scholarly journals A Case in Relations between Great Powers and Small States—France’s Recognition of Finnish Independence, 1917–1918

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-19
Author(s):  
Louis Clerc
Keyword(s):  
Great Powers ◽  
Small States ◽  
World War ◽  
Short Contribution ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The First World War ◽  
National Networks ◽  
First World ◽  
Broad Overview

Abstract What are the most important variables explaining the 4 January 1918 decision by the French Government to recognise Finland’s independence? This short contribution to the Special Issue aims at giving a broad overview of developments explaining this decision. It will first of all introduce general notions concerning France’s relation with “nationalities” during the First World War. It will more specifically describe the geopolitical environment of the winter 1917–1918, when France looked for ways to react to the crumbling of its Russian ally against Germany. It will also emphasise the way domestic developments and the long-term action of Finnish national networks helped in shaping up this decision. Finally, based on this example, it will consider various ways for small states to try and influence their international environment.

Small state survival in a system of collective hegemony: the concert system, 1815–1918

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Maass
Keyword(s):  
International Politics ◽  
First World War ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Small States ◽  
World War ◽  
Small State ◽  
The First World War ◽  
First World ◽  
State Survival

The 4th chapter starts with the Congress of Vienna 1814/15 and moves the discussion to the eve of the First World War. At Vienna, the so-called concert system was introduced, and it structured most of 19th century international politics. But how did the small state fare in the 19th century system? During the first half of the century, small state numbers continued to erode before the all but collapsed in the later decades of the century. These historic losses of small states, it is argued, stem largely from the particular ‘oligopolistic’ features of the concert system and its key modifiers. Small state survivability decreased as great powers formed a cartel and later split into two hostile camps.

Adjusting to Financial Instability in the Interwar Period

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giandomenico Piluso
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Monetary Authorities ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Special Committees ◽  
First World

The chapter provides a reconstruction and analysis of adjustment processes in the Italian financial system after the major cleavage of the First World War. It considers how pressures exerted by external factors entailed a progressive adaptive strategy to a changing international environment. Financial and monetary instability called for a more intensive regulation reallocating responsibilities and powers from the private sector to the public sphere. Accordingly, financial elites changed their contours and boundaries. As the demand for technical competences and bargaining abilities rose, Italian governments and central monetary authorities tended to co-opt competent representatives from the private sector onto special committees at home, at international conferences, or in bilateral negotiations. A telling tale of such processes is represented by changes within the composition of the Italian delegations at major international economic and financial conferences from the Brussels Conference in 1920 to the London Economic and Monetary Conference in 1933.

Chronic post-amputation pain & blast injury: An analysis of British First World War Veterans’ pension records, 1914-85

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Dixon Smith ◽  
David Henson ◽  
George Hay ◽  
Andrew S.C. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Blast Injury ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Future Care ◽  
Medical Teams ◽  
The Uk ◽  
First World

LAY SUMMARY The First World War created the largest group of amputees in history. There were over 41,000 amputee Veterans in the UK alone. Recent studies estimate that over two thirds of amputees will suffer long-term pain because of their injuries. Medical files for the First World War have recently been released to the public. Despite the century between the First World War and the recent Afghanistan conflict, treatments for injured soldiers and the most common types of injuries have not changed much. A team of historians, doctors, and amputee Veterans have collaborated to investigate what happened next for soldiers injured in the war and how their wounds affected their postwar lives, and hope that looking back at the First World War and seeing which treatments worked and what happened to the amputees as they got older (e.g., if having an amputation put them at risk of other illnesses or injuries) can assist today’s Veterans and medical teams in planning for their future care.

‘A military fervour akin to religious fanaticism’: Scottish Military Identity in the Australian Imperial Force

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Tibbitts
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
First World War ◽  
Small Degree ◽  
World War ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The First World War ◽  
First World

This chapter highlights the long-term influence of Scottish military traditions and identity in Australia, dating back to the arrival of a battalion of the 73rd Highland Regiment in New South Wales in 1810. From the 1860s, several home-grown ‘Scottish’ volunteer militia units were established in the Australian colonies. This coincided with a peak period of Scottish emigration to Australia with some 265,000 settling between 1850 and 1914. With the outbreak of the First World War, Australia quickly raised a contingent to assist the Empire. Several Scottish-Australian militia regiments sought incorporation into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) but with limited success. This chapter highlights how the existence of Scottish military identities conflicted with the desire of the AIF that its identity be entirely Australian as means of forging the identity of the new Commonwealth of Australia. At the same time, a small number of AIF units managed to maintain some small degree of Scottish flavour about them. Those such as the 4th, 5th and 56th Battalions which had many join en- masse from the pre-war ‘Scottish’ militia regiments, provide examples of how this identity survived and was influenced by some key officers and NCOs of Scots heritage.

‘The first of the small nations’: the significance of central European small states in Irish nationalist political rhetoric, 1918–22

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (165) ◽  
pp. 25-40
Author(s):  
Lili Zách
Keyword(s):  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
First World War ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Small States ◽  
World War ◽  
Central European ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Right ◽  
First World ◽  
Scholarly Attention

AbstractOffering new insights into Irish links with the wider world, this article explores and contextualises Irish nationalist perceptions of and links with central European small states in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. The belief that any small nation like Ireland, oppressed by a dominant neighbour, had the right to self-determination was of key importance in nationalist political rhetoric during the revolutionary years. Given the similarity of circumstances among newly independent small states, Irish commentators were aware of the struggles Ireland shared with the successors of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Personal encounters on the continent, as well as news regarding small nations in central Europe, shaped Irish opinions of the region. Certainly, the images presented by Irish commentators reflected their own political agendas and were therefore often deliberately idealistic. Nonetheless, they served a specific purpose as they were meant to further Ireland's interest on the international stage. Looking beyond Ireland for lessons and examples to follow became a frequent part of Irish nationalist political rhetoric. By directing scholarly attention to a hitherto less explored aspect of Irish historiography, this article aims to highlight the complexity of Ireland's connection with the continent within the framework of small nations, from a transnational perspective.

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