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The economic and technological advances made within the European system brought some degree of Westernization to most of the world by the end of the nineteenth century. Never before had one section of the globe held such far-reaching authority over the others. The great powers of Europe (and later Japan) were able to establish unprecedented colonial control over less-developed, non-industrial areas. This colonizing process was most evident on the African continent, where competition between the European states drove explorers, missionaries, traders, bankers, and politicians. The conditions of this "new Imperialism," unlike those of earlier periods of international competition, engaged all sectors of a nation’s social, economic, and political life. This engagement intensified the already stimulated sense of nationalism felt in Europe, particularly after Prussia's success in defeating France and establishing the unified German Empire changed the nature of European power politics. The destiny of France became linked to avenging this "humiliation" by Germany. For the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire, the era’s expansive mood brought conflicts closer to home in the crumbling European portion of the Ottoman Empire. Here, an infectious nationalism centered in Serbia and Bulgaria caused growing unrest. In places around the globe, from Africa and Asia to the Balkans in southeastern Europe, it became increasingly clear that imperialist concerns could lead to potentially serious confrontations. The great powers looked to their armies and navies as more necessary than ever before. Consequently, militarism as a condition of everyday life became the norm. The acceleration of technological development greatly increased military needs, expenditures, and training programs, just as the developing alliance system demanded larger armed forces. Imperial concerns, coupled with increased rivalries between the great powers, called forth the new alliance system in Europe inaugurated by the Austro-German (Dual) Alliance of 1879, which became the Triple Alliance with the addition of Italy in the 1890s. In 1902, Britain left behind her "splendid isolation" to form an alliance with Japan. Then she was drawn into the Franco-Russian orbit, forming the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904 and a similar agreement with Russia in 1907. Though imperial rivalries continued worldwide, the unresolved problem through the early 1900s was the Balkans. Wars between the Balkan nationalities and the Ottomans, and between the newly created Balkan states themselves, when added to the rivalry between Russia and Austria for control of the region created a virtual powder keg that exploded with the assassination of the Austrian heir in June 1914 at Sarajevo. The chain of events that followed activated the alliance and military systems in ways unanticipated by their creators, quickly transforming the Balkan crisis into the immediate cause of the Great War (World War I). For over four years, the European states slugged it out on battlefields and seas throughout the world. Before the war ended over 30 states were involved, including the United States, and the casualties totaled over 30 million. The European world, so safe, secure, and stable, had literally blown up. The Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman Empires had either been destroyed, or would soon fall. Most spectacularly, the seemingly indestructible Tsarist Russia had first compromised with liberal forces and then been swept away in a Communist coup in 1917. The resulting three-year civil war between Reds and anti-Communist Whites became one of history’s most brutal. Germany and its allies finally sought an armistice in November 1918 to avoid invasion by the enemy Entente powers, who were now receiving fresh aid and troops from the United States. The task of repairing the damage of so great a conflict fell to heads of state who (with the partial exception of the U.S. president Woodrow Wilson) were largely trapped by their political instincts and their people’s nationalistic demands, neither of which had changed sufficiently despite the carnage of the war. The Peace of Paris, known as the Versailles Treaty, was the product of long labor but became a problem even before it was completed. Too much had changed in too short a period of time, resulting in errors that would haunt the remainder of the century. After reading this chapter you should understand:
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