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French Revolution
The French Revolution (1789-1815) was a catalyst for the changes that Europe made in the next few years. After Napoleon's empire, the great European powers developed a system they thought would keep Europe peaceful. -
Congress of Vienna
This was a meeting between the prominent powers in Europe after Napoleon's defeat. They divided Europe evenly to try and equalize power. They restored monarchy to Europe, and everything was peaceful for a while. -
Franco-Prussian War
The war between France and Prussia ended in humiliting defeat for France. They lost territories to the German empire. This win for Germany created a lot of nationalism within the country. France also held a grudge against the German empire. -
Unification of Italian States
The year 1870 is when Italy became an unified, independent country. The German unification also happened around this time and created a huge upset of balance of power in Europe, and a huge margin of nationalism was created in these two countries. -
Unification of German states
This unification of what was once 39 states heavily upset the balance of power in Europe. The German people felt a great sense of nationalism because of their victories, and their huge military. They felt unstoppable. -
The Dual Alliance
This moment in time is when Germany and Austria created an alliance. this proved to be a big threat to the other European states. Austria and Germany were the centralized powers of Europe. -
The Triple Alliance
This is the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Italy joined in 1882. -
The Reinsurance Treaty
This treaty was between Bismarck and Russia. Bismarck's intention in signing it was to avoid full-front war with Russia and France. After only three years, Wilhelm II disregarded the treaty, and a big mess ensued. -
Wilhelm II takes the throne of Germany
When Wilhelm the second took the throne of Germany in 1888, tensions between Austria-Hungary and Russia increased. Russia and France formed an alliance because of his refusal to renew the Reinsurance Treaty. -
Russo-Japanese War
This war was over land in the Far East. When Russia was defeated, they began to look to the Balkans for expansion, thereby increasing tensions with Austria-Hungary. -
Triple Entente
Great Britain in the start of the 1900s was becoming increasingly wary of Germany's intense militarism and nationalism. They, in response, created an alliance with France and with Russia in 1907, creating what is known as the Triple Entente alliance. -
Bosnian Crisis
Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovnia to the Ottoman Empire. This announcement was met with rage. Consequently, this action completely damaged relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. -
First Balkan War
This war was between the Balkan allies and the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan allies consisted of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro. The Balkan league was the European territory of the Ottoman Empire. The war ended in Ottoman defeat, and the Balkan league was released from imperialism. -
Second Balkan War
This war was between the Balkan league. They were fighting over the land of Macedonia. The Bulgarians attacked Serbia and greece over it, but they were defeated, and only gained a small portion of the land. This war caused great tension to arise between Serbia and Austria, while the Bulgarians looked to them for support. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
On this day, the Archduke of Austria was killed by a Serbian terrorist organization. Austria responded by declaring war on Serbia, starting World War I.
