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Prussia´s blood-and-iron chancellor, Otto von Bismark, freely used war to unify Germany.
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France had never gotten over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war.
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Bismarck declared Germany to be a "satisfied power". He then turn his energies to maintain peace in Europe.
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Bismarck formed the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary.
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Bismarck make a treaty with Russia taking away another possible ally away from France.
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Italy joined Germany and Austria-Hungary in their alliance forming the Triple Alliance.
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Kaiser Wilhelm II became ruler of Germany
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Wilhelm let his nation´s treaty with Russia lapse.
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Wilhelm II forced Bismarck to resign
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After Germany broke the treaty with Russia, Russia responded by forming a military alliance with France.
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PRIMARY SOURCE
The entire able-bodied population are preparing to massacre one another; though no one, it is true, wants to attack, and everybody protests his love of peace and determination to maintain it, yet the whole world feels that it only requires some unforeseen incident, some unpreventable accident, for the spark to fall in a slash...and blow all Europe ski-high.
FRÉDÉRIC PASSY, quoted in Novel: The Man and His Prizes -
The Ottoman Empire, which included the Balkan region, was in rapid decline. While some Balkan groups struggled to free themselves from the Ottoman Turks, others already had succeeded in breaking away from their Turkish rulers.
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On one side was the triple alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. On the other side was the Triple Entente- Great Britain, France and Russia.
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Britain made another entente, this time with France and Russia, making the Triple Entente
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Austria took over Bosnia and Herzegovina. These were two Balkan areas with large Slavic population.
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All the great powers except Britain had large standing armies.
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The heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife paid a state visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. The royal pair was shot by a member of the Black Hand.
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Austria presented Serbia with an ultimatum containing numerous demands. Serbian leaders agreed to most of Austria´s demands. They offered to have several others settled by an international conference. Austria however, was in no mood to negotiate.
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Serbian leaders offered Austria to have several demands that were sent to them, settled by an international conference. Austria rejected Serbia´s offer and declared war. That same day, Russia, an ally of Serbia with its largic Slavic population, took action.
