Int Rel Theo War

How the Research Is Empirically Examined 79

The Stability of the Bipolar System, 1871–1909

The bipolar system of 1871–1909 occurred in Eurasia. It consisted of
two polar powers, Great Britain and Germany, as the only two superpow-
ers in the system. The system was formed after the Franco-Prussian War
(1870–1871), which led to Prussia’s unification and transformation into
Germany in 1871. The system reached its end when two extra-European
powers, the United States and Japan, first entered the powers game in the
international system in 1910 and upon the transformation of the system,
for the first time, into a global system.^23 In this system, 16 wars were fought
between countries around the world, none of which have been included
in the study, some because they were fought outside the Eurasian sys-
tem, which represented the international system in those years, and some
because they did not involve at least one of the two superpowers consti-
tuting the system.^24
Table 4.4 shows the degree of stability of the bipolar system that

occurred in Eurasia in 1871–1909.

Table 4.4

Stability of the Bipolar System, 1871–1909

Central Wars Great Wars Small Wars Duration
(Days)

Deaths

Total

The Stability of the Bipolar System, 1946–1991

The bipolar system of 1946–1991 occurred throughout the world. It
included two polar powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, as the
two superpowers that constituted the system. In that period, 23 wars were
fought between the countries that the study deals with. Nineteen wars
were not included in the study because they did not involve at least one of
the two superpowers constituting the system.^25
Four wars were included in the assessment because they did involve at
least one polar power:

1. Korean War (#151), between China, Belgium, Canada, Columbia, United
   Kingdom, Netherland, Greece, France, Turkey, Philippines, Thailand,
   North Korea, Ethiopia, Australia, South Korea, and the United States
   (6/24/1950–7/27/1953)^26


2. Soviet Invasion of Hungary (#156) (11/4/1956–11/14/1956)


3. Vietnam War (#163), between the United States, Cambodia, South
   Korea, Philippines, South Vietnam, Vietnam, Thailand, and Australia
   (2/7/1965–4/30/1975)^27