Wars since the Napoleonic Wars, after all, had been quick affairs. Years of relative peace had made each power less wary of bloodshed, and everyone thought any conflict would be over quickly. Each nation believed that the presence of allies would prevent any rival from attacking because the allies would join the fight as if they themselves had been attacked.īacked by allies, each European power was more prone to aggression.

Since 1882, it had been part of a Triple Alliance of the three central European powers: Germany, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany, believing that it was being “encircled” by the three historic powers of Europe, became more aggressive toward them. The Triple Entente was an informal alliance of France, Britain, and Russia, established in 1907. The two triple-nation alliances in Europe prior to the outbreak of World War I, via Mount Holyoke College, South HadleyĪs the new European powers rivaled each other for power, they entered military alliances to discourage attacks from enemies. Between November 1884 and February 1885, the members of the Berlin Conference divided Africa – without any input from Africans, of course – into many of the separate territories we know today. With Britain, Spain, and France having (mostly) been driven out of their former empires in North and South America, the relatively unexplored continent of Africa was a prime target for territorial and economic conquest. In 1884, thirteen European nations met in Berlin, capital of the new Germany, to establish rules for the division of Africa. These two new nations looked to compete with the established European powers, Britain and France, for power, prestige, and colonies in Africa.

After decades of internal conflicts, Germany and Italy had become unified nation-states as opposed to blocs of small, independent states. In the late 1800s, however, a unified Germany emerged as a new power. Before World War I: Era of Imperialism and Alliances A political cartoon showing European powers dividing up Africa at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, via PBS & WGBH Educational FoundationĪfter the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s, a relative peace enveloped Europe for roughly fifty years.

Aftermath of ww1 germany