This paper analyses what defines the power of the particular state and the constitution of it. In addition, it then evaluate the British Empire as the great power back there until World War II. It analyses the factor of the rise of British as a great power and what makes it decline. Lastly, it look up the emergence of the United States of America as the great power after the World War II.
There are a lot of opinion regarding power. Power is basically the ability to influence other. But the easiest way to measure power of a particular nation is by evaluating its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP is derived from the addition of household expenditure, the subtraction of export to import, and government expenditure over period of time.
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Since it is a cycle, it does mean that a particular state would not eternally remain at the top of the status hierarchy. Historically, before the World War 2, the most powerful country is Britain. Then, after the World War 2, the United State of America emerged as the most powerful countries. Nowadays, the situation seems that China will replace the US as the most powerful country.
BRITISH AS THE WORLD POWER BEFORE WORLD WAR 2:
British indeed was the world power until the World War 2. British Empire encompass one fourth of the world. As the saying goes, the sun will never set on British Empire. This really emphasizes how huge British Empire is. There are lot of factors that made Britain as the most powerful nation on that time.
First and foremost, the factor that makes Britain as a powerful country is its economic growth (Crouzet, A history of the European Economy, 115). The agricultural revolution provides modal for the farmer to invest in industrial sector. Britain produce a lot of agriculture products that exceed the domestic demand. This guarantee the food supply for the workers and Britain don’t need to import food. Another factor is the invention of modern machine. This maximize the production and use least number of force. The machine produce a lot of product and cause the product to become cheaper. Since the number of production increase, the products can be exported. The huge number of factories
The question about why did British have a head start of the Industrial Revolution is addressed by a very different view, by the author. The author views this by analyzing the two most advanced cultures; China and England. The reader sees that colonial resources and overcoming the biological old regime played in the favor of England. The Britons used their colonial resources against the Asians; which is from India, China, and even Japan, inclining the global economic standard, power balance towards the Britons.
Over the course of Britain’s centuries of history, events such as the industrialization of the Britain in the 19th century and many others proved to be pivotal events placing Britain as a pre-modern superpower. As described in the encyclopedia The History of World Trade Since 1450, “Britain’s mid-nineteenth century economy is often referred to as ‘the workshop of the world’ ” (Harley 396). Caused by the newly invented technological advancements, Britain began to export two-thirds of the world’s inventory made by advanced machinery. Bringing in the newly created steam engine, industries such as the iron and textile developed into major providers of wealth in the trade network of Britain. With growing industries and a source connection to
Britain adapted to a lot of changes during this shift from agricultural life to industrial life, where machinery was dominant over human labour. The industrial revolution was a time of great opportunity. Potter (1987: 230-231)
However the biggest advantage Britain had that spurred their modern thinking into industrial factories was its geography. England had fast flowing rivers that were effective to power water mills for machinery, and provided transportation routes for industrial goods. The weak point about rivers was that in winter they froze, stopping the water powered machinery and blocking routes (Little, n.d.). This leads to the true geographical advantage of Britain, one that wasn’t stop by the effects of seasons: high deposits of coal and iron ore. Coal was able to power the newly invented steam engine, which was a breakthrough leading to large scale industries (Little, n.d.).
To start off, England had all the natural resources needed to industrialize. England had a natural supply of wool, cotton, coal, iron, lead, and tin (doc 1). These are all resources that are needed and helpful when industrializing. Wool and cotton are especially good for the textile industry, whereas iron was great for making tools and machinery. Along with these resources, England’s location enabled trading due to it’s many waterways. You can not be more than 70 miles from the sea in England (doc 4). Even the animals in the country were an advantage. For example, the sheep in England gave off the best wool (doc 4). Having natural resources helped England industrialize because it saved the country from having to trade, and/or travel to other countries in order to get what they needed. So many of the natural resources needed to industrialize were found in England. England had everything from coal to power
Before industrialism everything in Great Britain was handmade and life was revolved around farming. There were no working class and money was not an issue as they traded with their communities. As industrialism began more cities were being created and new machines and technology were replacing human labor, forcing farmers and families to move into cities to work in factories. This grew the working class and a middle class was created. The industrialization in Great Britain led to imperialism. Even though Great Britain could out manufacture other nations, it could not outgrow them. Great Britain went looking for raw materials through through political and economic domination on their previous competitors that had a lot of raw materials.
Britain enjoyed the significant economic advantages during the early years of the Industrial Revolution for many reasons. The Industrial Revolution built on earlier developments, but took time to progress. It eventually began to help ordinary people in the West to gain a higher standard life of living. Great Britain had more advantages such as natural resources, political stability and favorable geography. According to the textbook, A History of Western Society, “Britain possessed a unique set of possibilities and constraints, such as abundant coal, high wages, a relatively peaceful and centralized government and well developed financial systems…” (622) and the list goes on. Furthermore, agriculture played an important role in the Industrial Revolution in Britain. “English farmers were second only to the Dutch in
Up until the late middle of the nineteenth century, Britain had ruled the waves and was the only dominant global power. As the nineteenth century came to a close, fears of the British Empire’s weaknesses were beginning to emerge, as German and Russian forces were growing in strength.
Section 1 (a) the executive branch may veto legislation and may call special sessions of congress the legislative may override a president’s veto, may impeach the president, approves appointment 's of judges and approves treaties (b) the framers intentions were to keep any branch of government from having too much power and the checks and balances make their intentions possible. 2. 1. (a) Article I section 1 declares: “all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the united states....” thus, congress is the lawmaking branch of the national government. Article II, section 1 declares: “the executive power shall be vested in a president of the united states of America.” thus, the president is given the law-executing, law enforcing, and law-administering powers of the national government. Article III, section 1 declares: “the judicial power of the united states shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish,” thus, the federal court 's, and most importantly the supreme court, interpret and apply the laws of the united states in cases brought before them. Remember, the framers intended to create a stronger central government for the united states. Yet they also intended to limit the powers of that government. The doc-trine of separation of powers was designed to establish just that.(b) it basically means that the law must be obeyed no matter what and no one is immune to the law
European nations eager to enhance their wealth and power took the lead in the early 1800’s when Britain became the first to advance from an agrarian life style to an industry based economy. Britain was able to make the switch easier and quicker than other nations because they not only had the drive to do so, they also had a large labor force supported by an ample food supply, that worked in factories to make low cost goods from raw material that was shipped in on a transportation system. Using their brute strength they forced foreign nations to provide raw material, and to provide a place to sell their low-cost goods.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the British Empire was the biggest global superpower. The British became a superpower during this time due to colonial rule. From colonisation they gained economically from the cheap raw materials. Maintaining colonial rule depended on military power. But when Britain started to decolonise its Empires they lost the title of a superpower. This was due to : economic decline,
Power can be defined in many ways. Most simply, it is the ability to get what you want.
Power is having the capability or qualification to do something or control something. The idea of power is often analyzed in the Truman Show and Animal farm. In the Truman Show, Peter Weir suggests that power can be bad and that people shouldn’t have power
The weakness and strength of the state often associates with how the state relates to the society, in which also refers to as ‘Civil Society’. Civil society plays an important role in creating awareness to address rising economic, political, environmental and social problems in our society. In this essay, the information provided will be mainly based on the community findings of a NGO (Non-Government Organization) called “Homes of Hope”, which is located in Wailoku, Fiji. It will give a better insight on how the civil society challenges or influences a state from becoming weak or strong.
First, Britain had some tremendous natural attributes. It was naturally endowed with many deposits of coal and iron ore, which were used heavily in the early stages of factory production. In addition, Britain was situated at a critical point for international trade. Its position between the United States and the rest of Europe allowed them to have a serious impact in all matters of trade.