpoint that China culture is superior to others, and
surrounded by tributary states which are faithful to the China empire. But China considered
the rest the world outside its system as barbarians.

Moreover, China had finally come to open its doors to the regions considered as
barbarians. Great Britain was the first state that came to destabilize the legendary China
tributary system through the opium war. In fact, China did not need to trade with Great
Britain, because it considered that there was no need to let western goods enter China market.
In front of many commercial barriers imposed by China, Great Britain had maneuvered by all
cost to reach China, and the means utilized was opium, although opium was illegal in China,
this was the beginning of opium war between Great Britain and China.

The main reason of the opium war was that Great Britain was looking a way to invade
the Sino-centered China, and by doing so there have been a “clash” of two different orders
that led to the opium war. If Great Britain respected the principles of the sovereignty of states
defended by the treaty of Westphalia, it should not provoke the opium war to penetrate China
market. The Western international order could coexist with China’s before the Opium war, if
only Great Britain used the diplomatic means to cooperate with China in accordance with the
principle of sovereignty and equality of states to define the rules that must guide life on their
territory.

First, before we explain the Russian attack on Ukraine, we need to understand what the
concept of the sovereignty is. Classically, sovereignty in international relations is considered
as a “supreme legitimate authority within a certain territory” and consequently supposes that
the state as sovereign has the rights to assure and enforce its independence according to the
international law without any interference from another state, (Philpot, Winter 1995 ).

Second, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict officially upraised in 2022 after the Russian
President, Vladimir Poutine declared a “special military operation” against Ukraine. Russia
and Ukraine have been in latent conflict for many decades until the day the Russian president
decided to invade its former ally. After the dissolution of Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine
became independent state, but kept a strong tie with the Russian Federation until the day
Ukraine tended more and more to have a penchant to adopt Western way of life than soviet
heritage. Russia by its side considered Ukraine as historic and traditional part of Russian
Federation even if it acquired independence. The straw that breaks the camel’s back, was the
official decision of the Ukrainian government to join the European Union and NATO.
According to Russian view of the reality, the adhesion of Ukraine to EU and NATO
constituted an act of aggression and a threat to the Russian survivance, security and economy.
Russian considered that the Ukrainian government is ruled by the Neo Nazis, and it was
crucial to demilitarize and denazify the Ukrainian territory.

In contrast, Ukrainian government justified its decision to adhere to EU and NATO, to

protect his country from Poutine’s hegemonic threats. Moreover, Ukrainian government
justified its intention to improve and express its external relations and economy in regard of
the international law and United Nations Chart.

It is important to mention that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was
created on April 4, 1979, after the end WW II, the western countries looking for allies to
assure their collective security, when the rivalry between the West and the East (Russia) was
growing up.
To conclude, I can say that the Russian attack on Ukraine in my viewpoint constitute
truly a violation of the Ukrainian sovereignty regarding the principle of sovereignty, and the
international law and the UN Chart. Normally all countries should resolve their dispute in the
strict respect of international law or diplomacy. That is to say, the Russian aggression against
Ukraine is worthy of another faraway era. We have discussed the main principles of the treaty
of Westphalia and shown the difference between the European international order before and
after the treaty plus we have shown that Western international order could co-exist with that
of East Asia before the Opium War if only these principles were respected by the disputing
parties. But it is legitimate to ask the question why the international community is unable to
bring Russian and Ukraine at negotiation table so to put an end to their conflict that seems to
be interminable.

References

Kennedy, P. (1989). The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. First vintage Books
edition.

Kissinger, H. (2015). World Order. Penguins Books Random House UK.

Philpot, D. (Winter 1995 , ). Sovereignty: An introduction and Brief History. Journal of

 International Affairs, Winter 1995, Vol. 48, No. 2, Transcending National
Boundaries, pp. pp. 353-368 .

2 While the assassination of the Austrian prince sparked World War I, what are the
background of the assassination and the true causes to develop into a world war? How
was WWI different from the past wars? What were the significance of WWI and the main
provisions of the Treaty of Versailles? What was the main role of the League of Nations
and why the LN could not prevent World War II?

The World War I have been considered by historians and scholars as the Great War, continues
to fascinate debates on its origins and causes. However, some scholars pointed out that the
origin of the four-year world war caused by the German has created enormous, unprecedented
human and material damages in the world history. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that
before the releasing of the hostilities several historical events and actions happened in
interstates relations in Europe and around the world, including the assassination of the
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This event was measured as the straw that breaks the
camel’s back and led to the World War I.
However, according to McDermott (2022) stated that the causes of WWI that the
assassination of Austrian Archduke and his wife took place on June 28, 1914, when they
drove to Sarajevo, Serbia, to visit troops stationed there, they fell in a trap of a young 19-year-
old Serbian terrorist who shot them down. Since then, the "pandora's box" was opened leading
to the uprising of the European rivalries. In front of this dramatic event, Austria-Hungary
decided to declare war on Belgrade Serbia's capital with the German support. And this led
Russia to mobilize in support for its Serbian ally (Kissinger, 2015, pp. 253-254). However,
Germany declared war against Russia, ally of Serbia, and decided to invade France across
Belgium that led Great Britain also to declare war on Germany.

It is essential to note that the Austrian Archduke assassination happened in the context of
growing tensions among European powers in quest of spreading their imperial influences. The
quest for resources, like fuel, iron and among other raw materials, forced European states to
expand their empire across borders. In addition, the rising nationalism across European
countries and the game of alliances between European powers had in themselves the germs of
the release of WWI. But the most important cause of WWI was the rise of nationalism all
around Europe. For instance, the assassination of the Archduke occurred, when Serbia
considered the presence of Austria-Hungary as an aggression and was trying to defend its
territory.

The game of alliances of European powers undoubtedly, is one of the causes of the WWI by
the fact that states in their alliances needed to defend each other in case of aggression by any
tiers state. That is why, there were two major alliances in Europe. On the one side, there
was "the Triple Alliances" including Germany, Austri-Hungary, and Italy. On the other side,
there was the "Triple Entente" including Great Britain, Russia, and France. Furthermore, the
alliances were denoted "Central power" including the states of the "triple alliances", and
"Allies" for those of the "Triple Entente" when the war started (McDermott, 2022). All things
were made as if the "Alliances game" was to prepare the coming of Great War. It took the
assassination of the Austrian Archduke to start the war. Once the war started, the allies called
upon the treaty of their alliances so that assure their collective security.

The World War I is different from the past war in many ways. First, it was the first World
War, in the sense that there have been conflicts in the past opposing nations in the world, but
not in that level. For example, the Thirty-year war, One-hundred-year war. This war has been
different because it is regarded as a “War declared by all” (Shinoda, 2023). Second, the size
of the participants mobilized is unprecedentedly huge. Third, it is a first a war in which
modern gun machines, sophisticated and mechanized materials have been used, like Tanks
and air fighter, extensively. Fourth, due to the importance human and material damages, the
WWI was different from the past wars.

The World War I had a huge impact not only on the European history but also on the entire
world. First, it changed the European landscape in terms of redrawing frontiers between
European countries. Therefore, certain imperial dynasties like the Habsburgs of Austria-
Hungary, the Hohenzollerns of Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and the Romanovs of Russia,
collapsed and that led to the emergence of the United States as world power. Consequently,
the European Map had been drastically changed. Moreover, the treaty of Versailles signed by
the Allie and Germany, amputated not only some German territories in the favor of
neighboring countries but also its overseas colonies. Mainly France gained Alsace-Laurraine,
Belgium gained Eupen-Malmédy, Poland gained eastern German territories (Britannica,
2023). Germany was then condemned to pay reparation and assumed main responsibility for
the damages caused in this war.

Moreover, the Treaty of Versailles also created the League of Nations, the first
intergovernmental organization, mandated to promote international cooperation and achieve
international peace and security (Nations, n.d.). The United States as initiator of the Treaty of
Versailles creating the League of Nations, through President Wilson, had never ratified it.
However, the League of nations proved ineffective at preventing military aggression. Stuck to
its bureaucratic role, the organization had no physical power to combat states that were
aggressive towards any member state. The Organization was judged impartial and ineffective
to sanction certain countries that did not respect the rules of the organization and Germany.
Between 1939 and 1945, the League of Nations had failed to prevent the start of the second
World War II, even diplomatic means could not do it, because the assembly was empty to
vote on the rising aggression of some countries like Germany and Japan (Rust, 2023). Unlike
its predecessor the League of Nations, the United Nations, is granted with peacekeeping
mission well able to prevent interstate and intrastate conflicts. But why the United Nations is
unable to end Ukraine-Russia conflict?

References
Britannica, T. e. (2023). Britannica. Tratto da Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.:
https://www.britannica.com/question/What-was-the-significance-of-World-War-
I
Kissinger, H. (2015). World Order. Penguins Books Random House UK.
McDermott, A. (2022, June 27). History. Tratto da Did Franz Ferdinand’s
Assassination Cause World War I?: https://www.history.com/news/did-franz-
ferdinands-assassination-cause-world-war-i
Nations, U. (n.d.). The League of nations. Retrieved from United Nation Office in
Genova: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/about/league-of-nations/overview
Rust, O. (2023, May 6). Why did the league of Nations ultimately fail? Tratto da The
Collector: https://www.thecollector.com/why-did-the-league-of-nations-fail/