International relations of the Great powers ( 1814 -- 1919 ) - wikipedia International relations of the Great powers ( 1814 -- 1919 ) The `` Big Four '' at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 : David Lloyd George, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson. This article covers worldwide diplomacy and, more generally, the international relations of the major powers, from 1814 to 1919, with links to more detailed articles. The international relations of minor countries are covered in their own history articles. This era covers the period from the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna ( 1814 -- 15 ), to the end of the First World War and the Paris Peace Conference. For the previous era see International relations, 1648 -- 1814. For the 1920s and 1930s see International relations ( 1919 -- 1939 ). Important themes include the rapid industrialization and growing power of Britain, Europe and, later in the period, the United States and Japan. This led to imperialist and colonialist competitions for influence and power throughout the world, most famously, the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s. The reverberations are still widespread and consequential in the 21st - century. Britain established an informal economic network that, combined with its colonies and its Royal Navy, made it the hegemonic nation until its power was challenged by Germany. It was a peaceful century, with no wars between the great powers, apart from the 1854 -- 1871 interval, and some small wars between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. After 1900 there were a series of wars in the Balkan region, which exploded out of control into World War I ( 1914 -- 18 ) -- a massively devastating event that was unexpected in its timing, duration, casualties, and long - term impact. In 1814 diplomats recognised five Great Powers : France, Great Britain, Russia, Austria ( in 1867 -- 1918, Austria - Hungary ) and Prussia ( in 1871 the German Empire ). Italy was added to this group after its unification and by the beginning of the 20th century there were two major blocs in Europe : the Triple Entente formed by France, the UK and Russia and the Triple Alliance formed by Germany, Italy and Austria. The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Sweden - Norway, and Switzerland were smaller powers. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro operated as independent countries, although they were legally still part of the declining Ottoman Empire, which may also be included among the major powers. By 1905 two rapidly growing non-European states, Japan and the United States, had joined the Great Powers. The Great War unexpectedly tested their military, diplomatic, social and economic capabilities to the limit. Germany, Austria, Russia and the Ottoman Empire were losers who lost their great power status, as well as great deal of territory. The winners Britain, France, Italy and Japan gained permanent seats at the governing council of the new League of Nations. The United States, meant to be the fifth permanent member, decided to operate independently and never joined the League. For the following periods see Diplomatic history of World War I and International relations ( 1919 -- 1939 ). Contents 1 1814 -- 1830 : Restoration and reaction 1.1 Congress of Vienna : 1814 -- 1815 1.2 British policies 1.3 Slave trade 1.4 Spain loses its colonies 1.5 Greek independence : 1821 -- 1833 2 Travel, trade and communications 2.1 Travel 2.2 Transportation 2.3 Communications 3 1830 -- 1850s 3.1 British policies 3.2 Belgian Revolution 3.3 Ottoman Empire 3.3. 1 Serbian independence 3.3. 2 Crimean War 3.3. 3 Moldavia and Wallachia 4 1860 -- 1871 : Nationalism and unification 4.1 Great Britain 4.2 France 4.3 Italian unification 4.4 United States of America 4.5 Germany 4.5. 1 Schleswig and Holstein 4.5. 2 Unification 5 1871 : the year of transition 5.1 Maintaining the peace 5.2 Major powers 5.3 Conscription 6 Imperialism 6.1 French Empire in Asia and Africa 6.1. 1 France seizes Mexico 6.2 Takeover of Egypt, 1882 6.3 Scramble for Africa 6.3. 1 Kenya 6.4 Portugal 6.5 Italy 6.6 Japan becomes a power 6.6. 1 Okinawa 6.6. 2 War with China 6.6. 3 Taiwan 6.6. 4 Korea 6.7 Dividing up China 6.8 British policies 6.8. 1 Free trade imperialism 6.8. 2 Splendid isolation 7 The Eastern Question 7.1 Minority rights 7.2 British policies 7.3 German policy, 1872 -- 1890 7.3. 1 War in Sight crisis of 1875 7.4 The alliance between Russia and France, 1894 -- 1914 7.5 Balkan Wars 8 Coming of World War 8.1 France 8.1. 1 Franco - Russian Alliance 8.1. 2 Anglo - German relations deteriorate : 1880 - 1904 8.1. 3 Two crises in Morocco 8.2 British - German naval race 9 The Great War 10 Paris Peace Conference and Versailles Treaty 1919 11 See also 12 Notes 13 Further reading 13.1 Surveys 13.2 Maps 13.3 Coming of World War I 13.4 Primary sources on coming of the war 13.5 Wartime diplomacy 13.6 Imperialism 13.7 Britain 13.7. 1 Primary sources for Britain 13.8 France 13.9 Germany 13.10 Russia 13.11 United States 13.12 Japan and China 13.13 Others 14 Primary sources 1814 -- 1830 : restoration and reaction For the previous diplomatic era, see International relations, 1648 -- 1814 Main article : Concert of Europe The national boundaries within Europe as set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815. As the four major European powers ( Britain, Prussia, Russia and Austria ) opposing the French Empire in the Napoleonic Wars saw Napoleon 's power collapsing in 1814, they started planning for the postwar world. The Treaty of Chaumont of March 1814 reaffirmed decisions that had been made already and which would be ratified by the more important Congress of Vienna of 1814 -- 15. They included the establishment of a confederated Germany, the division of French protectorates and annexations into independent states, the restoration of the Bourbon kings of Spain, the enlargement of the Netherlands to include what in 1830 became modern Belgium, and the continuation of British subsidies to its allies. The Treaty of Chaumont united the powers to defeat Napoleon and became the cornerstone of the Concert of Europe, which formed the balance of power for the next two decades. Congress of Vienna : 1814 -- 1815 Main article : Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna ( 1814 -- 1815 ) dissolved the Napoleonic world and attempted to restore the monarchies Napoleon had overthrown, ushering in an era of reaction. Under the leadership of Metternich, the prime minister of Austria ( 1809 -- 48 ) and Lord Castlereagh, the foreign minister of Great Britain ( 1812 -- 1822 ), the Congress set up a system to preserve the peace. Under the Concert of Europe ( or `` Congress system '' ), the major European powers -- Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and ( after 1818 ) France -- pledged to meet regularly to resolve differences. This plan was the first of its kind in European history, and seemed to promise a way to collectively manage European affairs and promote peace. It was the forerunner of the League of Nations and the United Nations but it collapsed by 1823. The Congress resolved the Polish -- Saxon crisis at Vienna and the question of Greek independence at Laibach. Three major European congresses took place. The Congress of Aix - la - Chapelle ( 1818 ) ended the military occupation of France and adjusted downward the 700 million francs the French were obligated to pay as reparations. The Russian tsar proposed the formation of an entirely new alliance, to include all of the signatories from the Vienna treaties, to guarantee the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and preservation of the ruling governments of all members of this new coalition. The tsar further proposed an international army, with the Russian army as its nucleus, to provide the wherewithal to intervene in any country that needed it. Lord Castlereagh saw this as a highly undesirable commitment to reactionary policies. He recoiled at the idea of Russian armies marching across Europe to put down popular uprisings. Furthermore, to admit all the smaller countries, would create intrigue and confusion. Britain refused to participate, so the idea was abandoned. The other meetings proved meaningless as each nation realized the Congresses were not to their advantage, where disputes were resolved with a diminishing degree of effectiveness. The Congress system had collapsed by 1822. To achieve lasting peace, the Concert of Europe tried to maintain the balance of power. Until the 1860s the territorial boundaries laid down at the Congress of Vienna were maintained, and even more important there was an acceptance of the theme of balance with no major aggression. Otherwise, the Congress system. says historian Roy Bridge, `` failed '' by 1823. In 1818 the British decided not to become involved in continental issues that did not directly affect them. They rejected the plan of Tsar Alexander I to suppress future revolutions. The Concert system fell apart as the common goals of the Great Powers were replaced by growing political and economic rivalries. Artz says the Congress of Verona in 1822 `` marked the end. '' There was no Congress called to restore the old system during the great revolutionary upheavals of 1848 with their demands for revision of the Congress of Vienna 's frontiers along national lines. British policies British foreign policy was set by George Canning ( 1822 -- 27 ), who avoided close cooperation with other powers. Britain, with its unchallenged Royal Navy and increasing financial wealth and industrial strength, built its foreign policy on the principle that no state should be allowed to dominate the Continent. It wanted to support the Ottoman Empire as a bulwark against Russian expansionism. It opposed interventions designed to suppress democracy, and was especially worried that France and Spain planned to suppress the independence movement underway in Latin America. Canning cooperated with the United States to promulgate the Monroe Doctrine to persevere newly independent Latin American states. His goal was to prevent French dominance and allow British merchants access to the opening markets. Slave trade Main article : Atlantic slave trade An important liberal advance was the abolition of the international slave trade. It began with legislation in Britain and the United States in 1807, which was increasingly enforced over subsequent decades by the British Royal Navy under treaties Britain negotiated, or coerced, other nations into agreeing. The result was a reduction of over 95 % in the volume of the slave trade from Africa to the New World. About 1000 slaves a year were illegally brought into the United States, as well as some to Cuba and Brazil. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833, the French Republic in 1848, the United States in 1865, and Brazil in 1888. Spain loses its colonies Main article : Spanish American wars of independence General Simón Bolívar, ( 1783 -- 1830 ), a leader of independence in Latin America. Spain was at war with Britain from 1798 to 1808, and the British Royal Navy cut off its contacts with its colonies. Trade was handled by neutral American and Dutch traders. The colonies set up temporary governments or juntas which were effectively independent from Spain. The division exploded between Spaniards who were born in Spain ( called `` peninsulares '' ) versus those of Spanish descent born in New Spain ( called `` criollos '' in Spanish or `` creoles '' in English ) The two groups wrestled for power, with the criollos leading the call for independence and eventually winning that independence. Spain lost all of its American colonies, except Cuba and Puerto Rico, in a complex series of revolts from 1808 to 1826. Multiple revolutions in Latin America allowed the region to break free of the mother country. Repeated attempts to regain control failed, as Spain had no help from European powers. Indeed, Britain and the United States worked against Spain, enforcing the Monroe Doctrine. British merchants and bankers took a dominant role in Latin America, In 1824, the armies of generals José de San Martín of Argentina and Simón Bolívar of Venezuela defeated the last Spanish forces ; the final defeat came at the Battle of Ayacucho in southern Peru. After the loss of its colonies, Spain played a minor role in international affairs. Spain kept Cuba, which repeatedly revolted in three wars of independence, culminating in the Cuban War of Independence. The United States demanded reforms from Spain, which Spain refused. The U.S. intervened by war in 1898. Winning easily, the U.S. took Cuba and gave it independence. The U.S. also took the Spanish colonies of the Philippines and Guam. Though it still had small colonial holdings in North Africa, Spain 's role in international affairs was essentially over. Greek independence : 1821 -- 1833 Main articles : Battle of Navarino and Greek War of Independence Allied victory at Navarino ( 1827 ) The Greek War of Independence was the major military conflict in the 1820s. The Great powers supported the Greeks, but did not want the Ottoman Empire destroyed. Greece was initially to be an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty, but by 1832, in the Treaty of Constantinople, it was recognized as a fully independent kingdom. After some initial success the Greek rebels were beset by internal disputes. The Ottomans, with major aid from Egypt, cruelly crushed the rebellion and harshly punished the Greeks. Humanitarian concerns in Europe were outraged, as typified by English poet Lord Byron. The context of the three Great Powers ' intervention was Russia 's long - running expansion at the expense of the decaying Ottoman Empire. However Russia 's ambitions in the region were seen as a major geostrategic threat by the other European powers. Austria feared the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire would destabilize its southern borders. Russia 's gave strong emotional support for the fellow - Orthodox Christian Greeks. The British were motivated by strong public support for the Greeks. Fearing unilateral Russian action in support of the Greeks, Britain and France bound Russia by treaty to a joint intervention which aimed to secure Greek autonomy whilst preserving Ottoman territorial integrity as a check on Russia. The Powers agreed, by the Treaty of London ( 1827 ), to force the Ottoman government to grant the Greeks autonomy within the empire and despatched naval squadrons to Greece to enforce their policy. The decisive Allied naval victory at the Battle of Navarino broke the military power of the Ottomans and their Egyptian allies. Victory saved the fledgling Greek Republic from collapse. But it required two more military interventions, by Russia in the form of the Russo - Turkish War of 1828 -- 9 and by a French expeditionary force to the Peloponnese to force the withdrawal of Ottoman forces from central and southern Greece and to finally secure Greek independence. Travel, trade and communications RMS Lusitania arriving in New York from Liverpool, England, in 1907. As the primary means of trans - oceanic voyages for over a century, ocean liners handled the travel needs of businessmen, immigrants and tourists. The world became much smaller as long - distance travel and communications improved dramatically. Every decade there were more ships, more scheduled destinations, faster trips, and lower fares for passengers and cheaper rates for merchandise. This facilitated international trade and international organization. Hornet -- an American clipper ship of the 1850s. Underwater telegraph cables linked the world 's major trading nations by the 1860s. Travel Cargo sailing ships were slow ; historians estimate that the average speed of all long - distance Mediterranean voyages to Palestine was only 2.8 knots. Passenger ships achieved greater speed by sacrificing cargo space. The sailing ship records were held by the clipper, a very fast sailing ship of the 1843 - 69 era. Clippers were narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area. They average speed was six knots and they carried passengers across the globe, primarily on the trade routes between Britain and its colonies in the east, in trans - Atlantic trade, and the New York - to - San Francisco route round Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. The much faster steam - powered, iron - hulled ocean liner became the dominant mode of passenger transportation from the 1850s to the 1950s. It used coal -- and needed many coaling stations. After 1900 oil became the favoured fuel and did not require frequent refueling. Transportation Freight rates on ocean traffic held steady in the 18th century down to about 1840, and then began a rapid downward plunge. The British dominated world exports and rates for British freight fell 70 percent, from 1840 to 1910. The Suez Canal cut the shipping time from London to India by a third when it opened in 1869. The same ship could make more voyages in a year, so it could charge less and carry more goods every year. Technological innovation was steady. Iron hulls replaced wood by mid-century ; after 1870, steel replaced iron. It took much longer for steam engines to replace sails. Note the sailing ship across from the Lusitania in the photograph above. Wind was free, and could move the ship at 2 - 3 knots, unless it was becalmed. Coal was expensive and required coaling stations along the route. A common solution was for a merchant ship to rely mostly on its sails, and only use the steam engine as a backup. The first steam engines were very inefficient, using a great deal of coal. For an ocean voyage in the 1860s, half of the cargo space was given over to coal. The problem was especially acute for warships, because their combat range using coal was strictly limited. Only the British Empire had a network of coaling stations that permitted a global scope for the Royal Navy. Steady improvement gave high - powered compound engines which were much more efficient. The boilers and pistons were built of steel, which could handle much higher pressures than iron. They were first used for high - priority cargo, such as mail and passengers. The arrival of the steam turbine engine around 1907 dramatically improved efficiency, and the increasing use of oil after 1910 meant far less cargo space had to be devoted to the fuel supply. Communications By the 1850s, railways and telegraph lines connected all the major cities inside Western Europe, as well as those inside the United States. Instead of greatly reducing the need for travel, the telegraph made travel easier to plan and replaced the slow long - distance mail service. Submarine cables were laid to link the continents by telegraph, which was a reality by the 1860s. 1830 -- 1850s Further information : Crimean War Britain continued as the most important power, followed by Russia, France, Prussia and Austria. The United States was growing rapidly in size, population and economic strength, especially after its defeat of Mexico in 1848. Otherwise it avoided international entanglements as the slavery issue became more and more divisive. The Crimean War was the most important war, especially because it disrupted the stability of the system. Britain strengthened its colonial system especially in India, while France rebuilt its empire in Asia and North Africa. Russia continued its expansion south ( toward Persia ) and east ( into Siberia ). The Ottoman Empire steadily weakened, losing control in parts of the Balkans to the new states of Greece and Serbia. In the Treaty of London, signed in 1839, the Great Powers guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium. Germany called it a `` scrap of paper '' and violated it in 1914 by invasion, whereupon Britain declared war on Germany. British policies From 1830 to 1865, with a few interruptions, Lord Palmerston set British foreign policy. His goal was to keep Britain dominant by maintaining the balance of power in Europe. He cooperated with France when necessary, but did not make permanent alliances with anyone. He tried to keep autocratic nations like Russia and Austria in check ; he supported liberal regimes because they led to greater stability in the international system. However he also supported the autocratic Ottoman Empire because it blocked Russian expansion. Belgian Revolution Main article : Belgian Revolution Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, by Gustaf Wappers ( 1834 ). Catholic Belgians in 1830 broke away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium. They could not accept the Dutch 's king 's favouritism toward Protestantism and his disdain for the French language. Outspoken liberals regarded King William I 's rule as despotic. There were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes. There was small - scale fighting but it took years before the Netherlands finally recognized defeat. In 1839 the Dutch accepted Belgian independence by signing the Treaty of London. The major powers guaranteed Belgian independence. Ottoman Empire Main articles : Ottoman Empire and Foreign relations of the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was only briefly involved in the Napoleonic Wars through the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, 1798 -- 1801. It was not invited to the Vienna Conference. During this period the Empire steadily weakened militarily, and lost most of its holdings in Europe ( starting with Greece ) and later in North Africa. Its great enemy was Russia, while its chief supporter was Britain. As the 19th century progressed the Ottoman Empire grew weaker and Britain increasingly became its chief ally and protector, even fighting the Crimean War in the 1850s to help it out against Russia. Three British leaders played major roles. Lord Palmerston in the 1830 - 65 era considered the Ottoman Empire an essential component in the balance of power, was the most favourable toward Constantinople. William Gladstone in the 1870s sought to build a Concert of Europe that would support the survival of the empire. In the 1880s and 1890s Lord Salisbury contemplated an orderly dismemberment of it, in such a way as to reduce rivalry between the greater powers. Serbian independence Main article : Serbian Revolution The Principality of Serbia in 1817. A successful uprising against the Ottomans marked the foundation of modern Serbia. The Serbian Revolution took place between 1804 and 1835, as this territory evolved from an Ottoman province into a constitutional monarchy and a modern Serbia. The first part of the period, from 1804 to 1815, was marked by a violent struggle for independence with two armed uprisings. The later period ( 1815 -- 1835 ) witnessed a peaceful consolidation of political power of the increasingly autonomous Serbia, culminating in the recognition of the right to hereditary rule by Serbian princes in 1830 and 1833 and the territorial expansion of the young monarchy. The adoption of the first written Constitution in 1835 abolished feudalism and serfdom, and made the country suzerain Crimean War Main article : Crimean War The Crimean War ( 1853 -- 56 ) was fought between Russia on the one hand and an alliance of Great Britain, France, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other. Russia was defeated. In 1851 France under Napoleon III compelled the Sublime Porte ( the Ottoman or Turkish government ) to recognize it as the protector of Christian sites in the Holy Land. Russia denounced this claim, since it claimed to be the protector of all Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. France sent its fleet to the Black Sea ; Russia responded with its own show of force. In 1851, Russia sent troops into the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia. Britain, now fearing for the security of the Ottoman Empire, sent a fleet to join with the French expecting the Russians would back down. Diplomatic efforts failed. The Sultan declared war against Russia in October 1851. Following an Ottoman naval disaster in November, Britain and France declared war against Russia. Most of the battles took place in the Crimean peninsula, which the Allies finally seized. London, shocked to discover that France was secretly negotiating with Russia to form a postwar alliance to dominate Europe, dropped its plans to attack St. Petersburg and instead signed a one - sided armistice with Russia that achieved almost none of its war aims. Diplomats at the Congress of Paris, 1856, settled the Crimean War ; painting by Edouard Louis Dubufe. The Treaty of Paris signed March 30, 1856, ended the war. It admitted the Ottoman Empire to the European concert, and the Powers promised to respect its independence and territorial integrity. Russia gave up a little land and relinquished its claim to a protectorate over the Christians in the Ottoman domains. The Black Sea was demilitarized, and an international commission was set up to guarantee freedom of commerce and navigation on the Danube River. Moldavia and Wallachia remained under nominal Ottoman rule, but would be granted independent constitutions and national assemblies. New rules of wartime commerce were set out : ( 1 ) privateering was illegal ; ( 2 ) a neutral flag covered enemy goods except contraband ; ( 3 ) neutral goods, except contraband, were not liable to capture under an enemy flag ; ( 4 ) a blockade, to be legal, had to be effective. The war helped modernize warfare by introducing major new technologies such as railways, the telegraph, and modern nursing methods. In the long run the war marked a turning point in Russian domestic and foreign policy. Russian intellectuals used the defeat to demand fundamental reform of the government and social system. The war weakened both Russia and Austria, so they could no longer promote stability. This opened the way for Napoleon III, Cavour ( in Italy ) and Otto von Bismarck ( in Germany ) to launch a series of wars in the 1860s that reshaped Europe. Moldavia and Wallachia Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania in 1812. In 1859 Moldavia and Wallachia formed Romania, and acquired Transylvania in 1918. In a largely peaceful transition, the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia broke away slowly, achieved effective autonomy by 1859, and finally became officially an independent nation in 1878. The two provinces had long been under Ottoman control, but both Russia and Austria also wanted them, making the region a major cockpit for wars in the 19th century. The population was largely Orthodox in religion and spoke Romanian, but there were many minorities, such as Jews and Greeks. The provinces were occupied by Russia after the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829. Russian and Turkish troops combined to suppress the Wallachian Revolution of 1848. During the Crimean War Austria took control. The population decided on unification on the basis of historical, cultural and ethnic connections. It took effect in 1859 after the double election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as Ruling Prince of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia ( renamed of Romania in 1862 ). Romania officially became independent in 1878, but focused its attention on Transylvania, a province of Hungary with about 2 million Romanians. Finally when the Austro - Hungarian Empire collapsed at the end of the First World War, Romania obtained Transylvania. 1860 -- 1871 : nationalism and unification The force of nationalism grew dramatically in the early and middle 19th century. To a large extent, and involved a cultural realization of cultural identity among the people sharing the same language and religious heritage. It was strong in the established countries, and was a powerful force for demanding more unity or independence among Germans, Irish, Italians, Greeks, and the Slavic peoples of southeastern Europe. The strong sense of nationalism also grew and established independent nations, such as Britain and France. Great Britain Main article : Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston § Prime Minister : 1859 -- 1865 In 1859, following another short - lived Conservative government, Prime Minister Lord Palmerston and Earl Russell made up their differences, and Russell consented to serve as Foreign Secretary in a new Palmerston cabinet. It was the first true Liberal Cabinet. This period was a particularly eventful one in the world outside Britain, seeing the Unification of Italy, the Diplomacy of the American Civil War, and the 1864 war over Schleswig - Holstein between Denmark and the German states. Russell and Palmerston kept Britain neutral in every case. France Further information : Napoleon III and French -- German enmity Despite his promises in 1852 of a peaceful reign, Napoleon III could not resist the temptations of glory in foreign affairs. He was visionary, mysterious and secretive ; he had a poor staff, and kept running afoul of his domestic supporters. In the end he was incompetent as a diplomat. After a brief threat of an invasion of Britain in 1851, France and Britain cooperated in the 1850s, with an alliance in the Crimean War, and a major trade treaty in 1860. However Britain viewed the Second Empire of Napoleon III with increasing distrust, especially as the emperor built up his navy, expanded his empire and took up a more active foreign policy. Napoleon III did score some successes : he strengthened French control over Algeria, established bases in Africa, began the takeover of Indochina, and opened trade with China. He facilitated a French company building the Suez Canal, which Britain could not stop. In Europe, however, Napoleon failed again and again. The Crimean war of 1854 -- 1856 produced no gains. War with Austria in 1859 facilitated the unification of Italy, and Napoleon was rewarded with the annexation of Savoy and Nice. The British grew annoyed at his intervention in Syria in 1860 -- 61. He angered Catholics alarmed at his poor treatment of the Pope, then reversed himself and angered the anticlerical liberals at home and his erstwhile Italian allies. He lowered the tariffs, which helped in the long run but in the short run angered owners of large estates and the textile and iron industrialists, while leading worried workers to organize. Matters grew worse in the 1860s as Napoleon nearly blundered into war with the United States in 1862, while his Mexican intervention in 1861 -- 1867 was a total disaster. Finally in the end he went to war with the Germans in 1870 when it was too late to stop German unification. Napoleon had alienated everyone ; after failing to obtain an alliance with Austria and Italy, France had no allies and was bitterly divided at home. It was disastrously defeated on the battlefield, losing Alsace and Lorraine. A.J.P. Taylor is blunt : `` he ruined France as a great power. '' Italian unification Main article : Italian unification The stages of Italian unification between 1829 -- 71. The Risorgimento was the era 1830 -- 1870 that saw the emergence of a national consciousness. Italians achieved independence from Austria and from the Pope, securing national unification. Piedmont ( Known as the Kingdom of Sardinia ) took the lead and imposed its constitutional system on the new nation of Italy The papacy secured French backing to resist unification, fearing that giving up control of the Papal States would weaken the Church and allow the liberals to dominate conservative Catholics. The newly united Italy was recognized as the sixth great power. United States of America Main article : Diplomacy of the American Civil War During the American Civil War ( 1861 -- 1865 ), the Southern slave states attempted to secede from the Union and set up an independent country, the Confederate States of America. The North would not accept this affront of American nationalism, and fought to restore the Union. British and French aristocratic leaders personally disliked American republicanism and favoured the more aristocratic Confederacy. The South was also by far the chief source of cotton for European textile mills. The goal of the Confederacy was to obtain British and French intervention, that is, war against the Union. Confederates believed ( with scant evidence ) that `` cotton is king '' -- that is, cotton was so essential to British and French industry that they would fight to get it. The Confederates did raise money in Europe, which they used to buy warships and munitions. However Europe had a surplus of cotton in 1862 ; stringency did not come until 1862, and meanwhile Britain depended heavily on American grain. France would not intervene alone, and in any case was less interested in cotton than in securing its control of Mexico. The Confederacy would allow that if it secured its independence, but the Union never would approve. Washington made it clear that any official recognition of the Confederacy meant war with the U.S. Queen Victoria 's husband Prince Albert helped defuse a war scare in late 1861. The British people, who depended heavily on American food imports, generally favored the United States. What little cotton was available came from New York City, as the blockade by the U.S. Navy shut down 95 % of Southern exports to Britain. In September 1862, during the Confederate invasion of Maryland, Britain ( along with France ) contemplated stepping in and negotiating a peace settlement, which could only mean war with the United States. But in the same month, US president Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. Since support of the Confederacy now meant support for slavery, there was no longer any possibility of European intervention. Meanwhile, the British sold arms to both sides, built blockade runners for a lucrative trade with the Confederacy, and surreptitiously allowed warships to be built for the Confederacy. The warships caused a major diplomatic row that was resolved in the Alabama Claims in 1872, in the Americans ' favor. Germany Main articles : Unification of Germany and History of German foreign policy Prussia, under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, took the lead in uniting all of Germany, except for Austria, and a new German Empire, headed by the king of Prussia. To do it, he engaged in a series of Short, decisive wars with Denmark, Austria and France. The many smaller German states following the lead of Prussia, until finally they United together after defeating France in 1871. Bismarck 's Germany then became the most powerful and dynamic state in Europe, and Bismarck himself promoted decades of peace in Europe. Schleswig and Holstein A major diplomatic row, and several wars, emerged from the very complex situation in Schleswig and Holstein, where Danish and German claims collided, and Austria and France became entangled. The Danish and German duchies of Schleswig - Holstein were, by international agreement, ruled by the king of Denmark but were not legally part of Denmark. An international treaty provided that the two territories were not to be separated from each other, though Holstein was part of the German Confederation. In the late 1840s, with both German and Danish nationalism on the rise, Denmark attempted to incorporate Schleswig into its kingdom. The first war was a Danish victory. The Second Schleswig War of 1864 was a Danish defeat at the hands of Prussia and Austria. Unification The two victors then split control of the two territories. That led to conflict between them, resolved by the Austro - Prussian War of 1866, which Prussia quickly won. Austria now dropped to the second rank among the Great Powers. Emperor Napoleon III of France could not tolerate the rapid rise of Prussia, and started the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 -- 71 over trivialities. The spirit of German nationalism caused the smaller German states ( such as Bavaria and Saxony ) to join the war alongside Prussia. The German coalition won an easy victory, dropping France to second class status among the Great Powers. Prussia, under Otto von Bismarck, then brought together almost all the German states ( excluding Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein ) into a new German Empire. Bismarck 's new empire became the most powerful state in continental Europe until 1914. 1871 : the year of transition Maintaining the peace 1871, was a decisive transition from 15 years of warfare in the Crimea and in Germany and France, to the 40 years of peace in Europe. With the triumphant founding of the German Empire, and the humiliation of France at signing of the Treaty of Frankfurt ( May 10, 1871 ). Otto von Bismarck emerged as the decisive figure in European and world history, 1871 - 1890. He not only retained his control over Prussia, he added a new level of control over the foreign and domestic policies of the new German Empire. Bismarck had built his reputation as a war - maker, but changed overnight into a peacemaker. He skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany 's position in a Europe which, despite many disputes and war scares, remained at peace. For historian Eric Hobsbawm, it was Bismarck who `` remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, ( and ) devoted himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers. '' John Tenniel : Au Revoir !, Punch 6 August 1881 Bismarck 's main mistake was giving into the Army and to intense public demand in Germany for acquisition of the border provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, thereby turning France into a permanent, deeply - committed enemy. see French -- German enmity Theodore Zeldin says, `` Revenge and the recovery of Alsace - Lorraine became a principal object of French policy for the next forty years. That Germany was France 's enemy became the basic fact of international relations. '' Bismarck 's solution was to make France a pariah nation, encouraging royalty to ridicule its new republican status, and building complex alliances with the other major powers -- Austria, Russia, and Britain -- to keep France isolated diplomatically. A key element was the League of the Three Emperors bringing together rulers in Berlin, Vienna and St. Petersburg to guarantee each other 's security, while blocking out France. Major powers Britain had entered an era of `` splendid isolation '', avoiding entanglements that had led it into the unhappy Crimean War in 1854 - 56. It concentrated on internal industrial development and political reform, and building up its great international holdings, the British Empire, while maintaining by far the world 's strongest Navy to protect its island home and its many overseas possessions. It had come dangerously close to intervening in the American Civil War in 1861 - 62, and in May 1871 it signed the Treaty of Washington with the United States that put into arbitration the American claims that the lack of British neutrality had prolong the war ; arbitrators eventually awarded the United States $15 million. Russia took advantage of the Franco - German war to renounce the 1856 treaty in which it had been forced to demilitarize the Black Sea. Repudiation of treaties was unacceptable to the powers, so the solution was a conference in January 1871 at London that formally abrogated key elements of the 1856 treaty and endorsed the new Russian action. Russia had always wanted control of Constantinople and the straits the connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and would nearly achieve that in the First World War. France had long stationed an army in Rome to protect the pope ; it recalled the soldiers in 1870, and the Kingdom of Italy moved in, seized the remaining papal territories, and made Rome its capital city. Italy was finally unified, but at the cost of alienating the pope and the Catholic community for a half century ; the unstable situation was resolved in 1929. Conscription A major trend was the move away from a professional army to a Prussian system that combined a core of professional careerists, a rotating base of conscripts, who after a year or two of active duty moved into a decade or more of reserve duty with a required summer training program every year. Training took place in peacetime, and in wartime and much larger, well - trained, fully staffed army could be mobilized very quickly. Prussia had started in 1814, and the Prussian triumphs of the 1860s made its model irresistible. The key element was universal conscription, with relatively few exemptions. The upper strata was drafted into the officer corps for one year 's training, but was nevertheless required to do its full reserve duty along with everyone else. Austria adopted the system in 1868 ( shortly after its defeat by Germany ) and France In 1872 ( shortly after its defeat by Germany ). Japan followed in 1873, Russian 1874, and Italy in 1875. All major countries adopted conscription by 1900, except for Great Britain and the United States. By then peacetime Germany had an army of 545,000, which could be expanded in a matter of days to 3.4 million by calling up the reserves. The comparable numbers in France were 1.8 million and 3.5 million ; Austria, 1.1 million and 2.6 million ; Russia, 1.7 million to 4 million. The new system was expensive, with a per capita cost of the forces doubling or even tripling between 1870 and 1914. By then total defense spending averaged about 5 % of the national income. Nevertheless, taxpayers seemed satisfied ; parents were especially impressed with the dramatic improvements shown in the immature boys they sent away at age 18, compared to the worldly-wise men who returned two years later. Imperialism The Berlin Conference ( 1884 ) chaired by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck regulated European imperialism in Africa. Further information : New Imperialism Most of the major powers ( and some minor ones such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark ) engaged in imperialism, building up their overseas empires especially in Africa and Asia. Although there were numerous insurrections, historians count only a few wars, and they were small - scale : two Anglo - Boer Wars ( 1880 -- 1881 and 1899 -- 1902 ), the Sino - Japanese War ( 1894 -- 1895 ), First Italo - Ethiopian War ( 1895 -- 96 ), Spanish -- American War ( 1898 ), and Italo - Ottoman war ( 1911 ). The largest was the Russo - Japanese War of 1905, and it was the only one that saw two major powers fighting each other. Looking at all of the main empires, 1875 - 1914, historians estimate a mixed record in terms of profitability. The assumption. At first planners expected that colonies would provide an excellent captive market for manufactured items. Apart from India, this was seldom true. By the 1890s, imperialists saw the economic benefit primarily in the production of inexpensive raw materials to feed the domestic manufacturing sector. Overall, Great Britain did very well in terms of profits from India, but not from most of the rest of its empire. The Netherlands did very well in the East Indies. Germany and Italy got very little trade or raw materials from their empires. France did slightly better. The Belgian Congo was notoriously profitable when it was a capitalistic rubber plantation owned and operated by King Leopold II as a private enterprise. However, scandal after scandal regarding very badly mistreated labour led the international community to force the government of Belgium to take it over in 1908, and it became much less profitable. The Philippines cost the United States much more than expected. The world 's colonial population at the time of the First World War totaled about 560 million people, of whom 70.0 % were in British domains, 10.0 % in French, 8.6 % in Dutch, 3.9 % in Japanese, 2.2 % in German, 2.1 % in American, 1.6 % in Portuguese, 1.2 % in Belgian and 1 / 2 of 1 % in Italian possessions. The home domains of the colonial powers had a total population of about 370 million people. French Empire in Asia and Africa Main article : History of French foreign relations France seizes Mexico Napoleon III took advantage of the American Civil War To attempt to take control of Mexico and impose its own puppet Emperor Maximilian. France, Spain, and Britain, angry over unpaid Mexican debts, sent a joint expeditionary force that seized the Veracruz customs house in Mexico in December 1861. Spain and Britain soon withdrew after realizing that Napoleon III intended to overthrow the Mexican government under elected president Benito Juárez and establish a Second Mexican Empire. Napoleon had the support of the remnants of the Conservative elements that Juarez and his Liberals had defeated in the Reform War, a civil war of 1857 -- 61. In the French intervention in Mexico in 1862. Napoleon installed Austrian archduke Maximilian of Habsburg as emperor of Mexico. Juárez rallied opposition to the French ; Washington supported Juárez and refused to recognize the new government because it violated the Monroe Doctrine. After its total victory over the Confederacy in 1865, the U.S. sent 50,000 experienced combat troops to the Mexican border to make clear its position. Napoleon was stretched very thin ; he had committed 40,000 troops to Mexico, 20,000 to Rome to guard the Pope against the Italians, and another 80,000 in restive Algeria. Furthermore, Prussia, having just defeated Austria, was an imminent threat. Napoleon realized his predicament and withdrew all his forces from Mexico in 1866. Juarez regained control and executed the hapless emperor. In 1892, the Senegalese Tirailleurs, led by Colonel Alfred - Amédée Dodds, invaded Dahomey ( present - day Benin ). The Suez Canal, initially built by the French, became a joint British - French project in 1875, as both saw it as vital to maintaining their influence and empires in Asia. In 1882, ongoing civil disturbances in Egypt prompted Britain to intervene, extending a hand to France. France 's leading expansionist Jules Ferry was out of office, and the government allowed Britain to take effective control of Egypt. Areas of Africa controlled by colonial powers in 1913, shown along with current national boundaries. Belgian British French German Italian Portuguese Spanish Independent ( Ethiopia and Liberia ) Takeover of Egypt, 1882 The most decisive event emerged from the Anglo - Egyptian War, which resulted in the British occupation of Egypt for seven decades, even though the Ottoman Empire retained nominal ownership until 1914. Historian A.J.P. Taylor says that this `` was a great event ; indeed, the only real event in international relations between the Battle of Sedan and the defeat of Russia in the Russo - Japanese war. '' Taylor emphasizes long - term impact : The British occupation of Egypt altered the balance of power. It not only gave the British security for their route to India ; it made them masters of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East ; it made it unnecessary for them to stand in the front line against Russia at the Straits... And thus prepared the way for the Franco - Russian Alliance ten years later. Scramble for Africa Main article : Scramble for Africa In the `` scramble for Africa, '' Britain and France, as well as Germany, Italy and Portugal, greatly expanded their colonial empires in Africa. The King of Belgium personally controlled the Congo. Bases along the coast become the nucleus of colonies that stretch inland. In British colonies, workers and businessmen from India were brought in to build railways, plantations and other enterprises. Central and east Africa, 1898, during the Fashoda Incident. Tensions between Britain and France reached tinder stage in Africa. At several points war was possible, but never happened. The most serious episode was the Fashoda Incident of 1898. French troops tried to claim an area in the Southern Sudan, and a British force purporting to be acting in the interests of the Khedive of Egypt arrived to confront them. Under heavy pressure the French withdrew securing Anglo - Egyptian control over the area. The status quo was recognised by an agreement between the two states acknowledging British control over Egypt, while France became the dominant power in Morocco, but France experienced a serious disappointment. The Ottoman Empire lost its nominal control over Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It retained only nominal control of Egypt. In 1875 Britain purchased the Suez canal shares from the almost bankrupt khedive of Egypt, Isma'il Pasha. Kenya Main article : History of Kenya The experience of Kenya is representative of the colonization process in East Africa. By 1850 European explorers had begun mapping the interior. Three developments encouraged European interest in East Africa. First was the emergence of the island of Zanzibar, located off the east coast. It became a base from which trade and exploration of the African mainland could be mounted. By 1840, to protect the interests of the various nationals doing business in Zanzibar, consul offices had been opened by the British, French, Germans and Americans. In 1859, the tonnage of foreign shipping calling at Zanzibar had reached 19,000 tons. By 1879, the tonnage of this shipping had reached 89,000 tons. The second development spurring European interest in Africa was the growing European demand for products of Africa including ivory and cloves. Thirdly, British interest in East Africa was first stimulated by their desire to abolish the slave trade. Later in the century, British interest in East Africa was stimulated by German competition, and in 1887 the Imperial British East Africa Company, a private concern, leased from Seyyid Said his mainland holdings, a 10 - mile ( 16 - km ) - wide strip of land along the coast. Germany set up a protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar 's coastal possessions in 1885. It traded its coastal holdings to Britain in 1890, in exchange for German control over the coast of Tanganyika. In 1895 the British government claimed the interior as far west as Lake Naivasha ; it set up the East Africa Protectorate. The border was extended to Uganda in 1902, and in 1920 most of the enlarged protectorate became a crown colony. With the beginning of colonial rule in 1895, the Rift Valley and the surrounding Highlands became the enclave of white immigrants engaged in large - scale coffee farming dependent on mostly Kikuyu labour. There were no significant mineral resources -- none of the gold or diamonds that attracted so many to South Africa. In the initial stage of colonial rule, the administration relied on traditional communicators, usually chiefs. When colonial rule was established and efficiency was sought, partly because of settler pressure, newly educated younger men were associated with old chiefs in local Native Councils. Following severe financial difficulties of the British East Africa Company, the British government on 1 July 1895 established direct rule through the East African Protectorate, subsequently opening ( 1902 ) the fertile highlands to white settlers. A key to the development of Kenya 's interior was the construction, started in 1895, of a railway from Mombasa to Kisumu, on Lake Victoria, completed in 1901. Some 32,000 workers were imported from British India to do the manual labour. Many stayed, as did most of the Indian traders and small businessmen who saw opportunity in the opening up of the interior of Kenya. Portugal Main article : History of Portugal Portugal, a small poor agrarian nation with a strong seafaring tradition, built up a large empire, and kept it longer than anyone else by avoiding wars and remaining largely under the protection of Britain. In 1899 it renewed its Treaty of Windsor with Britain originally written in 1386. Energetic explorations in the sixteenth century led to a settler colony in Brazil. Portugal also established trading stations open to all nations off the coasts of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. Portugal had imported slaves as domestic servants and farm workers in Portugal itself, and used its experience to make slave trading a major economic activity. Portuguese businessmen set up slave plantations on the nearby islands of Madeira, Cape Verde, and the Azores, focusing on sugar production. In 1770, the enlightened despot Pombal declared trade to be a noble and necessary profession, allowing businessmen to enter the Portuguese nobility. Many settlers moved to Brazil, which became independent in 1822. After 1815, the Portuguese expanded their trading ports along the African coast, moving inland to take control of Angola and Portuguese East Africa ( Mozambique ). The slave trade was abolished in 1836, in part because many foreign slave ships were flying the Portuguese flag. In India, trade flourished in the colony of Goa, with its subsidiary colonies of Macau, near Hong Kong on the China coast, and Timor, north of Australia. The Portuguese successfully introduced Catholicism and the Portuguese language into their colonies, while most settlers continued to head to Brazil. Italy Main article : Foreign relations of Italy § History In the Scramble for Africa of the 1880s, leaders of the new nation of Italy were enthusiastic about acquiring colonies in Africa, expecting it would legitimize their status as a power and help unify the people. In North Africa Italy first turned to Tunis, under nominal Ottoman control, where many Italian farmers had settled. Weak and diplomatically isolated, Italy was helpless and angered when France assumed a protectorate over Tunis in 1881. Turning to East Africa, Italy tried to conquer independent Ethiopia, but was massively defeated at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. Public opinion was angered at the national humiliation by an inept government. In 1911 the Italian people supported the seizure of what is now Libya. Italian diplomacy over a twenty - year period succeeded in getting permission to seize Libya, with approval coming from Germany, France, Austria, Britain and Russia. A centerpiece of the Italo - Turkish War of 1911 -- 12 came when Italian forces took control of a few coastal cities against stiff resistance by Ottoman troops as well as the local tribesmen. After the peace treaty gave Italy control it sent in Italian settlers, but suffered extensive casualties in its brutal campaign against the tribes. Japan becomes a power Main article : Foreign relations of Meiji Japan Starting in the 1860s Japan rapidly modernized along Western lines, adding industry, bureaucracy, institutions and military capabilities that provided the base for imperial expansion into Korea, China, Taiwan and islands to the south. It saw itself vulnerable to aggressive Western imperialism unless it took control of neighboring areas. It took control of Okinawa and Formosa. Japan 's desire to control Taiwan, Korea and Manchuria, led to the first Sino - Japanese War with China in 1894 -- 1895 and the Russo - Japanese War with Russia in 1904 -- 1905. The war with China made Japan the world 's first Eastern, modern imperial power, and the war with Russia proved that a Western power could be defeated by an Eastern state. The aftermath of these two wars left Japan the dominant power in the Far East with a sphere of influence extending over southern Manchuria and Korea, which was formally annexed as part of the Japanese Empire in 1910. Okinawa Main article : History of the Ryukyu Islands Okinawa island is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, and paid tribute to China from the late 14th century. Japan took control of the entire Ryukyu island chain in 1609 and formally incorporated it into Japan in 1879. War with China Main articles : First Sino - Japanese War, Treaty of Shimonoseki, and Triple Intervention Friction between China and Japan arose from the 1870s from Japan 's control over the Ryukyu Islands, rivalry for political influence in Korea and trade issues. Japan, having built up a stable political and economic system with a small but well - trained army and navy, easily defeated China in the First Sino - Japanese War of 1894. Japanese soldiers massacred the Chinese after capturing Port Arthur on the Liaotung Peninsula. In the harsh Treaty of Shimonoseki of April 1895, China recognize the independence of Korea, and ceded to Japan Formosa, the Pescatores Islands and the Liaotung Peninsula. China further paid an indemnity of 200 million silver taels, opened five new ports to international trade, and allowed Japan ( and other Western powers ) to set up and operate factories in these cities. However, Russia, France, and Germany saw themselves disadvantaged by the treaty and in the Triple Intervention forced Japan to return the Liaotung Peninsula in return for a larger indemnity. The only positive result for China came when those factories led the industrialization of urban China, spinning off a local class of entrepreneurs and skilled mechanics. Taiwan Main article : History of Taiwan The island of Formosa ( Taiwan ) had an indigenous population when Dutch traders in need of an Asian base to trade with Japan and China arrived in 1623. The Dutch East India Company ( VOC ) built Fort Zeelandia. They soon began to rule the natives. China took control in the 1660s, and sent in settlers. By the 1890s there were about 2.3 million Han Chinese and 200,000 members of indigenous tribes. After its victory in the First Sino - Japanese War in 1894 -- 95, the peace treaty ceded the island to Japan. It was Japan 's first colony. Japan expected far more benefits from the occupation of Taiwan than the limited benefits it actually received. Japan realized that its home islands could only support a limited resource base, and it hoped that Taiwan, with its fertile farmlands, would make up the shortage. By 1905, Taiwan was producing rice and sugar and paying for itself with a small surplus. Perhaps more important, Japan gained Asia - wide prestige by being the first non-European country to operate a modern colony. It learned how to adjust its German - based bureaucratic standards to actual conditions, and how to deal with frequent insurrections. The ultimate goal was to promote Japanese language and culture, but the administrators realized they first had to adjust to the Chinese culture of the people. Japan had a civilizing mission, and it opened schools so that the peasants could become productive and patriotic manual workers. Medical facilities were modernized, and the death rate plunged. To maintain order, Japan installed a police state that closely monitored everyone. In 1945, Japan was stripped of its empire and Taiwan was returned to China. Korea In 1905, the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire signed the Eulsa Treaty, which brought Korea into the Japanese sphere of influence as a protectorate. The Treaty was a result of the Japanese victory in the Russo - Japanese War and Japan wanting to increase its hold over the Korean Peninsula. The Eulsa Treaty led to the signing of the 1907 Treaty two years later. The 1907 Treaty ensured that Korea would act under the guidance of a Japanese resident general and Korean internal affairs would be under Japanese control. Korean Emperor Gojong was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, Sunjong, as he protested Japanese actions in the Hague Conference. Finally in 1910, the Annexation Treaty was signed, formally annexing Korea to Japan. `` Putting his foot down '' Uncle Sam in 1899 demands an `` open door '' while major powers plan to cut up China for themselves ; Germany, Italy, England, Austria, Russia & France are represented by Wilhelm II, Umberto I, John Bull, Franz Joseph I ( in rear ) Uncle Sam, Nicholas II, and Emile Loubet. Punch Aug 23, 1899 by J.S. Pughe Dividing up China Further information : Open Door Policy Officially, China remained a unified country. In practice, European powers and Japan took effective control of certain port cities and their surrounding areas from the middle nineteenth century until the 1920s. Technically speaking, they exercised `` extraterritoriality '' that was imposed in a series of unequal treaties. In 1899 - 1900 the United States won international acceptance for the Open Door Policy whereby all nations would have access to Chinese ports, rather than having them reserved to just one nation. British policies In Britain the Liberals were not so naive and idealistic as to reject the imperial heritage ; many Liberals such as H.H. Asquith became active imperialists. Liberal Party policy around 1880 was shaped by William Gladstone as he repeatedly attacked Disraeli 's imperialism. On the other hand, national interest was always paramount, and the Liberals were quick to seek common ground with the Conservatives in regard to the Berlin Treaty, in which the party lost the moral high ground as a critic of imperialism. Free trade imperialism Britain, in addition to taking control of new territories, developed an enormous power in economic and financial affairs in numerous independent countries, especially in Latin America and Asia. It lent money, built railways, and engaged in trade. The Great London Exhibition of 1851 clearly demonstrated Britain 's dominance in engineering, communications and industry ; that lasted until the rise of the United States and Germany in the 1890s. Splendid isolation Historians agree that Lord Salisbury as foreign minister and prime minister 1885 - 1902 was a strong and effective leader in foreign affairs. He had a superb grasp of the issues, and proved : a patient, pragmatic practitioner, with a keen understanding of Britain 's historic interests... He oversaw the partition of Africa, the emergence of Germany and the United States as imperial powers, and the transfer of British attention from the Dardanelles to Suez without provoking a serious confrontation of the great powers. In 1890 -- 1902 under Salisbury, Britain promoted a policy of Splendid isolation with no formal allies. Britain and Germany each tried to improve relations, but British distrust of the Kaiser ran deep. The main accomplishment was an 1890 treaty that exchanged Germany 's Zanzibar colony in Africa for the Heligoland islands, off Hamburg, which were essential to the security of Germany 's ports. The Kaiser did indeed meddle in Africa in support of the Boers, which soured relations. British - French relations took a turn for worse when France declared war on Siam in 1893, which London saw as a threat to India. The Eastern Question Main articles : Eastern Question ; Russo - Turkish War, 1877 -- 1878 ; and Congress of Berlin `` The Russian menace : a Serio - Comic War Map for the Year 1877 '' an English cartoon from 1877 showing Russia as a monstrous octopus devouring neighbouring lands, especially the Ottoman Empire. The `` Eastern Question '' involved the slow steady disintegration of the `` Sick man of Europe '' ( the Ottoman Empire, often called `` Turkey '' ), the rise of nationalism in the Balkans, and the general issue of alliances in Eastern Europe. In the 1870s the `` Eastern Question '' focused on the mistreatment of Christians in the Balkans by the Ottoman Empire, and what the European great powers ought to do about it. In 1876 Serbia and Montenegro declared war on Turkey, and were badly defeated, notably at the battle of Alexinatz ( Sept. 1, 1876 ). Gladstone published an angry pamphlet on `` The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East, '' which aroused enormous agitation in Britain against Turkish misrule, and complicated the Disraeli government 's policy of supporting Turkey against Russia. Russia, which supported Serbia, threatened war against Turkey. In August 1877, Russia declared war on Turkey, and steadily defeated its armies. In early January 1878 Turkey asked for an armistice ; the British fleet arrived at Constantinople too late. Russia and Turkey on March 3 signed the Treaty of San Stefano, which was highly advantageous to Russia, Serbia, and Montenegro, as well as Romania and Bulgaria. Britain, France, and Austria opposed the Treaty of San Stefano because it gave Russia too much influence in the Balkans, where insurrections were frequent. War threatened. After numerous attempts a grand diplomatic settlement was reached at the Congress of Berlin ( June -- July 1878 ). The new Treaty of Berlin revised the earlier treaty. Germany 's Otto von Bismarck ( 1815 -- 98 ) presided over the congress and brokered the compromises. One result was that Austria took control of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, intending to eventually merge them into the Austro - Hungarian Empire. Bosnia was eventually annexed by Austria - Hungary in 1908. Bosnian Serbs assassinated Austria 's heir presumptive, Franz Ferdinand, in 1914 and the result was the First World War. Minority rights Main article : Minority Treaties The 1878 Treaty of Berlin had a new type of provision that protected minorities in the Balkans and newly independent states Great Power recognition was nominally conditional on the promise of guarantees of religious and civic freedoms for local religious minorities. Historian Carol Fink argues : `` the imposed clauses on minority rights became requirements not only for recognition but were also, as in the cases of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania, conditions for receiving specific grants of territory. Fink reports that these provisions were generally not enforced -- no suitable mechanism existed and the Great Powers had little interest in doing so. Protections were part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and became increasingly important after World War II. British policies Britain stayed aloof from alliances in the late 19th century, with an independence made possible by its island location, its dominant navy, its dominant position in finance and trade, and its strong industrial base. It rejected tariffs and practiced free trade. After losing power in Britain in 1874, Liberal leader Gladstone returned to center stage in 1876 by calling for a moralistic foreign policy, as opposed to the realism of his great adversary Benjamin Disraeli. The issue drew the party line between Gladstone 's Liberals ( who denounced the immoral Ottomans ) and Disraeli 's Conservatives ( who downplayed the atrocities and supported the Ottoman Empire as an offset to Russian power ). Disraeli had threatened war with Russia on the issue and Gladstone argued he was wrong. Liberal opinion was convulsed by atrocities in the Balkans, in particular the massacre of more than 10,000 Christian Bulgars by Turkish irregulars. Gladstone denounced the Turks as `` abominable and bestial lusts... at which Hell itself might almost blush '' and demanded they withdraw from European soil. The pamphlet sold an astonishing 200,000 copies. The climax was his `` Midlothian campaign '' of 1880 when he charged Disraeli 's government with financial incompetency, neglecting domestic legislation, and mismanagement of foreign affairs. Gladstone felt a call from God to aid the Serbians and Bulgarians ( who were Eastern Orthodox Christians ) ; he spoke out like some ancient Hebrew prophet denouncing tyranny and oppression. The real audience was not the local electorate but Britain as a whole, especially the evangelical elements. By appealing to vast audiences denouncing Disraeli 's pro-Turkish foreign policy, Gladstone made himself a moral force in Europe, unified his party, and was carried back to power. German policy, 1872 -- 1890 Chancellor Bismarck took full charge of German foreign policy from 1870 to his dismissal in 1890. His goal, as described in the Kissingen Dictation ( Kissinger Diktat ), was a peaceful Europe, based on the balance of power, with Germany playing a central role ; his policy was a success. Germany had the strongest economy on the Continent and the strongest military. Bismarck made clear to all that Germany had no wish to add any territory in Europe, and he tried to oppose German colonial expansion. Bismarck feared that a hostile combination of Austria, France and Russia could overwhelm Germany. If two of them were allied, then the third would ally with Germany only if Germany conceded excessive demands. The solution was to ally with two of the three. In 1873 he formed the League of the Three Emperors, an alliance of the kaiser of Germany, the tsar of Russia, and the emperor of Austria - Hungary. Together they would control Eastern Europe, making sure that restive ethnic groups such as the Poles were kept in control. The Balkans posed a more serious issue, and Bismarck 's solution was to give Austria predominance in the western areas, and Russia in the eastern areas. The system collapsed in 1887. Kaiser Wilhelm ousted Bismarck in 1890 and developed his own aggressive foreign policy. The Kaiser rejected the Russian alliance, and Russia in turn turned to an alliance with France. War in Sight crisis of 1875 Between 1873 and 1877, Germany repeatedly intervened in the internal affairs of France 's neighbors. In Belgium, Spain, and Italy, Bismarck exerted strong and sustained political pressure to support the election or appointment of liberal, anticlerical governments. This was part of an integrated strategy to promote republicanism in France by strategically and ideologically isolating the clerical - monarchist regime of President Patrice de Mac - Mahon. It was hoped that by ringing France with a number of liberal states, French republicans could defeat MacMahon and his reactionary supporters. The modern concept of containment provides a useful model for understanding the dynamics of this policy. Containment almost got out of hand in 1875 in the `` War in Sight '' crisis. It was sparked by an editorial entitled `` Krieg - in - Sicht '' in an influential Berlin newspaper the Post. It indicated some highly influential Germans, alarmed by France 's rapid recovery from defeat in 1871 and its rearmament program, talked of launching a preventive war against France to hold it down. There was a war scare in Germany and France, and Britain and Russia made it clear they would not tolerate a preventive war. Bismarck did not want any war either, but the unexpected crisis forced him to take into account the fear and alarm that his bullying and Germany 's fast - growing power was causing among its neighbors. The crisis reinforced Bismarck 's determination that Germany had to work in proactive fashion to preserve the peace in Europe, rather than passively let events take their own course and react to them. The alliance between Russia and France, 1894 -- 1914 The central development in Russian foreign policy was to move away from Germany and toward France. Russia had never been friendly with France, and remembered the wars in the Crimea and the Napoleonic invasion ; it saw Paris as a dangerous font of subversion and ridiculed the weak governments there. France, which had been shut out of the entire alliance system by Bismarck, decided to improve relations with Russia. It lent money to the Russians, expanded trade, and began selling warships after 1890. Meanwhile, after Bismarck lost office in 1890, there was no renewal of the Reinsurance treaty between Russia and Germany. The German bankers stopped lending to Russia, which increasingly depended on Paris banks. In 1894 a secret treaty stipulated that Russia would come to the aid of France if France was attacked by Germany. Another stipulation was that in a war against Germany, France would immediately mobilize 1.3 million men, while Russia would mobilize 700,000 to 800,000. It provided that if any of the Triple Alliance ( Germany, Austria, Italy ) mobilized its reserves in preparation for war, then both Russia and France would mobilize theirs. `` The mobilization is the declaration of war, '' the French chief of staff told Tsar Alexander III in 1892. `` To mobilize is to oblige one 's neighbor to do the same. '' This set up the tripwire for July 1914. George F. Kennan argues that Russia was primarily responsible for the collapse of Bismarck 's alliance policy in Europe, and starting the downward slope to the First World War. Kennan blames poor Russian diplomacy centered on its ambitions in the Balkans. Kennan says Bismarck 's foreign policy was designed to prevent any major war even in the face of improved Franco - Russian relations. Russia left Bismarck 's Three Emperors ' League ( with Germany and Austria ) and instead took up the French proposal for closer relationships and a military alliance. Balkan wars Main article : Balkan Wars The continuing collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to two wars in the Balkans, in 1912 and 1913, which in turn was a prelude to world war. By 1900 nation states had formed in Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. Nevertheless, many of their ethnic compatriots lived under the control of the Ottoman Empire. In 1912, these countries formed the Balkan League. There were three main causes of the First Balkan War. The Ottoman Empire was unable to reform itself, govern satisfactorily, or deal with the rising ethnic nationalism of its diverse peoples. Secondly, the Great Powers quarreled among themselves and failed to ensure that the Ottomans would carry out the needed reforms. This led the Balkan states to impose their own solution. Most important, the members of the Balkan League were confident that it could defeat the Turks. Their prediction was accurate, as Constantinople called for terms after six weeks of fighting. The First Balkan War broke out when the League attacked the Ottoman Empire on 8 October 1912 and was ended seven months later by the Treaty of London. After five centuries, the Ottoman Empire lost virtually all of its possessions in the Balkans. The Treaty had been imposed by the Great Powers, and the victorious Balkan states were dissatisfied with it. Bulgaria was dissatisfied over the division of the spoils in Macedonia, made in secret by its former allies, Serbia and Greece, and attacked them in order to force them out of Macedonia. The Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked into Bulgaria, while Romania and the Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgaria and gained ( or regained ) territory. In the resulting Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria lost most of the territories it had gained in the First Balkan War. The long - term result was heightened tension in the Balkans. Relations between Austria and Serbia became increasingly bitter. Russia felt humiliated after Austria and Germany prevented it from helping Serbia. Bulgaria and Turkey were also dissatisfied, and eventually joined Austria and Germany in the First World War. Coming of World War Main article : Causes of World War I European diplomatic alignments shortly before the war. The main causes of World War I, which broke out unexpectedly in central Europe in summer 1914, included many factors, such as the conflicts and hostility of the four decades leading up to the war. Militarism, alliances, imperialism, and ethnic nationalism played major roles. However the immediate origins of the war lay in the decisions taken by statesmen and generals during the Crisis of 1914, which was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand ( the Archduke of Austria Hungary ) by a Serbian secret organization, the Black Hand. By the 1870s or 1880s all the major powers were preparing for a large - scale war, although none expected one. Britain focused on building up its Royal Navy, already stronger than the next two navies combined. Germany, France, Austria, Italy and Russia, and some smaller countries, set up conscription systems whereby young men would serve from 1 to 3 years in the army, then spend the next 20 years or so in the reserves with annual summer training. Men from higher social statuses became officers. Each country devised a mobilisation system whereby the reserves could be called up quickly and sent to key points by rail. Every year the plans were updated and expanded in terms of complexity. Each country stockpiled arms and supplies for an army that ran into the millions. Germany in 1874 had a regular professional army of 420,000 with an additional 1.3 million reserves. By 1897 the regular army was 545,000 strong and the reserves 3.4 million. The French in 1897 had 3.4 million reservists, Austria 2.6 million, and Russia 4.0 million. The various national war plans had been perfected by 1914, albeit with Russia and Austria trailing in effectiveness. All plans called for a decisive opening and a short war. France The long - term French reaction to defeat in the Franco - Prussian war of 1870 - 71 was Revanchism : a deep sense of bitterness, hatred and demand for revenge against Germany, especially because of the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. Paintings that emphasized the humiliation of the defeat came in high demand, such as those by Alphonse de Neuville. French foreign policy was based on a fear of Germany -- whose larger size and fast - growing economy could not be matched -- combined in the 1870s with a revanchism that demanded the return of Alsace and Lorraine. Apart perhaps from the German threat, most Frenchmen ignored foreign affairs and colonial issues. In 1914 the chief pressure group was the Parti colonial, a coalition of 50 organizations with a combined total of 5000 members. France had colonies in Asia and looked for alliances and found in Japan a possible ally. At Japan 's request Paris sent military missions in 1872 -- 1880, in 1884 -- 1889 and in 1918 -- 1919 to help modernize the Japanese army. Conflicts with China over Indochina climaxed during the Sino - French War ( 1884 -- 1885 ). Admiral Courbet destroyed the Chinese fleet anchored at Foochow. The treaty ending the war, put France in a protectorate over northern and central Vietnam, which it divided into Tonkin and Annam. Franco - Russian alliance Main article : Franco - Russian Alliance France was deeply split between the monarchists on one side, and the Republicans on the other. The Republicans at first seemed highly unlikely to welcome any military alliance with Russia. That large nation was poor and not industrialized ; it was intensely religious and authoritarian, with no sense of democracy or freedom for its peoples. It oppressed Poland, and exiled, and even executed political liberals and radicals. At a time when French Republicans were rallying in the Dreyfus affair against anti-Semitism, Russia was the most notorious center in the world of anti-Semitic outrages, including multiple murderous large - scale pogroms against the Jews. On the other hand, France was increasingly frustrated by Bismarck 's success in isolating it diplomatically. France had issues with Italy, which was allied with Germany and Austria - Hungary in the Triple Alliance. Paris made a few overtures to Berlin, but they were rebuffed, and after 1900 there was a threat of war between France and Germany over Germany 's attempt to deny French expansion into Morocco. Great Britain was still in its `` splendid isolation '' mode and after a major agreement in 1890 with Germany, it seemed especially favorable toward Berlin. Colonial conflicts in Africa brought Britain and France to a major crisis The Fashoda crisis of 1898 brought Britain and France almost to the brink of war and ended with a humiliation of France that left it hostile to Britain. By 1892 Russia was the only opportunity for France to break out of its diplomatic isolation. Russia had been allied with Germany the new Kaiser Wilhelm removed Bismarck in 1890 and in 1892 ended the `` Reinsurance treaty '' with Russia. Russia was now alone diplomatically and like France, it needed a military alliance to contain the threat of Germany 's strong army and military aggressiveness. The pope, angered by German anti-Catholicism, worked diplomatically to bring Paris and St. Petersburg together. Russia desperately needed money for our infrastructure of railways and ports facilities. The German government refused to allow its banks to lend money to Russia, but French banks eagerly did so. For example, it funded the essential trans - Siberian railway. Negotiations were increasingly successful, and by 1895. France and Russia had signed the Franco - Russian Alliance, a strong military alliance to join together in war if Germany attacked either of them. France had finally escaped its diplomatic isolation. In its continuing effort to isolate Germany, France went to great pains to woo Great Britain, notably in the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Great Britain, and finally the Anglo - Russian Entente in 1907 which became the Triple Entente. Paris and London had a high level military discussions about coordination in a joint war against Germany. By 1914, Russia and France worked together and Britain Was hostile enough toward Germany to join them as soon as Germany invaded Belgium. Anglo - German relations deteriorate : 1880 - 1904 In the 1880s relations between Britain and Germany improved as the key policy - makers, Prime Minister Lord Salisbury and Chancellor Bismarck were both realistic conservatives and largely in agreement on policies. There were several proposals for a formal treaty relationship between Germany and Britain, but they went nowhere ; Britain preferred to stand in what it called `` splendid isolation. '' Nevertheless, a series of developments steadily improved their relations down to 1890, when Bismarck was fired by the aggressive new Kaiser Wilhelm II. In January 1896 he escalated tensions with his Kruger telegram congratulating Boer President Kruger of the Transvaal for beating off the Jameson raid. German officials in Berlin had managed to stop the Kaiser from proposing a German protectorate over the Transvaal. In the Second Boer War, Germany sympathised with the Boers. In 1897 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz became German Naval Secretary of State and began the transformation of German Navy from small, coastal defence force to a fleet meant to challenge British naval power. Tirpitz calls for Riskflotte ( Risk Fleet ) that would make it too risky for Britain to take on Germany as part of wider bid to alter the international balance of power decisively in Germany 's favour. At the same time German foreign minister Bernhard von Bülow called for Weltpolitik ( World politics ). It was the new policy of Germany to assert its claim to be a global power. Bismarck 's conservativism was abandoned as Germany was intent on challenging and upsetting international order. Thereafter relations deteriorated steadily. London began to see Berlin as a hostile force and moved to friendlier relationships with France. Two crises in Morocco Morocco on the northwest coast of Africa, was the last major territory in Africa not controlled by colonial power. Francis said in financiers advisors and military consultants, had stirred up trouble locally, and now was prepared to move in to ensure domestic tranquility and, eventually, to add Morocco to the French Empire. Germany did not want Morocco itself, but felt embarrassed that France was making gains while Germany was not. On 31 March 1905, Germany 's Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Morocco 's capital, Tangier, and delivered a sabre - rattling speech demanding an international conference to ensure Morocco 's independence, with war the alternative. Germany 's goal in the First Moroccan Crisis was to enhance its prestige and diminish the Entente Cordiale linking Britain and France. Historian Heather Jones argues that Germany 's use of warlike rhetoric was a deliberate diplomatic ploy : Another German strategy was to stage dramatic gestures, and dangerously play up the threat of war, in the belief that this would impress upon other European powers the importance of consultation with Germany on imperial issues : the fact that France had not considered it necessary to make a bilateral agreement with Germany over Morocco rankled, especially given Germany was deeply insecure about its newly acquired Great Power status. Hence Germany opted for an increase in belligerent rhetoric and, theatrically, Kaiser Wilhelm II dramatically interrupted a Mediterranean cruise to visit Tangier, where he declared Germany 's support for the Sultan 's independence and integrity of his kingdom, turning Morocco overnight into an international ' crisis. ' Germany 's plan backfired when Britain made it clear that in the event of a German attack on France, Britain would intervene on France 's side. In 1906 the Algeciras Conference ended the crisis with a stinging diplomatic defeat for Germany as France gained the dominant role in Morocco. The experience brought London and Paris much closer and set up the presumption they would be allies if Germany attacked either one. The German adventure resulted in failure as Germany was left more isolated and alienated. A momentous consequence was the heightened sense of frustration and readiness for war in Germany. It spread beyond the political elite to much of the press and most of the political parties except for the Liberals and Social Democrats on the left. The Pan-German element grew in strength and denounced their government 's retreat as treason, stepping up chauvinistic support for war. In the Agadir Crisis of 1911 France strong - armed itself into seizing more control over Morocco. The German Foreign Minister Alfred von Kiderlen - Waechter was not opposed to these moves, but he felt Germany was entitled to some compensation elsewhere in Africa. He sent a small warship, made saber - rattling threats, and whipped up anger among German nationalists. France and Germany soon agreed on a compromise. However, the British cabinet was alarmed at Germany 's aggressiveness toward France. David Lloyd George made a dramatic `` Mansion House '' speech that denounced the German move as an intolerable humiliation. There was talk of war, and Germany backed down. Relations between Berlin and London remained sour. British - German naval race Main article : Anglo - German naval arms race The British Dreadnaught ( 1906 ) made all battleships obsolete because it had ten long - range 12 - inch big guns, mechanical computer - like range finders, high speed turbine engines that could make 21 knots, and armour plates 11 inches thick. After 1805 the dominance of Britain 's Royal Navy was unchallenged ; in the 1890s Germany decided to match it. Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz ( 1849 -- 1930 ) dominated German naval policy from 1897 until 1916. Before the Germany Empire formed in 1871, Prussia never had a real navy, nor did the other German states. Tirpitz turned the modest little fleet into a world - class force that could threaten the British Royal Navy. The British responded with new technology typified by the Dreadnaught revolution, and remained in the lead. Germany 's navy was not strong enough to confront the British in World War I ; the one great naval Battle of Jutland failed to end Britain 's control of the seas or break the stifling blockade. Germany turned to submarine warfare. The laws of war required an effort be made to allow passengers and crew to board lifeboats before sinking a ship. The Germans disregarded the law and in the most dramatic episode sank the Lusitania in 1915 in a few minutes. The U.S. demanded it stop, and Germany did so. Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff ( 1853 - 1919 ), chief of the admiralty staff, argued successfully in early 1917 to resume the attacks and thus starve the British. The German high command realized the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare meant war with the United States but calculated that American mobilization would be too slow to stop a German victory on the Western Front. The Great War Main article : Diplomatic history of World War I The Participants in World War I. Those fighting alongside the Allies are in green, the Central Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey. The First World War was a global conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918. It saw the Central Powers ( Germany and Austria - Hungary, later joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria ), fighting the `` Entente '' or `` Allied '' powers, led by Britain, Russia and France from 1914, who were later joined by Italy in 1915, and other countries such as Romania in 1916. The United States, initially neutral, tried to broker a settlement but in April, 1917, it declared war on Germany. The U.S. cooperated with the Allies but did not formally join them, and it negotiated peace separately. Despite overcoming Romania in 1916 and Russia in March 1918, the Central Powers collapsed in November, 1918 ; and Germany accepted an `` armistice '' that in practice was a total surrender. Much of the diplomatic efforts of the major powers was oriented toward learning neutral countries into the alliance with promises of rich territorial rewards. Britain, United States and Germany spent large sums funding their allies. Propaganda campaigns to maintain morale at home and undermine morale in the enemy camp, especially among minorities, was a priority for the major powers. They also engaged in subversion, by subsidizing political groups that try to overthrow the enemy regime, as the Bolsheviks did in Russia in 1917. Both sides made secret agreements with neutrals to entice them into joining the war in return for a slice of enemy territory after victory was achieved. Some land was promised to several nations, so some promises therefore had to be broken. That left permanent bitter legacies especially in Italy. Blaming the war in part on secret treaties, President Wilson called in his Fourteen Points for `` open covenants, openly arrived at. '' Paris peace Conference and Versailles Treaty 1919 Main article : Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Detail from William Orpen 's painting The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28th June 1919, showing the signing of the peace treaty by a minor German official opposite to the representatives of the winning powers. The world war was settled by the victors at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. 27 nations sent delegations, and there were many nongovernmental groups, but the defeated powers were not invited. The `` Big Four '' were President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Great Britain, George Clemenceau of France, and, of least importance, Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando. They met together informally 145 times and made all the major decisions, which in turn were ratified by the others. The major decisions were the creation of the League of Nations ; the five peace treaties with defeated enemies ( most notably the Treaty of Versailles with Germany ) ; heavy reparations imposed on Germany ; the awarding of German and Ottoman overseas possessions as `` mandates '', chiefly to Britain and France ; and the drawing of new national boundaries ( sometimes with plebiscites ) to better reflect the forces of nationalism. In the `` guilt clause '' ( section 231 ), the war was blamed on `` aggression by Germany and her allies. '' Germany only paid a small fraction of the reparations before they were suspended in 1931. See also Diplomatic history of World War I Diplomatic history of World War II History of French foreign relations History of German foreign policy Foreign policy of the Russian Empire Historiography of the British Empire History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom International relations ( 1919 -- 1939 ) Pax Britannica Timeline of British diplomatic history Timeline of imperialism Timeline of United States diplomatic history History of Europe European balance of power Foreign relations of Italy Notes Jump up ^ Carlton J.H. Hayes, A Generation of Materialism : 1871 -- 1900 ( 1941 ) pp 16 -- 17. Jump up ^ Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland remained neutral throughout the war. Jump up ^ Frederick B. Artz, Reaction and Revolution : 1814 -- 1832 ( 1934 ) p 110 Jump up ^ Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics : 1763 -- 1848 ( 1996 ) is an advanced history of diplomacy Jump up ^ René Albrecht - Carrié, A Diplomatic history of Europe since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ) pp 9 -- 16. Jump up ^ Heinz Waldner, ed. ( 1983 ). The League of Nations in retrospect. Walter De Gruyter. p. 21. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 1 -- 27. Jump up ^ Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 -- 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 33 -- 35. ^ Jump up to : C.W. Crawley, `` International Relations, 1815 -- 1830 '' in C.W. Crawley, ed., The New Cambridge Modern History : Volume 9, War and Peace in an Age of Upheaval, 1793 - 1830. ( 1965 ) pp 669 -- 671, 676 -- 677, 683 -- 686. ^ Jump up to : Roy Bridge, `` Allied Diplomacy in Peacetime : The Failure of the Congress ' System, ' 1815 -- 23 '' in Alan Sked, ed., Europe 's Balance of Power, 1815 -- 1848 ( 1979 ), pp 34 -- 53 Jump up ^ Artz, Reaction and Revolution : 1814 -- 1832 ( 1934 ) pp 110 -- 118 Jump up ^ Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics : 1763 -- 1848 ( 1996 ) pp 517 -- 82 Jump up ^ Henry Kissinger, A World Restored : Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812 -- 22 ( 1957 ). Jump up ^ Gordon Craig, `` The System of Alliances and the Balance of Power. '' in J.P.T. Bury, ed., The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 10 : The Zenith of European Power, 1830 -- 70 ( 1960 ) p 266. Jump up ^ Frederick B. Artz, Reaction & Revolution : 1814 -- 1832 ( 1934 ) p 170. Jump up ^ Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics : 1763 -- 1848 ( 1996 ) p 800. Jump up ^ Rich, Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 28 -- 43. Jump up ^ Boyd Hilton ( 2006 ). A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People ? : England 1783 - 1846. Oxford U.P. pp. 290 -- 93. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ Falola, Toyin ; Warnock, Amanda ( 2007 ). Encyclopedia of the middle passage. Greenwood Press. pp. xxi, xxxiii -- xxxiv. ISBN 9780313334801. Jump up ^ David Head, Slave Smuggling by Foreign Privateers : The Illegal Slave Trade and the Geopolitics of the Early Republic, '' Journal of the Early Republic ( 2013 ) 33 # 3 p 538 Jump up ^ Seymour Drescher, Abolition : A History of Slavery and Antislavery ( Cambridge University Press, 2009 ) Jump up ^ John Lynch, The Spanish American Revolutions 1808 -- 1826 ( 2nd ed. 1986 ) Jump up ^ John Lynch, ed. Latin American Revolutions, 1808 -- 1826 : Old and New World Origins ( 1994 ), scholarly essays. Jump up ^ Raymond Carr, Spain, 1808 -- 1975 ( 2nd ed., 1982 ) pp 101 -- 05, 122 -- 23, 143 -- 46, 306 -- 09, 379 -- 88 Jump up ^ Rich, ' Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 44 - 57. Jump up ^ Henry Kissinger, A world restored : Metternich, Castlereagh, and the problems of peace, 1812 - 22 ( 1957 ) pp 286 - 311. Jump up ^ Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics : 1763 -- 1848 ( 1996 ) pp 637 - 64 / Jump up ^ Paul Hayes, Modern British Foreign Policy : The nineteenth century, 1814 - 80 ( 1975 ) pp 155 - 73. Jump up ^ Douglas Dakin, Greek Struggle for Independence : 1821 - 1833 ( U of California Press, 1973 ). Jump up ^ Douglass North, `` Ocean Freight Rates and Economic Development 1730 - 1913. '' Journal of Economic History ( 1958 ) 18 # 4 pp : 537 - 555. links Jump up ^ Daniel R. Headrick and Pascal Griset. `` Submarine telegraph cables : Business and politics, 1838 -- 1939. '' Business History Review 75 # 3 ( 2001 ) : 543 - 578. in JSTOR Jump up ^ Carlo Beltrame, ed. ( 2016 ). Boats, Ships and Shipyards : Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Venice 2000. p. 203. CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Carl C. Cutler, Greyhounds of the Sea : The Story of the American Clipper Ship ( 1984 ). Jump up ^ Joel Mokyr, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History ( 2003 ) 3 : 366 Jump up ^ Daniel R. Headrick, The Tentacles of Progress : Technology Transfer in the Age of Imperialism, 1850 - 1940 ( 1988 ) pp 18 - 49 Jump up ^ Max E. Fletcher, `` The Suez Canal and World Shipping, 1869 - 1914. '' Journal of Economic History ( 1958 ) 18 $4 pp : 556 - 573. in JSTOR Jump up ^ Gerald S. Graham, `` The Ascendancy of the Sailing Ship 1850 ‐ 1885. '' Economic History Review ( 1956 ) 9 # 1 pp : 74 - 88. in JSTOR Jump up ^ William Bernstein ( 2009 ). A Splendid Exchange : How Trade Shaped the World. Grove / Atlantic. pp. 326 -- 28. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ Craig L. Symonds ; William J. Clipson ( 2001 ). The Naval Institute Historical Atlas of the U.S. Navy. Naval Institute Press. pp. 72 -- 74. Jump up ^ Ramon Knauerhase, `` The Compound Steam Engine and Productivity Changes in the German Merchant Marine Fleet, 1871 -- 1887. '' Journal of Economic History ( 1968 ) 28 # 3 pp : 390 - 403. in JSTOR Jump up ^ Peter McOwat, `` The King Edward and the development of the Mercantile Marine Steam Turbine. '' Mariner 's Mirror ( 2002 ) 88 # 3 pp : 301 - 306. online Jump up ^ Tom Standage, `` The Victorian Internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century 's online pioneers, '' ( 1998 ). Jump up ^ Jill Hills, The struggle for control of global communication : The formative century ( 2002 ). Jump up ^ Simone Müller, `` The Transatlantic Telegraphs and the '' Class of 1866 `` -- the Formative Years of Transnational Networks in Telegraphic Space, 1858 - 1884 / 89. '' Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung ( 2010 ) : 237 - 259. Jump up ^ Daniel R. Headrick, The Invisible Weapon : Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851 - 1945 ( 1991 ) pp 11 - 49 Jump up ^ Orlando Figes, The Crimean War : A History ( 2010 ) Jump up ^ Rich, ' Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 101 - 22. Jump up ^ Hull, Isabel V. ( 2014 ). A Scrap of Paper : Breaking and Making International Law during the Great War. Cornell University Press. p. 17. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ David Brown, `` Palmerston and Anglo -- French Relations, 1846 -- 1865, '' Diplomacy and Statecraft ( 2006 ) 17 # 4 pp 675 - 692 Jump up ^ René Albrecht - Carrié, A Diplomatic history of Europe since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ) pp 33 - 36. Jump up ^ E.H. Kossmann, The Low Countries 1780 - 1940 ( 1978 ) pp 151 - 54 Jump up ^ Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics 1763 - 1848 ( 1994 ) pp 671 - 91 Jump up ^ Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700 -- 1922 ( 2000 ). Jump up ^ Rich, ' Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 69 - 77. Jump up ^ David Steele, `` Three British Prime Ministers and the Survival of the Ottoman Empire, 1855 -- 1902. '' Middle Eastern Studies 50.1 ( 2014 ) : 43 - 60. Jump up ^ Leopold von Ranke, A History of Serbia and the Serbian Revolution ( London : John Murray, 1847 ) Jump up ^ `` Batakovic - Home ''. Jump up ^ `` The Serbian Revolution and the Serbian State ''. Jump up ^ Plamen Mitev ( 2010 ). Empires and Peninsulas : Southeastern Europe Between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699 - 1829. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 147ff. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20120306131543/http://www.ius.bg.ac.rs/Anali/A2010-1/abstract2010-1.htm. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2015. Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ `` Serbian Revolution : Negotiations Legal Status Of Serbia ''. Jump up ^ A.J.P. Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe : 1848 -- 1918 ( 1954 ) pp 62 -- 82 Jump up ^ A.J.P. Taylor, `` The war that would not boil, '' History Today ( 1951 ) 1 # 2 pp 23 -- 31. Jump up ^ Orlando Figes, The Crimean War : A History ( 2011 ). Jump up ^ Harold Temperley, `` The Treaty of Paris of 1856 and Its Execution, '' Journal of Modern History ( 1932 ) 4 # 3 pp. 387 -- 414 in JSTOR Jump up ^ A.W. Ward ; G.P. Gooch ( 1970 ). The Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy, 1783 -- 1919. Cambridge U.P,. pp. 390 -- 91. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ Stephen J. Leem Aspects of European History 1789 -- 1980 ( 2001 ) pp 67 -- 74 Jump up ^ Keith M. Hitchins, The Romanians, 1774 -- 1866 ( 1996 ) online Jump up ^ Keith Hitchins, Rumania, 1866 -- 1947 ( 1994 ) online Jump up ^ J.P.T. Bury, `` Nationality and nationalism, '' in J.P.T. Bury, ed., New Cambridge Modern History : vol X The Zenith of European Power 1830 - 70 ( 1960 ) 213 - 45. online Jump up ^ Derek Beales, England and Italy, 1859 - 60 ( 1961 ). Jump up ^ Niels Eichhorn, `` The Intervention Crisis of 1862 : A British Diplomatic Dilemma ? '' American Nineteenth Century History 15.3 ( 2014 ) : 287 - 310. Jump up ^ Keith A.P. Sandiford, Great Britain and the Schleswig - Holstein question, 1848 - 64 : a study in diplomacy, politics, and public opinion ( 1975 ). Jump up ^ Paul H. Scherer, `` Partner or Puppet ? Lord John Russell at the Foreign Office, 1859 -- 1862. '' Albion 19 # 3 ( 1987 ) : 347 - 371. Jump up ^ John B. Wolf, France : 1814 - 1919 ( 2nd ed. 1963 ) 302 - 348 Jump up ^ Theodore Zeldin, France, 1848 - 1945 : Ambition, love and politics ( 1973 ) pp 558 - 60 Jump up ^ Jonathan Philip Parry, `` The impact of Napoleon III on British politics, 1851 -- 1880. '' Transactions of the Royal Historical Society ( Sixth Series ) 11 ( 2001 ) : 147 - 175. online Jump up ^ Taylor, Struggle for Mastery, pp 171 - 227 Jump up ^ A.J.P. Taylor, Europe : Grandeur and Decline ( 1967 ) p 64 for quote. Jump up ^ Martin Collier, Italian Unification 1820 - 71 ( 2003 ) Jump up ^ Taylor, Struggle for Mastery pp 99 - 125 Jump up ^ R.B. Mowat, A history of European diplomacy, 1815 - 1914 ( 1922 ) pp 115 - 63 online free Jump up ^ Rich, Great Power Diplomacy 1814 - 1914 pp 123 - 46 Jump up ^ E.E.Y. Hales ( 1954 ). Pio Nono : A Study in European Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth Century. Jump up ^... Italy sixth great power... Jump up ^ Lynn Marshall Case and Warren F. Spencer, The United States and France : Civil War Diplomacy ( 1970 ) Jump up ^ Rich, Great Power Diplomacy 1814 - 1914 pp 147 - 66. Jump up ^ Howard Jones, Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth of Freedom : The Union and Slavery in the Diplomacy of the Civil War ( 2002 ) Jump up ^ Amanda Foreman, A World on Fire : Britain 's Crucial Role in the American Civil War ( 2012 ) Jump up ^ Frank J. Merli ; David M. Fahey ( 2004 ). The Alabama, British Neutrality, and the American Civil War. Indiana U.P. p. 19. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ Albrecht - Carrié, A Diplomatic history of Europe since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ) pp 121 - 44. Jump up ^ A.J.P. Taylor, Struggle for Mastery of Europe : 1848 - 1918 pp 171 -- 219 Jump up ^ J.V. Clardy, `` Austrian Foreign Policy During the Schleswig - Holstein Crisis Of 1864 : An Exercise in Reactive Planning and Negative Formulations, '' Diplomacy & Statecraft ( 1991 ) 2 # 2 pp 254 - 269. Jump up ^ Geoffrey Wawro, The Franco - Prussian War ( 2003 ) excerpt and text search Jump up ^ Rich, Great Power Diplomacy 1814 - 1914 pp 184 - 217 Jump up ^ A.J.P. Taylor, Struggle for Mastery of Europe : 1848 -- 1918 pp 171 -- 219 Jump up ^ Albrecht - Carrié, A Diplomatic history of Europe since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ) pp 145 - 57. Jump up ^ Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe : 1848 -- 1918 ( 1954 ) pp 201 - 24. Jump up ^ Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire : 1875 -- 1914 ( 1987 ), p. 312. Jump up ^ Theodore Zeldin, France, 1848 - 1945 : Volume II : Intellect, Taste, and Anxiety ( 1977 ) 2 : 117. Jump up ^ Carlton J.H. Hayes, A Generation of Materialism, 1871 - 1900 ( 1941 ), pp 1 - 2. Jump up ^ Mark Hewitson, `` Germany and France before the First World War : A Reassessment of Wilhelmine Foreign Policy '' English Historical Review ( 2000 ) 115 # 462 pp. 570 - 606 in JSTOR Jump up ^ J.A. Spender, Fifty Years of Europe : A study in pre-war documents ( 1933 ) pp 21 - 27 Jump up ^ Hayes, A Generation of Materialism, 1871 - 1900 ( 1941 ), pp 2 - 3. Jump up ^ Hayes, A Generation of Materialism, 1871 - 1900 ( 1941 ), pp 3 - 4. Jump up ^ Hayes, A Generation of Materialism, 1871 - 1900 ( 1941 ), p 4. Jump up ^ Hale, The Great Illusion : 1900 - 1914 pp 21 - 27. Jump up ^ Raymond F. Betts, Europe Overseas : Phases of Imperialism ( 1968 ) online Jump up ^ Oron J. Hale, The Great Illusion, 1900 - 14 ( 1971 ) pp 7 - 10. Jump up ^ The Russian Empire, Austria - Hungry, Ottoman Empire, Spain and Denmark are not included. U.S. Tariff Commission. Colonial tariff policies ( 1922 ), p. 5 online Jump up ^ Rich, ' Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 167 - 83. Jump up ^ Don H. Doyle ( 2014 ). The Cause of All Nations : An International History of the American Civil War. Basic Books. p. 303. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ Paul H. Reuter, `` United States - French Relations Regarding French Intervention in Mexico : From the Tripartite Treaty to Queretaro, '' Southern Quarterly ( 1965 ) 6 # 4 pp 469 -- 489 Jump up ^ Michele Cunningham, Mexico and the Foreign Policy of Napoleon III ( 2001 ) Jump up ^ A.J.P. Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848 - 1918 ( 1954 ) pp 286 - 92 Jump up ^ He adds, `` All the rest were maneuvers which left the combatants at the close of the day exactly where they had started. A.J.P. Taylor, `` International Relations '' in F.H. Hinsley, ed., The New Cambridge Modern History : XI : Material Progress and World - Wide Problems, 1870 - 98 ( 1962 ) : 554. Jump up ^ Taylor, `` International Relations '' p 554 Jump up ^ Thomas Pakenham, Scramble for Africa : The White Man 's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 - 1912 ( 1991 ) Jump up ^ T.G. Otte, `` From ' War - in - Sight ' to Nearly War : Anglo -- French Relations in the Age of High Imperialism, 1875 -- 1898, '' Diplomacy & Statecraft ( 2006 ) 17 # 4 pp 693 - 714. Jump up ^ D.W. Brogan, France under the Republic : The Development of Modern France ( 1870 - 1930 ) ( 1940 ) pp 321 - 26 Jump up ^ William L. Langer, The diplomacy of imperialism : 1890 - 1902 ( 1951 ) pp 537 - 80 Jump up ^ Robin Hallett, Africa Since 1875 : A Modern History, ( 1974 ) p. 560. Jump up ^ Hallett, Africa to 1875, pp. 560 -- 61 Jump up ^ R. Mugo Gatheru, Kenya : From Colonization to Independence, 1888 -- 1970 ( 2005 ) Jump up ^ John M. Mwaruvie, `` Kenya 's ' Forgotten ' Engineer and Colonial Proconsul : Sir Percy Girouard and Departmental Railway Construction in Africa, 1896 -- 1912. '' Canadian Journal of History 2006 41 ( 1 ) : 1 -- 22. Jump up ^ Charles Ralph Boxer, The Portuguese seaborne empire, 1415 - 1825 ( 1969 ). Jump up ^ A.R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire, Vol. 2 : From Beginnings to 1807 : the Portuguese empire ( 2009 ) excerpt and text search Jump up ^ Charles Ralph Boxer, The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415 - 1825 ( 1969 ) Jump up ^ H.V. Livermore, A New History of Portugal 1966 pp 299 - 306 Jump up ^ William G. Clarence - Smith, The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825 - 1975 : A Study in Economic Imperialism ( 1985 ) Jump up ^ Giuseppe Maria Finaldi, Italian National Identity in the Scramble for Africa : Italy 's African Wars in the Era of Nation - Building, 1870 - 1900 ( 2010 ) Jump up ^ William C. Askew, Europe and Italy 's Acquisition of Libya, 1911 - 1912 ( 1942 ) online Jump up ^ Andy Dailey, Move to Global War ( 2015 ) pp 9 - 53 on Japan 's expansion Jump up ^ David Wolff ; John W. Steinberg ( 2007 ). The Russo - Japanese War in Global Perspective : World War Zero. BRILL. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ George Kerr, Okinawa : The history of an island people ( Tuttle Publishing, 2013 ). Jump up ^ Langer, The Diplomacy of imperialism : 1890 - 1902 ( 1960 ) pp 167 - 94. Jump up ^ William T. Rowe ( 2010 ). China 's Last Empire : The Great Qing. Harvard UP. p. 234. Jump up ^ Jonathan Manthorpe, Forbidden Nation : A History of Taiwan ( 2008 ) excerpt and text search, Ch. 10 -- 12 Jump up ^ Manthorpe, Forbidden Nation : A History of Taiwan ( 2008 ) ch 13 Jump up ^ Hilary Conroy, The Japanese seizure of Korea, 1868 - 1910 : a study of realism and idealism in international relations ( 1960 ). Jump up ^ Rich, ' Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ) pp 300 - 28. Jump up ^ Turan Kayaoglu, Legal imperialism : sovereignty and extraterritoriality in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and China ( Cambridge University Press, 2010 ). Jump up ^ Kristoffer Cassel, Grounds of Judgment : Extraterritoriality and Imperial Power in Nineteenth - Century China and Japan ( Oxford University Press, 2012 ) Jump up ^ Yoneyuki Sugita, `` The Rise of an American Principle in China : A Reinterpretation of the First Open Door Notes toward China '' in Richard J. Jensen, Jon Thares Davidann, and Yoneyuki Sugita, eds. Trans - Pacific relations : America, Europe, and Asia in the twentieth century ( Greenwood, 2003 ) pp 3 -- 20 online Jump up ^ Bernard Semmel, The Rise of Free Trade Imperialism ( Cambridge University Press, 1970 ) ch 1 Jump up ^ David McLean, `` Finance and ' Informal Empire ' before the First World War, '' Economic History Review ( 1976 ) 29 # 2 pp 291 -- 305 in JSTOR. Jump up ^ Nancy W. Ellenberger, `` Salisbury '' in David Loades, ed. Reader 's Guide to British History ( 2003 ) 2 : 1154 Jump up ^ Margaret Macmillan, The War That Ended Peace : The Road to 1914 ( 2013 ) ch 2 Jump up ^ John Charmley, Splendid Isolation ? : Britain, the Balance of Power and the Origins of the First World War ( 1999 Jump up ^ Duane Niler Pyeatt, `` Heligoland and the making of the Anglo - German colonial agreement in 1890 ( MA thesis Texas Tech University, 1988 ) online Archived November 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Paul Hayes, Modern British Foreign Policy : The Twentieth Century 1880 - 1939 ( 1978 ) pp 48 - 55 Jump up ^ Langer, European Alliances, pp 89 -- 120 Jump up ^ William L. Langer, European Alliances and Alignments, 1871 - 1890 ( 2nd ed. 1950 ) pp 121 - 66 Jump up ^ Taylor, Struggle for Mastery pp 228 -- 54 ^ Jump up to : Matthew S. Anderson, The Eastern Question, 1774 - 1923 ( 1966 ) Jump up ^ Langer, European Alliances, pp 121 -- 66 Jump up ^ Carole Fink, Defending the Rights of Others : The Great Powers, the Jews, and International Minority Protection ( 2004 ). p 37. Jump up ^ Jennifer Jackson Preece, `` Minority rights in Europe : from Westphalia to Helsinki. '' Review of international studies 23 # 1 ( 1997 ) : 75 - 92. Jump up ^ Gladstone, Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East ( 1876 ) online edition Disraeli wisecracked, of all the Bulgarian horrors perhaps the pamphlet was greatest. Jump up ^ M.A. Fitzsimons, `` Midlothian : the Triumph and Frustration of the British Liberal Party, '' Review of Politics ( 1960 ) 22 # 2 pp 187 -- 201. in JSTOR Jump up ^ Erich Brandenburg, From Bismarck to the World War : A History of German Foreign Policy 1870 - 1914 ( 1927 ) pp 1 - 19. Jump up ^ Albrecht - Carrie, Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ) pp. 145 -- 206 Jump up ^ Raymond James Sontag, European Diplomatic History : 1871 -- 1932 ( 1933 ) pp 3 -- 58 Jump up ^ James Stone, `` Bismarck and the Containment of France, 1873 -- 1877, '' Canadian Journal of History ( 1994 ) 29 # 2 pp 281 -- 304 online Jump up ^ Lothar Gall, Bismarck : The White Revolutionary, Volume 2 : 1871 -- 1898 ( 1986 ) pp 46 -- 48 Jump up ^ Taylor, Struggle for Mastery, pp 225 -- 27 Jump up ^ William L. Langer, European Alliances and Alignments, 1871 -- 1890 ( 2nd ed. 1950 ) pp 44 -- 55 Jump up ^ T.G. Otte, `` From ' War - in - Sight ' to Nearly War : Anglo -- French Relations in the Age of High Imperialism, 1875 -- 1898, '' Diplomacy and Statecraft ( 2006 ) 17 # 4 pp 693 -- 714. Jump up ^ Barbara Jelavich, St. Petersburg and Moscow : Tsarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814 -- 1974 ( 1974 ) pp 213 -- 220 Jump up ^ Jack Beatty ( 2012 ). The Lost History of 1914 : Reconsidering the Year the Great War Began. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 59. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ For more elaborate detail, see Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe : 1848 -- 1918 ( 1954 ) pp 334 -- 345, and William L. Langer, The Diplomacy of Imperialism : 1890 -- 1902 ( 2nd ed, 1950 ) pp 3 -- 60 Jump up ^ George F. Kennan, The Decline of Bismarck 's European Order : Franco - Russian Relations, 1875 -- 1890 ( 1979 ) Jump up ^ Margaret Macmillan, The War That Ended Peace : The Road to 1914 ( 2013 ) ch 16 Jump up ^ Ernst C. Helmreich, The diplomacy of the Balkan wars, 1912 - 1913 ( 1938 ) Jump up ^ Richard C. Hall, The Balkan Wars, 1912 - 1913 : Prelude to the First World War ( 2000 ) online Jump up ^ Henig ( 2002 ). The origins of the First World War. London : Routledge. ISBN 0 - 415 - 26205 - 4. Jump up ^ Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers : How Europe Went to War in 1914 ( 2012 ) excerpt and text search ^ Jump up to : F.H. Hinsley, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 11 : Material Progress and World - Wide Problems, 1870 - 98 ( 1962 ) pp 204 - 42, esp 214 - 17 Jump up ^ Karine Varley, `` The Taboos of Defeat : Unmentionable Memories of the Franco - Prussian War in France, 1870 -- 1914. '' in Jenny Macleod, ed., Defeat and Memory : Cultural Histories of Military Defeat in the Modern Era ( Palgrave Macmillan, 2008 ) pp. 62 - 80 ; also Karine Varley, Under the Shadow of Defeat : The War of 1870 - 71 in French Memory ( 2008 ) Jump up ^ Robert Jay, `` Alphonse de Neuville 's ' The Spy ' and the Legacy of the Franco - Prussian War, '' Metropolitan Museum Journal ( 1984 ) 19 : pp. 151 - 162 in JSTOR Jump up ^ Margaret Macmillan, The War That Ended Peace : The Road to 1914 ( 2013 ) ch 6 Jump up ^ Anthony Adamthwaite, Grandeur and Misery : France 's Bid for Power in Europe, 1914 - 1940 ( 1995 ) p 6 Jump up ^ Frederic Wakeman, Jr., The Fall of Imperial China ( 1975 ) pp. 189 -- 191. Jump up ^ John B. Wolf, France 1814 - 1919 : The rise of a Liberal - Democratic Society ( 1963 ) Jump up ^ William L. Langer, The diplomacy of Imperialism : 1890 -- 1902 ( 1960 ), pp 3 - 66. Jump up ^ Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848 - 1918 ( 1954 ) pp 345, 403 - 26 Jump up ^ J.A.S. Grenville, Lord Salisbury and Foreign Policy : The Close of the Nineteenth Century ( 1964 ). Jump up ^ John Charmley, `` Splendid Isolation to Finest Hour : Britain as a Global Power, 1900 -- 1950. '' Contemporary British History 18.3 ( 2004 ) : 130 - 146. Jump up ^ William L. Langer, The diplomacy of imperialism : 1890 - 1902 ( 1951 ) pp 433 - 42. Jump up ^ Grenville, Lord Salisbury, pp 368 - 69. Jump up ^ Bernadotte Everly Schmitt, England and Germany, 1740 - 1914 ( 1916 ) pp 133 - 43. Jump up ^ Heather Jones, `` Algeciras Revisited : European Crisis and Conference Diplomacy, 16 January - 7 April 1906. '' ( EUI WorkingPaper MWP 2009 / 1, 2009 ), p 5 online Jump up ^ Margaret MacMillan, The War That Ended Peace : The Road to 1914 ( 2012 ) pp 378 -- 398. Jump up ^ Immanuel Geiss, German Foreign Policy 1871 -- 1914 ( 1976 ) 133 - 36. Jump up ^ Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers : How Europe Went to War in 1914 ( 2012 ) pp 204 - 13. Jump up ^ Frank Maloy Anderson, and Amos Shartle Hershey, eds. Handbook for the Diplomatic History of Europe, Asia, and Africa 1870 - 1914 ( 1918 ) online. Jump up ^ Michael Epkenhans, Tirpitz : Architect of the German High Seas Fleet ( 2008 ) excerpt and text search, pp 23 - 62 Jump up ^ Margaret Macmillan, The War That Ended Peace : The Road to 1914 ( 2013 ) ch 5 Jump up ^ Brandenburg, From Bismarck to the World War : A History of German Foreign Policy 1870 - 1914 ( 1927 ) pp 266 = 99, 394 - 417. Jump up ^ Dirk Steffen, `` The Holtzendorff Memorandum of 22 December 1916 and Germany 's Declaration of Unrestricted U-boat Warfare. '' Journal of Military History 68.1 ( 2004 ) : 215 - 224. excerpt Jump up ^ See The Holtzendorff Memo ( English translation ) with notes ^ Jump up to : John Horne, ed. A Companion to World War I ( 2012 ) Jump up ^ David Stevenson, The First World War and International Politics ( 1988 ). Jump up ^ J.A.S. Grenville, ed., The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century : A History and Guide with Texts, Vol. 1 ( Taylor & Francis, 2001 ) p. 61. Jump up ^ Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy : Since 1914 ( 2002 ) pp 12 - 20. Jump up ^ Margaret Macmillan, Peacemakers : The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War ( 2002 ) Jump up ^ Robert O. Paxton, and Julie Hessler. Europe in the Twentieth Century ( 2011 ) pp 141 - 78 excerpt and text search Jump up ^ by Rene Albrecht - Carrie, Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ) p 363 Jump up ^ Sally Marks, The Illusion of Peace : International Relations in Europe 1918 - 1933 ( 2nd ed. 2003 ) Jump up ^ Zara Steiner, The Lights that Failed : European International History 1919 - 1933 ( 2007 ) Further reading 1909 cartoon in Puck shows ( clockwise ) US, Germany, Britain, France and Japan engaged in naval race in a `` no limit '' game. Surveys New Cambridge Modern History ( 13 vol 1957 - 79 ), old but thorough coverage, mostly of Europe ; strong on diplomacy Bury, J.P.T. ed. The New Cambridge Modern History : Vol. 10 : the Zenith of European Power, 1830 - 70 ( 1964 ) online Craig, Gordon. `` The System of Alliances and the Balance of Power. '' in J.P.T. Bury, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 10 : The Zenith of European Power, 1830 - 70 ( 1960 ) pp 246 -- 73. Crawley, C.W., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History Volume IX War and Peace In An Age of Upheaval 1793 - 1830 ( 1965 ) online H.C. Darby and H. Fullard The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 14 : Atlas ( 1972 ) Hinsley, F.H., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, vol. 11, Material Progress and World - Wide Problems 1870 - 1898 ( 1979 ) online Mowat, C.L., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 12 : The Shifting Balance of World Forces, 1898 - 1945 ( 1968 ) online Abbenhuis, Maartje. An Age of Neutrals : Great Power Politics, 1815 - 1914 ( Cambridge UP, 2014 ). 297 pp. On the role of neutrality online review Albrecht - Carrié, René. A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna ( 1958 ), 736pp ; basic survey Anderson, Frank Maloy, and Amos Shartle Hershey, eds. Handbook for the Diplomatic History of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1870 - 1914 ( 1918 ), highly detailed summary prepared for use by the American delegation to the Paris peace conference of 1919. full text Bartlett, C.J. Peace, War and the European Powers, 1814 - 1914 ( 1996 ) brief overview 216pp Black, Jeremy. A History of Diplomacy ( 2010 ) ; Focus on how diplomats are organized Evans, Richard J. The Pursuit of Power : Europe 1815 - 1914 ( 2016 ), 934pp. Figes, Orlando. The Crimean War : A History ( 2011 ) excerpt and text search Gildea, Robert. Barricades and Borders : Europe 1800 - 1914 ( Short Oxford History of the Modern World ) ( 3rd ed. 2003 ) 544 pp excerpt and text search ; online 2nd ed, 1996 Gooch, G.P. History of Modern Europe : 1878 - 1919 ( 1923 ) online Haas, Mark L. The Ideological Origins of Great Power Politics, 1789 - 1989 ( Cornell UP, 2005 ), Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500 - 2000 ( 1987 ), stress on economic and military factors Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy ( 1995 ), 940pp ; not a memoir but an interpretive history of international diplomacy since the late 18th century Langer, William. An Encyclopedia of World History ( 5th ed. 1973 ) ; highly detailed outline of events online free Langer, William. European Alliances and Alignments 1870 - 1890 ( 1950 ) ; advanced history online Langer, William. The Diplomacy of Imperialism 1890 - 1902 ( 1950 ) ; advanced history online Mowat, R.B. A history of European diplomacy, 1815 - 1914 ( 1922 ) online free Petrie, Charles. Diplomatic History, 1713 - 1933 ( 1946 ) online free ; detailed summary Rich, Norman. Great Power Diplomacy : 1814 - 1914 ( 1992 ), comprehensive survey Schroeder, Paul W. The Transformation of European Politics 1763 - 1848 ( 1994 ) 920pp ; advanced history and analysis of major diplomacy online Schroeder, Paul W. `` International Politics, Peace, and War, 1815 - 1914, '' in T.C.W. Blanning, ed. The Nineteenth Century : Europe 1789 - 1914 ( Oxford UP Press, 2000 ) Seaman, L.C.B. From Vienna to Versailles ( 1955 ) 216pp ; brief overview of diplomatic history online Sontag, Raymond. European Diplomatic History : 1871 - 1932 ( 1933 ), basic summary ; 425pp online Spender, J.A. Fifty years of Europe : a study in pre-war documents ( 1933 ) covers 1871 to 1914, 436pp. Taylor, A.J.P. The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848 -- 1918 ( 1954 ) 638pp ; advanced history and analysis of major diplomacy Taylor, A.J.P. `` International Relations '' in F.H. Hinsley, ed., The New Cambridge Modern History : XI : Material Progress and World - Wide Problems, 1870 - 98 ( 1962 ) : 542 - 66. Maps Banks, Arthur. A World Atlas Of Military History 1861 - 1945 ( 1988 ) pp 29 -- 94 Catchpole, Brian. Map History of the Modern World ( 1982 ) pp 2 -- 32. Rand McNally Atlas of World History ( 1983 ), maps # 59 - 76. Published in Britain as the Hamlyn Historical Atlas Taylor, George. A Sketch - map History of Europe, 1789 - 1914 ( 1936 ) pp 32 -- 65. A French propaganda poster from 1917 portrays Prussia as an octopus stretching out its tentacles vying for control. It is captioned with an 18th - century quote : `` Even in 1788, Mirabeau was saying that War is the National Industry of Prussia. '' Coming of World War I Main articles : Bibliography of World War I and Causes of World War I Clark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers : How Europe Went to War in 1914 ( 2013 ) excerpt and text search Fay, Sidney B. The Origins of the World War ( 2 vols. 2nd ed. 1930 ). Gooch, G.P. History of modern Europe, 1878 - 1919 ( 2nd ed. 1956 ) pp 386 -- 413. online, diplomatic history Gooch, G.P. Before the war : studies in diplomacy ( vol 1 1936 ) online long chapters on Britain 's Landsdowne ; France 's Théophile Delcassé ; Germany 's Bernhard von Bülow pp 187 -- 284 ; Russia 's Alexander Izvolsky 285 - 365 ; and Austria ' Aehrenthal pp 366 -- 438. Horne, John, ed. A Companion to World War I ( 2012 ) 38 topics essays by scholars Kennedy, Paul M., ed. The War Plans of the Great Powers, 1880 - 1914 ( 1979 ) Kramer, Alan. `` Recent Historiography of the First World War -- Part I '', Journal of Modern European History ( Feb. 2014 ) 12 # 1 pp 5 -- 27 ; `` Recent Historiography of the First World War ( Part II ) '', ( May 2014 ) 12 # 2 pp 155 -- 174 McDonough, Frank. The Origins of the First and Second World Wars ( 1997 ) textbook, 125pp excerpt MacMillan, Margaret. The War That Ended Peace : The Road to 1914 ( 2013 ) Mulligan, William. `` The Trial Continues : New Directions in the Study of the Origins of the First World War. '' English Historical Review ( 2014 ) 129 # 538 pp : 639 -- 666. Neiberg, Michael S. Dance of the Furies : Europe and the Outbreak of World War I ( 2011 ), on public opinion Spender, J.A. Fifty years of Europe : a study in pre-war documents ( 1933 ) covers 1871 to 1914, 438pp Stowell, Ellery Cory. The Diplomacy of the War of 1914 ( 1915 ) 728 pages online free Tucker, Spencer, ed. European Powers in the First World War : An Encyclopedia ( 1999 ) Primary sources on coming of the War Collins, Ross F. World War I : Primary Documents on Events from 1914 to 1919 ( 2007 ) excerpt and text search Gooch, G.P. and Harold Temperley, eds. British documents on the origins of the war, 1898 - 1914 ( 11 vol. ) online vol. 1 The end of British isolation -- v. 2. From the occupation of Kiao - Chau to the making of the Anglo - French entente Dec. 1897 - Apr. 1904 -- V. 3. The testing of the Entente, 1904 - 6 -- v. 4. The Anglo - Russian rapprochment, 1903 - 7 -- v. 5. The Near East, 1903 - 9 -- v. 6. Anglo - German tension. Armaments and negotiation, 1907 - 12 -- v. 7. The Agadir crisis -- v. 8. Arbitration, neutrality and security -- v. 9. The Balkan wars, pt. 1 - 2 -- v. 10, pt. 1. The Near and Middle East on the eve of war. pt. 2. The last years of peace -- v. 11. The outbreak of war V. 3. The testing of the Entente, 1904 - 6 -- v. 4. The Anglo - Russian rapprochment, 1903 - 7 -- v. 5. The Near East, 1903 - 9 -- v. 6. Anglo - German tension. Armaments and negotiation, 1907 - 12 -- v. 7. The Agadir crisis -- v. 8. Arbitration, neutrality and security -- v. 9. The Balkan wars, pt. 1 - 2 -- v. 10, pt. 1. The Near and Middle East on the eve of war. pt. 2. The last years of peace -- v. 11. The outbreak of war. Gooch, G.P. and Harold Temperley, eds. British Documents on the Origins of the War 1898 - 1914 Volume XI, the Outbreak of War Foreign Office Documents ( 1926 ) online Lowe, C.J. and M.L. Dockrill, eds. The Mirage of Power : The Documents of British Foreign Policy 1914 - 22 ( vol 3, 1972 ), pp 423 -- 759 Mombauer, Annika. The Origins of the First World War : Diplomatic and Military Documents ( 2013 ), 592pp ; Wartime diplomacy Main article : Diplomatic history of World War I § Further reading Stevenson, David. The First World War and International Politics ( Oxford UP, 1988 ), thorough scholarly coverage Strachan, Hew. The First World War : Volume I : To Arms ( Oxford UP, 2003 ). Tucker, Spencer, ed. The European Powers in the First World War : An Encyclopedia ( 1999 ). Zeman, Z.A.B. A Diplomatic History of the First World War ( 1971 ) ; also published as The gentleman negotiators : the diplomatic history of World War I ( 1971 ) Imperialism Aldrich, Robert. Greater France : A History of French Overseas Expansion ( 1996 ) Baumgart, W. Imperialism : The Idea and Reality of British and French Colonial Expansion 1880 - 1914 ( 1982 ) Betts, Raymond F. Europe Overseas : Phases of Imperialism ( 1968 ) online 206pp ; basic survey Cady, John Frank. The Roots Of French Imperialism In Eastern Asia ( 1967 ) Conklin, Alice L. A Mission to Civilize : The Republican Idea of Empire in France and West Africa, 1895 - 1930 ( 1997 ) online Hodge, Carl Cavanagh. Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800 - 1914 ( 2 vol., 2007 ) Manning, Patrick. Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1880 - 1995 ( 1998 ) online Moon, Parker T. Imperialism and world politics ( 1926 ) ; 583pp ; Wide - ranging historical survey ; online Page, Melvin E. et al. eds. Colonialism : An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia ( 2 vol 2003 ) Pakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa : White Man 's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 - 1912 ( 1992 ) Stuchtey, Benedikt, ed. Colonialism and Imperialism, 1450 - 1950, European History Online, Mainz : Institute of European History, 2011 U.S. Tariff Commission. Colonial tariff policies ( 1922 ), worldwide coverage ; 922pp online Britain Bartlett, C.J. Defence and Diplomacy : Britain and the Great Powers 1815 - 1914 ( 1993 ) brief survey, 160pp Bourne, Kenneth. Foreign Policy of Victorian England, 1830 - 1902 ( 1970 ) Cain, P.J. and Hopkins, A.G. `` The Political Economy of British Expansion Overseas 1750 - 1914 '', Economic History Review, ( 1980 ) 33 # 4 pp 463 -- 90. in JSTOR Chamberlain, Muriel E. Pax Britannica ? : British Foreign Policy 1789 - 1914 ( 1989 ) Charmley, John. Splendid Isolation ? : Britain, the Balance of Power and the Origins of the First World War ( 1999, 528pp Gallagher, John and Robinson, Ronald. `` The Imperialism of Free Trade '', Economic History Review ( 1953 ) 6 # 1 pp 1 -- 15. Goodlad, Graham D. British Foreign and Imperial Policy 1865 - 1919 ( 1999 ) excerpt and text search Hyam, Ronald. Britain 's Imperial Century 1815 - 1914 : A Study of Empire and Expansion ( 3rd ed. 2002 ) excerpt and text search Lowe, C.J. The reluctant imperialists : British foreign policy, 1878 - 1902 ( 1969 ) 257pp plus 150 pp of documents Lowe, C.J. and M.L. Dockrill. Mirage of Power : British Foreign Policy 1902 - 14 ( v 1, 1972 ) ; Mirage of Power : British Foreign Policy 1914 - 22 ( v. 2, 1972 ) ; analytic history Lowe, John. Britain and Foreign Affairs 1815 - 1885 : Europe and Overseas ( 1998 ) excerpt and text search Mulligan, William, and Brendan Simms, eds. The Primacy of Foreign Policy in British History, 1660 - 2000 ( Palgrave Macmillan ; 2011 ) 345 pages Pribram, A.F. England and the International Policy of the European Great Powers, 1871 - 1914 ( 1931 ) online at Questia Rose, John Holland, ed. ( 1929 ). The Cambridge History of the British Empire. Cambridge UP. p. 10ff. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 24. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Seton - Watson, R.W. Britain in Europe ( 1789 -- 1914 ) : A Survey of Foreign Policy ( 1937 ) online Steiner, Zara. Britain and the Origins of the First World War ( 1977 ) Ward, A.W. and G.P. Gooch, eds. The Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy, 1783 - 1919 ( 3 vol, 1921 -- 23 ), old detailed classic ; vol 1, 1783 - 1815 ; vol 2, 1815 - 1866 ; vol 3. 1866 - 1919 Webster, Charles. The Foreign Policy of Palmerston ( 1951 ) online edition ; covers 1830 - 1865 Weigall, David. Britain and the World, 1815 - 1986 : A Dictionary of International relations ( 1989 ) Primary sources for Britain Lowe, C.J. and M.L. Dockrill, eds. Mirage of Power : volume 3 : The Documents : British Foreign Policy 1902 - 22 ( 1972 ) ; 350pp Wiener, Joel H. ed. Great Britain : Foreign Policy and the Span of Empire, 1689 - 1971 : A Documentary History ( 4 vol 1972 ) vol 1 online ; vol 2 online ; vol 3 ; vol 4 4 vol. 3400 pages France Adamthwaite, Anthony. Grandeur and Misery : France 's bid for power in Europe, 1914 - 1940. A&C Black, 2014. Bury, J.P.T. France, 1814 - 1940 ( 2003 ) Jardin, Andre, and Andre - Jean Tudesq. Restoration and Reaction 1815 -- 1848 ( The Cambridge History of Modern France ) ( 1988 ) Mayeur, Jean - Marie, and Madeleine Rebirioux. The Third Republic from its Origins to the Great War, 1871 -- 1914 ( The Cambridge History of Modern France ) ( 1988 ) excerpt and text search Nere, J. The Foreign Policy of France from 1914 to 1945 ( 2001 ) Stuart, Graham Henry. French Foreign Policy from Fashoda to Serajevo ( 1898 - 1914 ) ( 1921 ). online Wetzel, David. A Duel of Giants : Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the Origins of the Franco - Prussian War ( 2003 ) Germany Main article : History of German foreign policy Brandenburg, Erich. From Bismarck to the World War : A History of German Foreign Policy 1870 - 1914 ( 1933 ) online at Questia ; online Brose, Eric Dorn. German History, 1789 -- 1871 : From the Holy Roman Empire to the Bismarckian Reich. ( 1997 ) online edition Carroll, E. Malcolm. Germany and the great powers, 1866 - 1914 : A study in public opinion and foreign policy ( 1938 ) online ; online at Questia also online review Clark, Christopher. Iron Kingdom : The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600 -- 1947 ( 2006 ) Detwiler, Donald S. Germany : A Short History ( 3rd ed. 1999 ) 341pp ; online edition Dugdale, E.T.S. ed. German Diplomatic Documents 1871 - 1914 ( 4 vol 1928 - 31 ), in English translation. online Eyck, Erich. Bismarck and the German Empire ( 1964 ) excerpt and text search Geiss, Imanuel. German Foreign Policy, 1871 - 1914 ( 1979 ) excerpt Hewitson, Mark. `` Germany and France before the First World War : a reassessment of Wilhelmine foreign policy. '' English Historical Review 115.462 ( 2000 ) : 570 - 606 ; argues Germany had a growing sense of military superiority Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany ( 1959 -- 64 ) ; vol 1 : The Reformation ; vol 2 : 1648 -- 1840 ; vol 3 : 1840 -- 1945 ; standard scholarly survey Kennedy, Paul. The Rise of the Anglo - German Antagonism 1860 -- 1914 ( 1980 ) excerpt and text search Maehl, William Harvey. Germany in Western Civilization ( 1979 ), 833pp ; focus on politics and diplomacy. Medlicott, William Norton, and Dorothy Kathleen Coveney, eds. Bismarck and Europe ( Hodder Arnold, 1971 ), 110 short excerpts from, primary sources covering his diplomatic career. Padfield, Peter. The Great Naval Race : Anglo - German Naval Rivalry 1900 - 1914 ( 2005 ) Scheck, Raffael. `` Lecture Notes, Germany and Europe, 1871 -- 1945 '' ( 2008 ) full text online, a brief textbook by a leading scholar Schmitt, Bernadotte Everly. England and Germany, 1740 - 1914 ( 1916 ) online Sheehan, James J. German History, 1770 -- 1866 ( 1993 ), the major survey in English Steinberg, Jonathan. Bismarck : A Life ( 2011 ), most recent scholarly biography Stürmer, Michael. ' Bismarck in Perspective, '' Central European History ( 1971 ) 4 # 4 pp. 291 -- 331 in JSTOR Taylor, A.J.P. Bismarck : The Man and the Statesman ( 1967 ) online edition Taylor, A.J.P. The Course of German History : A Survey of the Development of German History since 1815. ( 2001 ). 280pp ; online edition Russia Fuller, William C. Strategy and Power in Russia 1600 - 1914 ( 1998 ) Jelavich, Barbara. St. Petersburg and Moscow : tsarist and Soviet foreign policy, 1814 - 1974 ( 1974 ) ; 1st edition was A Century of Russian Foreign Policy 1814 - 1914 ( 1964 ) LeDonne, John P. The Russian Empire and the World, 1700 - 1917 : The Geopolitics of Expansion and Containment ( Oxford UP, 1997 ) McMeekin, Sean. The Russian Origins of the First World War ( 2011 ) excerpt and text search Nish, Ian Hill. The origins of the Russo - Japanese war ( 1985 ) Ragsdale, Hugh, and Valeri Nikolaevich Ponomarev eds. Imperial Russian Foreign Policy ( Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1993 ) excerpt and text search Reynolds, Michael. Shattering Empires : The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, 1908 - 1918 Seton - Watson, Hugh. The Russian Empire 1801 - 1917 ( 1967 ) excerpt and text search United States Beisner, Robert L. ed, American Foreign Relations since 1600 : A Guide to the Literature ( 2003 ), 2 vol. 16,300 annotated entries evaluate every major book and scholarly article. Brune, Lester H. Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations ( 2003 ), 1400 pages Burns, Richard Dean, ed. Guide to American Foreign Relations since 1700 ( 1983 ) highly detailed annotated bibliography Deconde, Alexander, et al. eds. Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy 3 vol ( 2001 ), 2200 pages ; 120 long articles by specialists. DeConde, Alexander ; A History of American Foreign Policy ( 1963 ) online edition ; university textbook Findling, John, ed. Dictionary of American Diplomatic History 2nd ed. 1989. 700pp ; 1200 short articles. Herring, George. From Colony to Superpower : U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776 ( Oxford History of the United States ) ( 2008 ), 1056pp, general survey Hogan, Michael J. ed. Paths to Power : The Historiography of American Foreign Relations to 1941 ( 2000 ) essays on main topics Jones, Howard. Blue & Gray Diplomacy : A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations ( 2010 ) online Lafeber, Walter. The American Age : United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, 1750 to Present ( 2nd ed 1994 ) university textbook ; 884pp online edition Paterson, Thomas, et al. American Foreign Relations : A History ( 7th ed. 2 vol. 2009 ), university textbook Sexton, Jay. `` Toward a synthesis of foreign relations in the Civil War era, 1848 -- 77. '' American Nineteenth Century History 5.3 ( 2004 ) : 50 - 73. Japan and China Akagi, Roy Hidemichi. Japan 's Foreign Relations 1542 - 1936 : A Short History ( 1936 ) online 560pp Beasley, William G. Japanese Imperialism, 1894 -- 1945 ( Oxford UP, 1987 ) Hsü, Immanuel C.Y. China 's Entrance into the Family of Nations : The Diplomatic Phase, 1858 -- 1880 ( 1960 ), Nish, Ian. Japanese Foreign Policy, 1869 - 1942 : Kasumigaseki to Miyakezaka ( 2001 ) Nish, Ian Hill. The origins of the Russo - Japanese war ( 1985 ) Others Bosworth, Richard. Italy : The Least of the Great Powers : Italian Foreign Policy Before the First World War ( 1979 ) Bridge, F.R. From Sadowa to Sarajevo : The Foreign Policy of Austria - Hungary 1866 - 1914 ( 1972 ; reprint 2016 ) online review ; excerpt Hale, William. Turkish Foreign Policy, 1774 - 2000. ( 2000 ). 375 pp. Lowe, C.J. and F. Marzari. Italian Foreign Policy, 1870 - 1940 ( 2001 ) Primary sources Cooke, W. Henry, and Edith P. Stickney, eds. Readings in European International Relations Since 1879 ( 1931 ) 1060pp Gooch, G.P. Recent Revelations of European Diplomacy ( 1940 ) ; 475pp detailed summaries of memoirs from all the major belligerents Diplomacy of the Great Powers 1871 -- 1913 Great powers Austria -- Hungary France Germany Italy Japan Russia United Kingdom United States Alliances Triple Alliance Dual Alliance Triple Entente Franco - Russian Alliance Entente Cordiale Anglo - Russian Entente Anglo - Japanese Alliance Trends Ottoman Decline Eastern Question Revanchism New Imperialism Scramble for Africa Pan-Slavism The Great Game The Great Rapprochement Treaties and agreements Treaty of Frankfurt League of the Three Emperors Treaty of Berlin Reinsurance Treaty Treaty of Paris Treaty of Björkö Taft -- Katsura Agreement Japan -- Korea Treaty of 1905 Japan -- Korea Annexation Treaty Racconigi agreement Events Congress of Berlin Berlin Conference Weltpolitik German Naval Laws Anglo - German naval arms race Dreadnought Fashoda Incident Annexation of Hawaii First Moroccan Crisis Algeciras Conference Agadir Crisis Bosnian crisis Wars Russo - Turkish First Sino - Japanese Spanish -- American Banana Wars Philippine -- American Boxer Rebellion Second Boer Russo - Japanese Italo - Turkish Balkan Wars Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_relations_of_the_Great_Powers_(1814 -- 1919 ) &oldid = 803106924 '' Categories : International relations European political history 19th century in politics 20th century in politics Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list Pages with citations lacking titles Pages with citations having bare URLs Webarchive template wayback links All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2017 CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Edit links This page was last edited on 30 September 2017, at 14 : 07. 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Question: who replaced great britain as the leading industrial power in europe after 1870
Answer: China