Video: Lecture Notes Review – Early 20th Century Geopolitics and IR Theories

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne; his assassination helped spark World War I.

Serbia's independence

Serbia’s bid for self-rule in the Balkans; part of the pre-WWI nationalist movements.

Allies

Britain and France (with others) opposed to Germany and Austria‑Hungary in World War I.

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and their allies during World War I.

Nations in search of states

A nineteenth-century idea that many ethnic groups sought independent nation-states; rise of new countries by 1918.

Sharif Hussein

Arab leader in Mecca promised by Britain to receive an independent homeland for Arabs in exchange for revolt.

Lebanon

Territory promised as part of the Arab homeland linked to Sharif Hussein’s family.

Syria

Territory promised as part of the Arab homeland linked to Sharif Hussein’s family.

Wilsonian self-determination

Woodrow Wilson’s principle that peoples should form independent, democratic states.

National self-determination

Idea that groups should form their own sovereign nations.

Realism (international relations)

Theory that states act in pursuit of national interests within an anarchic international system.

Constructivism (international relations)

Theory that actors' interests are shaped by ideas, identities, and social interactions.

National interest

The self‑preserving goals guiding a state's foreign policy (territory, wealth, security).

Auclid Islands

British colonial outposts off the coast of Argentina; described as sheep‑heavy with British subjects.

Paradigms of foreign policy

Different theoretical frameworks (3 basic, plus 4th/5th) used to analyze or guide policy.

Harmony theory (19th‑century liberal economics)

Idea that free markets and competition prevent monopolies and promote prosperity.

Supply and demand

Economic principle: prices rise with scarcity and fall with abundance; drives markets.

Czechoslovakia

State formed after WWI from Czechs and Slovaks as part of self‑determination.

Yugoslavia

State formed around Belgrade for South Slavic peoples; experienced inflation early on.

Wheelbarrow money

Iconic image of German hyperinflation where money was carried in wheelbarrows to buy basics.

Tariffs

Taxes on imports; used to protect domestic industry and regulate trade.

Smoot‑Hawley Tariff Act

1930 U.S. tariff law that raised duties and reduced international trade.

The US gets a cold, the world gets pneumonia

Metaphor for how a downturn in the U.S. economy harms the global economy.

Japanese yen

Currency of Japan; used in international trade and finance.

Russian ruble

Currency of Russia; mentioned as a trade instrument; subject to exchange and value fluctuations.

COVID and supply chains

Global disruptions show how specialization and interdependence can break down.

Munich Conference (1938)

Britain and France conceded parts of Czechoslovakia to Hitler to appease him.

Nazi–Soviet Non‑Aggression Pact (Hitler–Stalin Pact)

1939 agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union to avoid war with each other and divide Eastern Europe.

Winter War (1939–1940)

Soviet invasion of Finland; Finland resisted and retained independence.

Blitzkrieg through the Low Countries

Germany's rapid 1940 invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, leading to France.

Inflation in Weimar Germany

Hyperinflation era where currency devalued rapidly, symbolized by wheelbarrows of money.