Power Politics

Unification of Germany

1871

Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s three wars of German
unification:
3rd: 1870
2nd: 1866
1st: 1864

[US.P] Theodore Roosevelt

Period: Sep 14, 1901 to Mar 4, 1909

[26th]
1903: US president protests Russian & Moldovan aggressions against the Jews
1905: US president brokered a peace conference between Russia & Japan

[UK.PM] Arthur Balfour

Period: Jul 11, 1902 to Dec 5, 1905

The Earl of Balfour

[UK.PM] Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Period: Dec 5, 1905 to Apr 3, 1908

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman

[UK.PM] H. H. Asquith

Period: Apr 5, 1908 to Dec 5, 1916

The Earl of Oxford and Asquith

[US.P] William Howard Taft

Period: Mar 4, 1909 to Mar 4, 1913

[US.P] Woodrow Wilson

Period: Mar 4, 1913 to Mar 4, 1921

1917: Entered WWI to make the world "safe for democracy."
1918: Jan. 14 points

[Pre-WWI] Assassination in Sarajevo

Jun 28, 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were travelling in a car through Sarajevo in Bosnia. As a royal and military representative of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand was seen as a valid target by Serbian nationalists, and the day was symbolic: the anniversary of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, in which Ottoman forces had annihilated the Serbs.

World War I

Period: Jul 28, 1914 to Nov 11, 1918

[WWI] Bloodiest day in French military history

Aug 22, 1914

Battle of Rossignol (part of Battle of the Frontiers)
Rossignol, Belgium
27,000 French died in a single day

[WWI] The start of Trench Warfare

Sep 15, 1914

September 5 - The First Battle of the Marne begins. Trench warfare begins as soldiers on both sides dig in.
September 15 - First trenches of the western front were built.

[WWI] Christmas Truce

Dec 24, 1914

[WWI] First Zeppelin raid

Jan 19, 1915

Of the three Zeppelins employed, two reach the eastern coast of England to drop their bombs.
Number of casualties were few, but the degree of psychological effect was high.

[WWI] The start of Lethal Chemical Warfare

Apr 22, 1915

First chemical attack of 31 January 1915 did not have the desired effect. 168 tons of chlorine deployed in 5,730 cylinders were released on April 22, forming a gray-green cloud. Use of chemicals remained inevitable until the end of the war.

Sykes-Picot Agreement

May 16, 1916

<Russia>
Armenian provinces (Erzurum, Trebizond (Trabzon), Van, Bitlis);
some Kurdish territory to the southeast.
<France>
Lebanon and Syrian littoral;
Adana;
Cilicia;
hinterland adjacent to Russia’s share (Aintab, Urfa, Mardin, Diyarbakır, and Mosul.)
<GB>
southern Mesopotamia: Baghdad;
Mediterranean ports of Haifa and ʿAkko (Acre).
<Arab state of Syria>
<Free port of Alexandretta (İskenderun)>
<International regime in the holy land of Palestine>

[UK.PM] David Lloyd George

Period: Dec 6, 1916 to Oct 19, 1922

The Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor

[CW] Bolshevik Revolt (Russian Revolution)

Period: Mar 8, 1917 to Nov 7, 1917

[WWI] U.S. Entered WWI

Apr 6, 1917

Britain, France, and Russia

[WWI] Wilson's 14 Points

Jan 8, 1918

speech on War Aims and Peace Terms

Greco-Turkish War

Period: Jun 15, 1919 to Oct 11, 1922

Duration: 3y, 4m, 3w, 5d.
[Turkish National Movement]
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
[Kingdom of Greece]
British Empire
Armenian volunteer forces

[Post-WWI] Treaty of Versailles

Jun 28, 1919

The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers.
Dates: Jun 28, 1919 – Jan 21, 1920
Signed: 28 June 1919
Condition: Ratification by Germany and four Principal Allied Powers
Effective: 10 January 1920
Location: Paris, France
Languages: French and English

[IO] League of Nations

Period: Jan 10, 1920 to Jul 31, 1947

[US.P] Warren G. Harding

Period: Mar 4, 1921 to Aug 2, 1923

[UK.PM] Bonar Law

Period: Oct 23, 1922 to May 22, 1923

Andrew Bonar Law

[UK.PM] Stanley Baldwin

Period: May 23, 1923 to Jan 16, 1924

The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

[Turkey] Treaty of Lausanne

Jul 24, 1923

Peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland
Some of the lands that were given away in the Treaty of Sèvres were taken back, including:
Edirne, Izmir (Greece)
Canakkale, Istanbul (International control)
Afyon, Antalya, Konya (Italy)
Sivas, Adana (France)
Diyarbakir (France & Britain)
Trabzon, Erzurum, Van (Armenia)

[US.P] Calvin Coolidge

Period: Aug 2, 1923 to Mar 4, 1929

1923: [Asked Hoover: "If you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?"]
1923: [death of Harding]

[UK.PM] Ramsay MacDonald

Period: Jan 22, 1924 to Nov 4, 1924

[UK.PM] Stanley Baldwin

Period: Nov 4, 1924 to Jun 5, 1929

The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

[US.P] Herbert Hoover

Period: Mar 4, 1929 to Mar 4, 1933

1929: The Great Depression: October 29, 1929 (Black Friday)
1932: One fourth of Americans are unemployed

[UK.PM] Ramsay MacDonald

Period: Jun 5, 1929 to Jun 7, 1935

[US.P] Franklin Roosevelt

Period: Mar 4, 1933 to Apr 12, 1945

[32nd]
1933: The New Deal (8-year program)
“First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
1945: [Roosevelt dies]

[UK.PM] Stanley Baldwin

Period: Jun 7, 1935 to May 28, 1937

The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

[CW] The Spanish Civil War

Period: Jul 17, 1936 to Apr 1, 1939

Duration: 2y, 8m, 2w, 1d.
EXTERNAL SUPPORT
[Republicans]
The international Communists, Comintern
Soviet Union
Mexico
Foreign volunteers
[Nationalists]
Kingdom of Italy
Portugal
Nazi Germany
Foreign volunteers

[UK.PM] Neville Chamberlain

Period: May 28, 1937 to May 10, 1940

[Pre-WWII] Anschluss

Mar 12, 1938

Anschluß
The annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany.

[Pre-WWII] Munich Agreement

Sep 30, 1938

Permission of Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia.
[NG]
[UK] Neville Chamberlain
[FR]
[IT]

[UK.PM] Winston Churchill

Period: May 10, 1940 to Jul 26, 1945

[US.P] Harry S. Truman

Period: Apr 12, 1945 to Jan 20, 1953

[33rd]
1945: [Roosevelt dies]
1949: Established NATO

[UK.PM] Clement Attlee

Period: Jul 26, 1945 to Oct 26, 1951

North Atlantic Treaty

Apr 4, 1949

Date: April 4, 1949
Effective: 24 August 1949

[W] Korean War

Period: Jun 25, 1950 to Jul 27, 1953

[UK.PM] Winston Churchill

Period: Oct 26, 1951 to Apr 6, 1955

[US.P] Dwight D. Eisenhower

Period: Jan 20, 1953 to Jan 20, 1961

[34th]
1953: [Supports and continues the New Deal]
Vice President: Richard Nixon
1953: Armistice that ended the Korean War
1958: Launched DARPA -> later to become the Internet

[UK.PM] Anthony Eden

Period: Apr 6, 1955 to Jan 10, 1957

The Earl of Avon

[UK.PM] Harold Macmillan

Period: Jan 10, 1957 to Oct 19, 1963

[FR.P] Charles de Gaulle

Period: Jan 8, 1959 to Apr 28, 1969

[US.P] JFK

Period: Jan 20, 1961 to Nov 22, 1963

[35th]
John F. Kennedy
1961: Established the Peace Corps
1963: Equal Pay Act
22 Nov 1963: Assassinated (aged 46)

[UK.PM] Alec Douglas-Home

Period: Oct 19, 1963 to Oct 16, 1964

The Lord Home of the Hirsel

[US.P] Lyndon B. Johnson

Period: Nov 22, 1963 to Jan 20, 1969

[36th]

[UK.PM] Harold Wilson

Period: Oct 16, 1964 to Jun 19, 1970

The Lord Wilson of Rievaulx

[US.P] Richard Nixon

Period: Jan 20, 1969 to Aug 9, 1974

[37th]

[FR.P] Alain Poher

Period: Apr 28, 1969 to Jun 20, 1969

Interim president

[FR.P] Georges Pompidou

Period: Jun 2, 1969 to Apr 20, 1974

[UK.PM] Edward Heath

Period: Jun 19, 1970 to Mar 4, 1974

Sir Edward Heath

[UK.PM] Harold Wilson

Period: Mar 4, 1974 to Apr 5, 1976

The Lord Wilson of Rievaulx

[FR.P] Alain Poher

Period: Apr 3, 1974 to May 27, 1974

Interim president

[FR.P] Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

Period: May 27, 1974 to May 21, 1981

[US.P] Gerald Ford

Period: Aug 9, 1974 to Jan 20, 1977

[38th]

[UK.PM] James Callaghan

Period: Apr 5, 1976 to May 4, 1979

The Lord Callaghan of Cardiff

[US.P] Jimmy Carter

Period: Jan 20, 1977 to Jan 20, 1981

[39th]

[UK.PM] Margaret Thatcher

Period: May 4, 1979 to Nov 28, 1990

The Baroness Thatcher

[W] Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Period: Dec 25, 1979 to Feb 15, 1989

[US.P] Ronald Reagan

Period: Jan 20, 1981 to Jan 20, 1989

[40th]

[FR.P] François Mitterrand

Period: May 21, 1981 to May 17, 1995

[US.P] George H. W. Bush

Period: Jan 20, 1989 to Jan 20, 1993

[41st]

[CW] Afghan Civil War

Period: Feb 15, 1989 to May 30, 1992

[UK.PM] John Major

Period: Nov 28, 1990 to May 2, 1997

Sir John Major

[US.P] Bill Clinton

Period: Jan 20, 1993 to Jan 20, 2001

[42nd]

[FR.P] Jacques Chirac

Period: May 17, 1995 to May 16, 2007

[W] First Congo War

Period: Oct 24, 1996 to May 16, 1997

2008-present: Cobalt is exported to China in exchange to build Congo's infrastructure
1965-1997: Mobutu Sese Seko
Patrice Lumumba became the first democratically elected president
30 June 1960: Independence Day
1906(08)-1960: Belgian colony
1884-1906(08): King Leopold

[UK.PM] Tony Blair

Period: May 2, 1997 to Jun 27, 2007

[W] Second Congo War

Period: Aug 2, 1998 to Jul 18, 2003

2008-present: Cobalt is exported to China in exchange to build Congo's infrastructure
1965-1997: Mobutu Sese Seko
Patrice Lumumba became the first democratically elected president
30 June 1960: Independence Day
1906(08)-1960: Belgian colony
1884-1906(08): King Leopold

[US.P] George W. Bush

Period: Jan 20, 2001 to Jan 20, 2009

[43rd]

[W] War in Darfur (Sudan)

Period: Feb 26, 2003 to 2018

1. Ethnic hatred North of Sudan: Arab Muslims South of Sudan: Black Christians West of Sudan: Black Muslims
2. Oil is extracted in the south, sent to the only port in the north, to be sold to other countries: 70% -> China
3. Desertification

The Janjaweed
300,000 people killed
3 million displaced

[W] Iraq War

Period: Mar 20, 2003 to Aug 31, 2010

4,700 coalition troops killed
85,000 Iraqi civilians killed

[FR.P] Nicolas Sarkozy

Period: May 16, 2007 to May 15, 2012

[UK.PM] Gordon Brown

Period: Jun 27, 2007 to May 11, 2010

[US.P] Barack Obama

Period: Jan 20, 2009 to Jan 20, 2017

44th

[UK.PM] David Cameron

Period: May 11, 2010 to Jul 13, 2016

[FR.P] François Hollande

Period: May 15, 2012 to May 14, 2017