When any voluntary association of organizations or even individuals comes into action, one can speak of a coalition. This is one of the most common means of defeating a stronger enemy or other coalition. Any forces and organizations can unite, but in history the most famous, of course, are military-political alliances, and since relatively recent (by historical standards) times - economic ones. Basically, they will be discussed in this article.
What is a coalition in history?
The first coalitions arose from time immemorial. Probably when several groups of hunters from different camps united to hunt larger game. Since that time, various alliances have constantly arisen, and sometimes it was thanks to their actions that history made sharp turns. For example, only by uniting, the Hellenic policies were able to defeat the Persian state - the largest and most powerful empire at that time.
However, sometimes participation in the coalition played a negative role. A. Hitler put in a lot of effort in the beginningin order to conclude an alliance with B. Mussolini, and then to convince the Italian dictator to enter the war. But in reality, the Italian troops provided little assistance, on the contrary, the German troops had to take part in the hostilities in new theaters, to which they were not originally supposed to be sent. In addition, it was precisely the allied debt to Japan that forced A. Hitler to declare war on the United States.
How close have coalitions been in history?
In history there are more and less close coalitions. This implies, first of all, how well the actions of its members are coordinated. For example, within an alliance such as NATO, the allies are constantly coordinating their efforts. For this, the NATO Council, the Defense Planning Committee and the Secretary General work within the organization, who, of course, is not the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, but has broad powers in organizing joint actions.
On the other hand, history knows many examples of less close cooperation. During the Seven Years' War, France and Prussia formed one of the two opposing coalitions, but this was indicated, perhaps, only by the fact that they did not fight each other and their opponents were united in the coalition. Otherwise, they did not coordinate their actions and even fought mainly in different parts of the world: Prussia repelled attacks from different sides in Europe, France in this war is known mainly for actions against British forces (generally unsuccessful) in the colonies and at sea.
Equal Coalitions
Most of the most famous coalitions of states in history included more or less equal members. An example is the anti-Napoleonic coalitions that were formed and collapsed one after another at the beginning of the 19th century. Thanks to the equality of their members, coalitions formed quickly and voluntarily, but also quickly disintegrated after another defeat, since there was no strong center that could support the waverers in their struggle or even force them to continue.
It was also precisely because of the lack of a single coordinating center that, having defeated Napoleon in the end, the coalition was unable to take full advantage of the fruits of this victory: at the Congress of Vienna, the head of French diplomacy, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, managed to sow distrust between the allies, thanks to this France was able to avoid the most negative consequences of its loss.
Unequal coalitions
But there are cases in history when a pronounced leader dictated his will to the rest of the coalition. This is, for example, the Athenian Maritime Union. The policies that were part of the alliance paid Athens the fee set for each of them, and Athens was already equipping the money received, first of all, the fleet, the creation of which the coalition was aimed at, as well as the ground armed forces. Many scholars even consider this union to be something between a coalition of policies and the Athenian Empire.
Through this organization of the strength of the unionhave always acted as one. The flip side was the Athenian dictatorship in union. Periodically, this or that policy tried to get rid of it - the result was the Athenian military expeditions and severe punishments for the recalcitrant.
Transformation of the coalition into a single state
Thus, it is clear that history knows close alliances, as well as alliances with a clear leader. In light of this, it is not surprising that there have been cases when a coalition of states turned into a single state, its members lost their independence.
Rome at the beginning of its conquests was headed by a rather close union of Italian policies (like the Athenian maritime union). Sometimes part of the members left the coalition, as was the case during the Second Punic War, when many former Roman allies supported Hannibal. But in the end, the coalition became so close that during the so-called Allied Wars, it was the allies who demanded the transformation of the coalition into a single state: there was no longer any hope for the real sovereignty of their policies, and the creation of a single state was supposed to give them the rights of Roman citizenship, which were much wider citizenship rights in union policies.
Coalitions of political parties
It's time to remember the definition given at the beginning of the article. A coalition is an alliance not only of states, but also of any forces and organizations. In the political life of the vast majority of modern democracies, coalitions of parties have become a normal part of political life.
Parties can fight for power already as part of a coalition, go to the polls with a united front. For example, the existence of the Union of Right Forces began as an electoral bloc, which only later transformed into a party. On the other hand, parties can form a coalition after the elections to form a majority government, for which sometimes unexpected alliances are created. For example, in early 2015 in Greece, the SYRIZA party, which received the largest number of votes, being completely left both in program and in electoral rhetoric, merged with the center-right Independent Greeks party, which allowed the leader of SYRIZA to form a government.
Coalitions of companies
Competition is also forcing companies, both industrial and commercial and financial, to create various coalitions. These are cartels, syndicates and trusts known to us from school. There is no need to explain the difference between them again. Suffice it to say that various types of coalitions between large companies play a big role in today's global economy.
There are countless examples of successful coalitions of various companies. Enough to bring one. In 1892, a coalition of the Edison Electric Light and Thomson-Houston Electric companies formed General Electric, which today is one of the largest corporations, producing various types of products in almost every country in the world.
Advantages and disadvantages of coalitions
Here was presented only a superficial sketch of such a phenomenon in world history as a coalition. What is it and what is its rolein history is a topic worthy of a separate monograph. But it is already clear that the coalition can play both a positive and a negative role for those who join it. It can bring victory or, conversely, force them to solve not only their own problems, but also the problems of their allies. It can help you stand against a strong enemy, or it can deprive you of sovereignty.
