depicting the
Congress of Vienna Various sets of great, or significant, powers have existed throughout history. An early reference to great powers is from the third century, when the Persian prophet
Mani described
Rome,
China,
Aksum, and
Persia as the four greatest kingdoms of his time. During the Napoleonic wars in Europe, American diplomat
James Monroe observed that, "The respect which one power has for another is in exact proportion of the means which they respectively have of injuring each other." The term "great power" first appears at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Congress established the
Concert of Europe as an attempt to preserve peace after the years of
Napoleonic Wars.
Lord Castlereagh, the
British foreign secretary, first used the term in its diplomatic context, writing on 13 February 1814: "there is every prospect of the Congress terminating with a general accord and Guarantee between the Great powers of Europe, with a determination to support the arrangement agreed upon, and to turn the general influence and if necessary the general arms against the Power that shall first attempt to disturb the Continental peace." Over time, the relative power of these five nations fluctuated, which by the dawn of the 20th century had served to create an entirely different balance of power. Great Britain and the new
German Empire (from 1871), experienced continued economic growth and political power. Others, such as Russia and Austria-Hungary, stagnated. At the same time, other states were emerging and expanding in power, largely through the process of industrialization. These countries seeking to attain great power status were:
Italy after the
Risorgimento era,
Japan during the
Meiji era, and the United States after
its civil war. By 1900, the balance of world power had changed substantially since the Congress of Vienna. The
Eight-Nation Alliance was an alliance of eight nations created in response to the
Boxer Rebellion in China. It formed in 1900 and consisted of the five Congress powers plus Italy, Japan, and the United States, representing the great powers at the beginning of the 20th century.
World wars at the
Paris Peace Conference of 1919:
David Lloyd George,
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando,
Georges Clemenceau, and
Woodrow Wilson at the
Yalta Conference:
Winston Churchill,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and
Joseph Stalin ,
Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Winston Churchill, sitting together elbow to elbow|The Allied leaders of the
Asian and Pacific Theatre:
Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill at the
Cairo Conference in 1943 Shifts of international power have most notably occurred through major conflicts. The conclusion of
World War I and the resulting treaties of
Versailles,
St-Germain,
Neuilly,
Trianon, and
Sèvres made Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States the chief arbiters of the new world order. The
German Empire was defeated,
Austria-Hungary was divided into new, less powerful states and the
Russian Empire fell to
revolution. During the
Paris Peace Conference, the "
Big Four" – Great Britain, France, Italy, and the United States – controlled the proceedings and outcome of the treaties more than Japan. The Big Four were the architects of the
Treaty of Versailles, which was signed by Germany; the Treaty of St. Germain, with Austria; the Treaty of Neuilly, with Bulgaria; the Treaty of Trianon, with Hungary; and the Treaty of Sèvres, with the
Ottoman Empire. During the decision-making of the Treaty of Versailles, Italy pulled out of the conference because a part of its demands were not met and temporarily left the other three countries as the sole major architects of that treaty, referred to as the "Big Three". The status of the victorious great powers was recognised by permanent seats at the
League of Nations Council, where they acted as a type of executive body directing the Assembly of the League. However, the council began with only four permanent members – Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan – because the United States, meant to be the fifth permanent member, never joined the League. Germany later joined after the
Locarno Treaties, which made it a member of the League of Nations, and later left (and withdrew from the League in
1933); Japan left, and the Soviet Union joined. When
World War II began in 1939, it divided the world into two alliances: the
Allies (initially the United Kingdom and France, and Poland, followed in 1941 by the
Soviet Union,
China, and the United States) and the
Axis powers (
Germany, Italy, and Japan). During the war, the US, UK, USSR, and China were referred as a "trusteeship of the powerful" and were recognized as the Allied "
Big Four" in
Declaration by United Nations in 1942. These four countries were referred as the "
Four Policemen" of the Allies and considered as the primary victors of World War II. The importance of France was acknowledged by their inclusion, along with the other four, in the group of countries allotted permanent seats in the
United Nations Security Council. Since the world wars, the term "great power" has been joined by a number of other power classifications. Foremost among these is the concept of the "
superpower", used to describe those nations with overwhelming power and influence in the world. It was first coined in 1944 by
William T. R. Fox and according to him there were three superpowers: Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Britain lost its superpower status after World War II. The term
middle power has emerged for nations that exercise a degree of global influence, but not sufficiently to be decisive on international affairs.
Regional powers are those whose influence is generally confined to their region of the world.
Cold War The
Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the
Western Bloc and the
Eastern Bloc, which began following World War II. The term "
cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as
proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary
alliance and
victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. During the Cold War, Japan, France, the United Kingdom and
West Germany rebuilt their economies. France and the United Kingdom maintained technologically advanced armed forces with
power projection capabilities and maintain large defense budgets to this day. Yet, as the Cold War continued, authorities began to question if France and the United Kingdom could retain their long-held status as great powers. China, with the world's largest population, has slowly risen to great power status, with large growth in economic and military power in the post-war period. After 1949, the Republic of China began to lose its recognition as the sole legitimate government of China by the other great powers, in favour of the People's Republic of China. Subsequently, in 1971, it lost its permanent seat at the UN Security Council to the People's Republic of China.
Aftermath of the Cold War China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are often referred to as great powers by academics due to "their political and economic dominance of the global arena". These five nations are the only states to have
permanent seats with
veto power on the UN Security Council. They are also the only state entities to have met the conditions to be considered "
Nuclear Weapons States" under the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and maintain
military expenditures which are among the largest in the world. However, there is no unanimous agreement among authorities as to the current status of these powers or what precisely defines a great power. For example, following the Cold War and the two decades after it, some sources referred to China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom. Although Russia is commonly thought to be a great power, subsequent to Russia's military's underperformance in the
Russo-Ukrainian war and factors such as the negative effects it has had on Russia's economic and technological strength,
geopolitics expert
George Friedman, an article in
Foreign Affairs magazine and academic journal articles have indicated that Russia is no longer a great power. Kathryn E. Stoner's 2021 book
Russia Resurrected. Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order published by Oxford University Press argues that Russia is not a great power in the traditional understanding of the term, but is instead a disruptor/challenger to the current international system. The historian
Stephen Kotkin and the international relations scholar
John Mearsheimer have both remarked that Russia is a "weak great power". In addition, in 2014, Mearsheimer said: "Russia is a declining power, and it will only get weaker with time."
Germany and
Japan are widely considered great powers as well, due in large part to their highly advanced economies (as the two have the
third and fifth largest economies by nominal GDP respectively) rather than their strategic and
hard power capabilities (i.e., the lack of permanent seats and veto power on the UN Security Council or strategic military reach). Germany has been a member together with the five permanent Security Council members in the
P5+1 grouping of world powers. Like China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom; Germany and Japan have also been referred to as middle powers. In his 2014 publication
Great Power Peace and American Primacy, Joshua Baron considers China, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States as the current great powers.
Italy has been referred to as a great power by a number of academics and commentators throughout the post-WWII era. The American international legal scholar Milena Sterio writes: Sterio also cites Italy's status in the
Group of Seven (G7) and the nation's influence in regional and international organizations for its status as a great power. grouping of world powers. Some analysts assert that Italy is an "intermittent" or the "
Least of the Great Powers", while some others believe Italy is a middle or regional power. International relations academics Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins have classified Italy as an "awkward" great power on account of its top-tier economic, military, political, and socio-cultural capabilities and credentials – including its
G7 and
NATO Quint membership – which are moderated by its lack of national nuclear weapons and permanent membership to the UN Security Council. In addition to these contemporary great powers mentioned above,
Zbigniew Brzezinski considered
India to be a great power. However, there is no collective agreement among observers as to the status of India, for example, a number of academics believe that India is emerging as a great power, while some believe that India remains a middle power. The United Nations Security Council,
NATO Quint, the
G7, the
BRICS, and the
Contact Group have all been described as great power concerts. A 2017 study by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies qualified China, Europe, India, Japan, Russia, and the United States as the current great powers.
Emerging powers With continuing
European integration, the
European Union is increasingly being seen as a great power in its own right, with representation at the
WTO and at
G7 and
G-20 summits. This is most notable in areas where the European Union has exclusive competence (i.e. economic affairs). It also reflects a non-traditional conception of Europe's world role as a global "civilian power", exercising collective influence in the functional spheres of trade and diplomacy, as an alternative to military dominance. The European Union is a
supranational union and not a
sovereign state and does not have its own foreign affairs or defence policies; these remain largely with the
member states, which include France, Germany and, before
Brexit, the United Kingdom (referred to collectively as the "
EU three"). Some academics such as Zbigniew Brzezinski and David A. Robinson already regard India as a major or great power. Former British Ambassador to Brazil, Peter Collecott identifies that Brazil's recognition as a potential great and superpower largely stems from its own national identity and ambition. Professor Kwang Ho Chun feels that Brazil will emerge as a great power with an important position in some spheres of influence. Others suggest India and Brazil may even have the potential to
emerge as a superpower. The G4 is opposed by the Italian-led
Uniting for Consensus group. There are however few signs that
reform of the Security Council will happen in the near future. ==See also==