"SECULAR RELIGION" AND THE DIPLOMATIC CONCEPT OF POWER BALANCE

Abstract

Abstract: In the XIX century the theory of the power balance grounded on the equality of all sovereign states was becoming obsolete. The representative of three “secular religions” (nationalists, socialists and liberals) questioned the rationality of the existing model ousting the traditional theory of power balance in international relation. In the second half of XIX and beginning of XX century official foreign policies of European cabinets were still based on the power balance theory, though the essence of the balance was changed as the balance policy was more often expressed in rivalry and mutual concessions of powers. The article argues that before the First World War the principles of power politics led to the increased dependency from military potential thus the military might became the most important measure of national greatness, what eventually destroyed the classic European power balance system.