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Congress of Vienna
An international confrence, held in Vienna, at which territorial issues were settled after the Napoleonic Wars. -
Franco-Prussian War
The war between France and Prussia, in which France lost possesion of Alsace and Lorraine and was to pay a large debt to Prussia. As a result, a powerful German Empire was created with the potential of military and industrial powers that would later disrupt the delicate balance within Europe. This also created a vendetta with France, causing mistrust and suspicion. -
Wilhelm II Takes German Throne
Under the rule of Wilhelm II, Germany's foreign policy became less forgiving and more hostile to those it effected. He disregared the Reinsurance Treaty, disrupting the peaceful balance with Russia, Austria-Hungary and France. -
Russo-Japanese War
The War between Manchuria and Korea which weakened the Russian forces and created a political crisis that would soon start the Russian Revolution. As a result, feuding Austria-Hungary had gained a bigger intrest in the Balkans. -
Triple Entente Forms
Worried about Germany's military and naval capabilities, Great Britain formed an alliance with France and Russia. This created tensions between the varying countries. -
Bosnian Annexation Crisis
Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed from the Ottoman Empire, which was not appriciated by Serbia. This ended with a humiliated Russia and strained relations between Russia and Serbia, and Russia and Austria-Hungary. -
Moroccan Crises
As an attempt to disrupt the newly formed alliance between France and Great Britain, Germany created crises over Morocco. As a result of both incindents, the alliance between the Entente became stronger, backfiring on Germany. -
Italo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish war didn't upset the relationships within Europe, but weakened the Ottoman amry and provoked the "Eastern Questions," which discussed the ever so decaying fate of the Ottoman Empire. -
Balkan Wars
The Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria) was formed against the Ottoman Empire, sucessfully taking the Balkan land from the it and dividing up the land between the countries. Later, Bulgaria started against the rest of the league over Macedonia but was denied. As a result of this, some of the other European powers, Aurstria-Hungary, felt threatened by the potentail the league had and started the Balkan Wars. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
On a visit to Sarajevo, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his was were murdered by a group called Mlada Bosna, or 'Young Bosnia'. This set of a rapid chain of events that started World War I, starting with Austria-Hungary and Serbia. -
July Ultimatum
After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum that Austria knew Serbia wouldn't be able to meet. Doing so, Austrio-Hungarian forces invaded Serbia, starting World War I.
