Important themes include the rapid industrialization and growing power of Great Britain, the United States, France, Prussia/Germany, and, later in the period, Italy, 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 the united Germany. It was a largely peaceful century, with no wars between the great powers, apart from the 1854–1871 interval, and some 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 (1914–1918)—a massively devastating event that was unexpected in its timing, duration, casualties, and long-term impact.