Military-political blocs: history and goals of creation

Military-political blocs are organizations to which the society is rather ambiguous. Some people believe that their main task is to support peace and provide military protection to members of the alliance, while others believe that such organizations are the main source of aggression in the world. Who is right and is there an unambiguous answer to this question? Let's find out what the military-political blocs are, and at the same time we will trace the history of their creation and development.

Definition

We will establish what is meant by the definition of this organization. The military-political bloc is an alliance of several states, created for collective defense or for conducting military operations against a common enemy. The creation of a bloc may also pursue the goal of cooperation on political and economic issues between its members. The degree of this cooperation and mutual integration for each such union is individual. Arrangements can provide for joint actions only in the event of a specific military danger or assume close interaction in all spheres, even in peacetime.

In some organizations, the collective decision is strictly binding, while in others it is advisory in nature, that is, each member has the right to refuse to comply with the order, without leaving the block. There are alliances in which each participating country is obliged to launch military operations in the event of an attack on one of the bloc members. But far from all similar organizations this principle operates without fail. For example, if in NATO an attack on one of the members of the union means a declaration of war for the entire bloc as a whole, then there was no such rule in SEATO.

Military-political blocs can be created to perform a specific task and after achieving the goal of being dissolved or to act on an indefinite basis.

Prehistory of occurrence of blocks

The predecessors of modern military blocs have been known since the time of the Ancient World. The very first military alliance of several states can be called the 10-year coalition of Greek policies in the legendary campaign against Troy in the 12th century. BC. But these were, rather, the legendary times, and not historical, as the written chronicles of those events did not survive.

The first coalition in reliable history appears in 691 BC. E. It was the alliance of Media, Babylonia and Elam against Assyria. In addition, history is known for such unions of Greek policies as the Peloponnesian, Delos, Boeotia, Corinth, Chalcis. A little later formed the Hellenic, Achaean and Aetolian alliances. Then in Central Italy was formed the Latin Union, later grew into the Ancient Roman state.

All these unions were more like confederations than military blocs in their modern sense.

In the Middle Ages, the alliances of states were most often limited to military support in the event of war and hardly touched on other spheres of relations. Often it was a unification against a specific enemy. Thus, the cementing basis of the Franco-Scottish (or Old) Union, which was concluded in 1295, was the hostile attitude of both countries to England. It was at this time that England began its expansion into Scotland, and in a few decades the Hundred Years War with France began. It is noteworthy that the alliance between Scotland and France lasted as much as 265 years until 1560.

In 1386, an Anglo-Portuguese Union was formed, which was drawn up by the Windsor Treaty. He, in turn, was directed against the strengthening of Spain. However, formally it exists to this day, thus being the oldest military-political alliance, but still not a bloc in the modern sense.

At the dawn of modern times a whole series of military alliances of European states emerged, seeking to unite in a coalition against a common enemy. Such alliances include the Sacred and Catholic leagues under the patronage of the Pope, the Protestant Union, which united the Lutheran and Calvinist states and other associations.

In 1668, arose the Triple Alliance of England, Sweden and Holland, directed against the intensified under Louis XIV of France.

In 1756, two opposing alliances - the Anglo-Prussian and the Versailles - were formed at once. The last associations included Russia, France and Austria. It was these coalitions that joined the confrontation in the Seven Years' War. In the end, the Russian Empire, due to the accession to the throne of Peter III, went over to the side of the Anglo-Prussian alliance.

From 1790 to 1815 a whole series of coalitions were formed, aimed at combating revolutionary and Napoleonic France. Moreover, often with force of arms and with the help of diplomacy, France forced some members of these coalitions to come out of them, or even go over to the French side. But, in the end, the forces of the Sixth Coalition succeeded in defeating Napoleon.

In 1815, between Prussia, Russia and Austria, the Holy Alliance was formed , the purpose of which was to consolidate the world order established after the Napoleonic wars, and to prevent revolutions in Europe. However, in 1832, after the next revolution in France, this union disintegrated.

In 1853, a coalition was formed between France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire and the Sardinian Kingdom against the Russian Empire. This alliance won the Crimean War.

Unions of a new type

Now it is time to describe the formation of military-political blocs closer to the modern type. The origin of such organizations began in the second half of the 19th century and took shape in concrete structures towards the end of the century. It was the formation of these associations that became the decisive factor that led to the outbreak of the First World War.

The basis for the opposing blocs was the Triple (1882-1915) and the Franco-Russian Union (1891-1893), later transformed into the Quadruple Alliance and the Entente.

Formation of the Quadruple Alliance

As mentioned above, the basis for the creation of the Quadruple Union was the Triple Alliance, concluded in 1882 between the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Germany. The countries of the Triple Alliance sought to establish their dominance in continental Europe, for which they united against France and the Russian Empire.

Preceded by the conclusion of the Triple Alliance, the bilateral Austrian-German treaty of 1879. It was the German Empire, created on the basis of the Kingdom of Prussia, initiated the creation of a military-political bloc directed against Russia and France. Germany was also the strongest economic and political bloc state.

It should be noted that Austria-Hungary had previously had allied relations with the Russian Empire, and with Prussia it was just enmity because of rivalry for the right of supremacy in the Germanic world. But after the victory of Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and in the Franco-Prussian War of 1970, the situation radically changed. Prussia proved its dominance over the fragments of the former Holy Roman Empire, and Austria-Hungary was forced to make an alliance with it, signing in 1879 in Vienna an agreement on mutual support, the validity of which was set at 5 years.

The treaty provided that in the event of an attack by the Russian Empire on one of the signatories, the second should come to his aid. If Germany and Austria-Hungary are attacked not by Russia but by another country, then the second person involved in the treaty must at least observe neutrality, but if the Russian emperor acts on the aggressor's side, then again, the signatories must unite for mutual struggle. This bloc of the two powers was usually called the Double Alliance.

In 1882, Italy joined Austria-Hungary and Germany. So there was a Triple Alliance. However, the signing of the treaty between the three countries was initially kept secret. As before, the term of the contract was limited to five years. In 1887 and in 1891 years. He signed again, and in 1902 and in 1912. Automatically prolonged.

It should be noted that the union of the three countries was not very strong. Thus, for economic reasons, in 1902 an agreement was signed between Italy and France, which stated that in case of war between the French and the Germans, the Italians would observe neutrality. Therefore, after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Italy did not support Germany and Austria-Hungary. In 1915, having signed the agreement in London with the Entente countries, Italy refused to participate in the Triple Alliance, and entered the war on the side of its opponents.

The triple alliance has come to an end. Germany and Austria-Hungary managed to create a new coalition. Instead of Italy, already in the course of the world war, two states joined the union at once: the Ottoman Empire (since 1914) and Bulgaria (since 1915). So there was the Quadruple alliance. The countries that were members of this military-political association are usually called the Central Powers.

The fourth alliance ceased to exist as a result of the defeat in World War I. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires disintegrated, and Germany and Bulgaria suffered significant territorial losses.

Entente

The military-political blocs of the First World War were not limited to the Quadruple Union. The second formidable force that entered the confrontation was the Entente.

The beginning of the formation of the Entente was laid by the Franco-Russian alliance, concluded in 1891. He was a kind of response to the formation of the Triple Alliance. Russia and France agreed that in the event of an attack by members of a hostile coalition on one of the countries, the second should provide military assistance. These arrangements have been valid as long as the Triple Alliance exists.

In 1904 an agreement was signed between Great Britain and France. It put an end to the centuries-old rivalry of these powers. The United Kingdom and France agreed on the colonial division of the world and became virtually allies. This agreement entrusted the name Entente cordiale, which from French translates as "cordial accord". Hence the name of the bloc - Entente.

In 1907, Anglo-Russian contradictions were overcome. Between the representatives of the states an agreement on the delimitation of influence was signed. Thus the Entente formation was completed.

The military-political blocs in Europe-the Entente and the Quadruple Alliance-played a decisive role in unleashing the world's I. After the attack of the German Empire on Russia and France, the United Kingdom, faithful to its allied duty, declared war on Germany. However, not all members of the Entente had the strength and resources to bring the war to a victorious end. So, in 1917 in Russia there was a Bolshevik revolution, after which the country concluded peace with Germany and in fact withdrew from the Entente. However, this did not prevent other members of the coalition, with the help of the United States and the rest of the allies, of winning a world war.

After the war, the Entente countries (Britain and France) undertook intervention in Russia with the aim of overthrowing the Bolshevik regime. However, this time there were no big successes.

Military Blocks During World War II

The military alliance of Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, imperial Japan and a number of other countries served as the main reason for the Second World War. The beginning of the creation of the bloc was the agreement signed in 1936 between Germany and Japan on joint actions against the spread of communism. It was called the Anti-Comintern Pact. Later Italy joined this treaty and a number of other states, which are usually called Axis countries. It was the powers of this bloc that showed aggression, starting the Second World War.

The coalition opposing the Axis countries was formed only during the Second World War. It was formed from the USSR, Great Britain and the USA and adopted the name of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. The beginning of formation was laid in 1941, after the entry into the war of the USSR and the United States. The key moment in the creation of the bloc directed against the fascist aggressors was the Teheran Conference of the Heads of Powers in 1943. Only after the creation of a solid coalition did the allies manage to reverse the course of the war.

NATO bloc

The creation of military-political blocs became an element of confrontation between the countries of the West and the USSR in the so-called cold war. They were at risk of starting a new world war, but at the same time they served as a deterrent.

The most famous was the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). It was established in 1949 and united the countries of Western Europe, the USA and Canada. Its purpose is to ensure the collective security of the above countries. However, it is no secret to anyone that the Alliance was originally conceived with the aim of containing the USSR. But even after the collapse of the Union, the bloc did not cease to exist, but, on the contrary, it was replenished by a number of countries from Eastern Europe.

Even before NATO was formed in 1948, the Western European Union was formed. This was a kind of attempt to organize its own pan-European armed forces, but after the formation of NATO, the relevance of this issue has disappeared.

Creation of ATS

In response to the formation of NATO in 1955, the countries of the socialist camp, at the initiative of the USSR, created their military-political bloc, which became known as the ATS. His goal was to confront the North Atlantic alliance. The structure of the bloc, except for the USSR, included another 7 states: Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia.

The ATS was liquidated in 1991, after the collapse of the socialist camp.

Small military blocs

Military-political blocs of the 20th century existed not only on a global scale, but also on a regional scale. Between world wars, a number of local alliances were created, designed to solve regional problems, and to ensure the Versailles world order. These included the Entente: Small, Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Baltic.

During the Cold War a number of regional blocs were created, the purpose of which was to prevent the spread of communist regimes. These included SEATO (South-East Asia), CENTO (Middle East), ANZUK (Asia-Pacific region).

Formation of the CSTO

In 1992, a number of countries of the former USSR formed an alliance - the CSTO. This is a kind of military-political bloc of Russia, as it plays a dominant role in it.

The task of the CSTO is to ensure the security of its members and stability in the post-Soviet space. In addition to Russia, the bloc includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Tajikistan. Earlier it also included Uzbekistan, Georgia and Azerbaijan.