War—Theory and Analysis of Results 23
Unification refers to the building of a new political entity from two or
more previous entities.
Mandated territory refers to a territorial unit that has been assigned to
control by another political entity by the League of Nations or the United
Nations.
The description of territorial outcomes of polar powers at the end of
wars in which they have participated is defined through three values:
(A) Territorial expansion occurs when the polar power acquires territories at the
end of a war through one or more of the six options described above: con-
quest or annexation of territory of a vanquished state by the polar power,
cession by the vanquished state of territory to the polar power, secession or
withdrawal of the vanquished state from the territory that the polar power
has taken over, unification of territories of the vanquished state with the
polar power territory, or assuming control of the territory of the defeated
state as mandated territory by the polar power.
(B) Territorial contraction occurs when the polar power loses territories at the
end of a war through one or more of the six possibilities described above:
conquest or annexation of territory of the polar power by the victor state,
cession of territory by the polar power to the winning state, secession or
withdrawal by the polar power from the territory taken over by the victor
state, unification of territories of the polar power with territory of the vic-
tor state, or receipt of control over territory of the polar power as mandate
territory by the victor state.
(C) Maintaining the territorial status quo ante bellum occurs when the territo-
rial borders that predated the outbreak of the war are maintained after
its end, without any of the six territorial expansion or contraction options
described in the two previous sections having occurred.Examination of the intrasystemic international outcome or territorial
expansion of polar powers at the end of wars in which they participated
is conducted using an objective test that assesses the degree of territorial
expansion or contraction of polar powers at the end of the wars in which
they were involved. The international relations theory of war states that on
the one hand, as long as wars involving polar powers in the same polarity
model occur without their disrupting the homeostasis or collapse of the
existing polarity model, it will be possible, with a great degree of preci-
sion, to predict the territorial outcomes of the wars examined. In such a
state, the territorial outcomes of these wars will be consistent in the vast
majority of cases with the theoretical expectations. On the other hand,
when wars that involve polar powers violate the homeostasis or cause the
existing polarity model to collapse and the formation of a new polarity
model in its place, it will not be possible to predict the territorial outcomes
of the wars examined.