The Rise and Decline of the Great Powers and Their Relative Economic Performance

The Rise and Decline of the Great Powers and Their Relative Economic Performance

The great powers relative economic performances played a large role in

determining their strength and power. Economic change in Britain,

Turkey and Russia led largely to their declines between 1900 and 1919,

while in the USA and Japan it led to their rise. However there were

also many other factors in each country's change in power. Size of

Military strength and also the army's reputation for success or

failure in wars previously were very important as they determined how

powerful the country would be in a time of war. Previous wars had

benefited the USA, Japan and Britain but simultaneously weakened

Turkey and Russia, de-stabilising their governments. Victory or defeat

in wars also affected the outcome of any treaties that may have

followed. These treaties were crucial factors in determining a

country's power, as a poor outcome in a major treaty could destroy a

country, leaving it small and weak. The impact of treaties on the

powers was particularly shown by Germany's outcome of the Treaty of

Versailles following World War 1. The Treaty left Germany with a

small, useless military, very little money and a small empire. To be a

great power, a country must have a large empire, such as that of

Britain in 1900, which owned one quarter of the worlds land, and ruled

one third of the worlds population, making it the worlds most

influential and powerful country at the time. However, World War 1

itself was the key factor in the rise and decline of the great powers

as it was the cause of the Treaty of Versailles, an...

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... that came as a result of the

war, such as the Treaty of Sevres, which led to the final reduction in

the Ottoman Empire, limiting Turkey to Constantinople and some

surrounding areas. The Ottoman Empire collapsed as a consequence and

never recovered. The war caused much of the unrest in Russia, allowing

political extremism to take hold as in Germany, setting the scene for

much of the conflict that was to follow in the following years. Where

previous wars affected only one or two countries at a time, World War

1 had enormous impact on over 30 countries including every one of the

great powers. It led to either a rise or decline in power in each of

them, hence it was the greatest single cause of changes in power in

the early 1900's, and set the pattern the arrangement of power that

was to follow in the years succeeding it.