Any examples of multiple power blocs as opposed to two allainces in history?

[teccuk]

The best game of CIV3 I ever played was essentially a thousand year war, 11 AI and me, it was total total chaos, no lasting alliances or MDP blocs emerged and it was essentially all-against-all. It was further complicated by for example, me being best friends with the French and Germans, whilst they were at war with each other. It did not aggregate up into two blocs, but was an ever changing chaotic myriad of alliances, wars and shaky peace treaties.

The ‘friend of my friend is my friend and the friend of my enemy is my enemy’ did not apply. Perhaps this was a limitation of the AI, but after discovering a note book page of scribbled notes referring to the game, it got me thinking, are there any real world examples of this type of conflict? or do they all aggregate up into two blocs, as in the WW2 when the allies and Russia through necessity had to work together to defeat a common foe? I can’t think of any, but it would be nice to see if anyone else can.

 

[Dachs]

Not that I can immediately recall, although there have been several wars with more than just two sides, they've often been civil wars. A good example is Roman Gaul in the early 400s AD...now that was fun...with several usurpers, the various barbarian tribes, and then the two generals of the Emperor Honorius himself all fighting for control.

 

[teccuk]

Oh yes the Spanish Civil war for example. Hmm, what about the Balkans war?

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Oh yes the Spanish Civil war for example. Hmm, what about the Balkans war?

The Spanish Civil war?

 

[Dachs]

The Balkan Wars weren't really more than two sided: first it's the Balkan League against the Turks, then we have an alliance shift to get to a Balkan League minus Bulgaria plus Turkey and Rumania against Bulgaria.

I suppose diplomatically, much of the 19th century would qualify. Nations generally acted in their own interests as opposed to organizing in any solid power blocs; even the Holy Alliance (Russia - Austria - Prussia) didn't hold together when it came to the Ottoman Turks at Unkiar Skelessi and the Crimean War. There wasn't really any alliance system organization until about 1904-7, when the Triple Entente really formed.

 

[Verbose]

What you tend to get in history is a multi-power status quo. Europe 16th-19th c. was certainly multipolar.

Take a look at things like the French wars in Italy in the 16th c. Alliances shifted at break-neck speed, depending at who looked like winning at any given moment.

The whole British 18th-19th c. continental policy of backing whomever looked like losing to a dominant European power was part of this also. It tended to be, so Britian fought France, usually allied to Prussia. Until Germany started looking like more of a threat, at which point France became an ally.

Pre-Qin dynasty China had a similar aspect for a long time; everyone ganging up on the biggest threat, until some othe country started looking like more of a problem, in which case allegiances shifted to maintain status quo.

 

[The Yankee]

China after the Yellow Turban Rebellion collapsed into a multi-sided conflict into the Three Kingdoms age until the Jin unification, which in itself was rather short-lived and led to another collapse.

Japan during the Sengoku Jidai was also fractured in such a way.

But if you're looking for a global scale, then the 19th century European theater as well as the scramble for colonies may provide some of what you're seeking.

 

[qwert]

The first think I though is the actual situation of the midle east.

 

[Dachs]

What you tend to get in history is a multi-power status quo. Europe 16th-19th c. was certainly multipolar.

I'm not so sure about the late 17th and most of the 18th centuries. First we had the various leagues against Louis XIV, which only changed superficially in makeup; then we get France vs. Britain, which took a Diplomatic Revolution to shake up even two of their respective allies (Prussia and Austria)...

 

[Verbose]

I'm not so sure about the late 17th and most of the 18th centuries. First we had the various leagues against Louis XIV, which only changed superficially in makeup; then we get France vs. Britain, which took a Diplomatic Revolution to shake up even two of their respective allies (Prussia and Austria)...

You mean that the conflict lines were rather static? Well, sure. France, surrounded by Habsburgs, allies with the powers at the other side of them. Later hegemonic France is enough of a menace to cause a set of alliances around itself, but France tends to keep its allies on the outside of them. It was rather stable, with a number of reasonably powerful nations balancing each other.

If one wants specifically a situation with allegiances shifting dramatically and rapidly, in Europe it's probably the wars of the Italian Renaissance. Possibly the nordic wars around the Baltic — the Dutch tended to throw the wieght of their navy behind whomever looked like losing in the Danish-Swedish jockeying for positions. The minor German states ended up switching alliances on a fairly regular basis, depending on which of the major power was winning.

 

[Adler17]

The Delian League and Peleponnesean League are also examples.

Adler

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

The Second Sino-Japanese War comes to mind (ie the Japanese occupation of China in WWII); I don't know if the Nationalists and Communists ever came to blows while the Japanese were still there, however.

In Civ3, I have seen a number of "triangle" or even "quadrangle" wars, where nation A is at war with B is at war with C is at war with A, or even A, B, C, D all being at war with each other. Of course, the AI is rather more aggressive than intelligent.

 

[ParkCungHee]

China after the Yellow Turban Rebellion collapsed into a multi-sided conflict into the Three Kingdoms age until the Jin unification, which in itself was rather short-lived and led to another collapse.

Chinese Warlord Era also.

The Second Sino-Japanese War comes to mind (ie the Japanese occupation of China in WWII); I don't know if the Nationalists and Communists ever came to blows while the Japanese were still there, however.

They did so, and frequently.

 

[sydhe]

There was a period in the middle 17th century when the Ming faced a rebel force and the Manchu invasion. Eventually the Manchu allied with a Ming general to defeat the rebel force and took over the country.