Publication

This paper explores the Weimarian Republic's "satisfaction status" and claims that despite what power transition theorists say, 1920s Germany was not satisfied with its lot in the world. More specifically, the paper's author argues that in the two periods within the decade where Germany reached parity with the then-dominant power (Great Britain) without challenging it, it remained dissatisfied with the status quo of the international order. As a result, the Germany of the time contradicts and potentially falsifies standard power transition theory (PTT). The author then suggests how PTT can overcome this seeming problem by making two theoretical adjustments -- 1) adopting a sliding scale model of satisfaction, and 2) acknowledging that the "high noon duel" way it characterizes international politics is an ideal construct which often doesn’t match reality.