Annotated Bibliography On International Relations

The International Relations textbook written by Joshua S. Goldstein and Jon C. W. Pevehouse describe international relations as "The relationships among the world's state governments and the connection of those relationships with other actors (such as the United Nations, multinational corporations, ad individuals), with other social relationships (including economics, culture, and domestic politics), and with geographic and historical influences." (Goldstein and Pevehouse 2) Many international relations theorists date the contemporary system of from 1648, the year of the Treaty of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years War. (Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch. 2) Three key events of the 20th century that shaped the contemporary system of International

Relations are World War 1, World War 2, and the Cold War. Each of these three conflicts caused ripples throughout the international world and helped form the International system we have today.
World War 1 demolished empires, constructed numerous new nation-states, encouraged independence movements in Europe's colonies, forced the United States to become a world power and led directly to Soviet communism and the rise of Hitler. The war broke out in 1914. There is said to be four main causes for the break out of the war, however, it was triggered by the assassination of the Austria archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Treaties and Alliances, Imperialism, Militarism, and Nationalism are the four main causes of the First World War. Russia was the first state to crumble; A revolution at home extracted Russia from the war in 1917 (and led to the founding of the Soviet Union). When the United States entered the war on the anti-German side, a defeat for Germany was close on the horizon. The Treaty of Versailles was distributed in 1919, Germany was dictated to give up territory, pay reparations, limit its future armaments, and admit guilt for the war. Pevehouse and Goldstein say that, "German resentment against the harsh terms of Versailles would contribute to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930's." (Pevehouse and Goldstein 22)