Imperial Tensions
Europe, Africa, and Asia Before World War I
By 1871, five major
super-powers (Germany,
Britain, France,
Austria-Hungary, and
Russia)
 1873 = the “Three
Emperors’ League”

◦ Driven by “geopolitics”
Europe’s Faltering Balance of
Power
By 1871, five major super-powers
(Germany, Britain, France, AustriaHungary, and Russia)
 1873 = the “Three Emperors’ League”

◦ Driven by “geopolitics”
Russia’s geopolitical problems with
international trade
 Austria-Hungary’s internal struggles
 The “sick man” of Europe = the Ottoman
Empire

Europe’s Faltering Balance of
Power
1874 = Serbian uprising in Bosnia &
Herzegovina
 1875 = Christian uprising in Bulgaria

◦ Ottomans respond with a massacre . . .

Serbo-Russo-Turkish War (1876-1878)
◦ June 1876 = Serbs (with Montenegro) declare
war against the Ottoman Empire
◦ April 1877 = Russia declares war against the
Ottoman Empire and easily defeats them

Congress of Berlin (1878)
◦ Bismarck as “honest broker”
◦ Territorial changes in the Balkans for “peace”
The Problematic Balkans
1882 = Italy joins the Dual Alliance
(Germany & Austria-Hungary) to create
“Triple Alliance”
 1885 = “Bulgarian Crisis”

Shaky Alliances
1882 = Italy joins the Dual Alliance
(Germany & Austria-Hungary) to create
“Triple Alliance”
 1885 = “Bulgarian Crisis”

◦ Serbia declares war on Bulgaria

Russia threatens to occupy Bulgaria
◦ And Austria-Hungary threatens to stop them

Serbs lose the war (in 14 days)
◦ Greater Bulgaria is internationally recognized

1887 = Bismarck’s “Reinsurance Treaty”
Shaky Alliances
Bismarck sacked (1890); Reinsurance
Treaty allowed to lapse
 1894 = Russia enters into an alliance with
France
 1907 = The Triple Entente (France, Great
Britain, Russia)
 Things start to deteriorate between Triple
Entente & Triple Alliance . . .

Alliances Begin to Shift . . .

First Balkan War (1912-1913)
◦ 1908 = Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia &
Herzegovina
◦ 1911 = Italy invades Libya and declares war
against the Ottoman Empire
◦ 1912 = Balkan League formed, declares war
against the Ottoman Empire

Second Balkan War (1913)
◦ June 1913 = Bulgaria declares war against
Serbia and Greece
The Balkan Wars

First Balkan War (1912-1913)
◦ 1908 = Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia &
Herzegovina
◦ 1911 = Italy invades Libya and declares war
against the Ottoman Empire
◦ 1912 = Balkan League formed, declares war
against the Ottoman Empire

Second Balkan War (1913)
◦ June 1913 = Bulgaria declares war against Serbia
and Greece
◦ Romania and the Ottomans declare war against
Bulgaria
◦ August 1913 = Treaties of Bucharest and
Constantinople
The Balkan Wars

Why a “scramble”?
◦ Economic gain
◦ Territorial security /
geopolitics
◦ National pride



Why colonize?
Gold and diamond
mining, rubber
Germany’s late
industrialization meant
late colonization – felt
left-out
The Scramble for Africa

1886 = discovery of gold in
Witwatersrand/Transvaal region of South
Africa
◦ Cecil Rhodes and the Jameson Raid (1895)

October 1899 = Boers declare war against
the British colony
◦ British send 350,000 troops to fight 65,000
Boers (who last much longer than expected)

April 1902 = Boers surrender
◦ Segregation becomes the model of politics
The Boer War (1899-1902)

1750s = conquest of India
◦ Great Mutiny of 1857
 Afterward, Britain reorganizes . . .

Chinese opium
◦ 1830s = HUGE opium
market in China
◦ 1799 = China bans
opium
◦ 1839-1842 = First
Opium War
 China loses; forced into trade agreements
British Imperialism in China & India