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Britain controls one of the best spots for trade India. Other countries wanted this land but britain maintained control over India all by itself.
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During the early 19th century Southeast Asia began being conquered by European countries starting with the Dutch. Once some of the more powerful countries caught wind of this they went in and took over everything. Smaller countries became made at this because they could not rival their militaries.
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The Guarantee of Belgium Neutrality, part of the First Treaty of London which said that Belgium would remain forever neutral in future wars, and the high powers were committed to guarding that neutrality. If any country violated this it would be a direct act of war.
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Crimean War broke out between the Russians and the Ottomans. This showed other countries they could conquer the Muslim lands and the Ottoman empire was constantly attacked. Countries fought over these lands causing more and more countries to become rivals.
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The rush to conquer Africa begins it sparks competition between countries all over Europe. This made certain rivalries between countries that would come into play later when the war started.
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Bulgaria and Serbia fought a war against each other and Austria backed Bulgaria and Russia backed Serbia. Many wars were fought over the course of these years between the Ottomans and the Serbians. This caused a lot of tension between those two countries as well as Russia and Austria.
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Triple alliance was made between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy making them allies till the end. This gave all of the countries involved more power because of their combined force. This put other countries who opposed them on edge.
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The Berlin Conference was held between 14 different countries discussing how a country claims land. Britain would then excel at taking over land and this angered Germany.
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The increasing nationalistic ideas in countries all over Europe started to make countries build up their armies to look powerful and stand over all other opposers. This lead to a huge arms race all over Europe. Plans for battle were drafted and perfected as well.
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The Franco-Russian Alliance encircles Germany, just like Bismarck feared and would have tried to stop if he'd still been in power. This causes Germany to have two rivals France and Russia.
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Nationalism in countries controlled by a weakened Ottoman Empire started to spread. People began to free themselves from the Ottomans and flee to Serbia who took them in. This angered the Ottomans as well as the Austro-Hungarians.
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Germany and Japan make alliances combine their forces so that Britain's Navy won’t be as huge with their combined force.
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Russia and Japan fight a war over Korea. Russia loses and it is seen as a worldwide humiliation. This sparks and intense rivalry between the two countries.
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H.M.S. Dreadnought is launched by Britain, marking the advent of a new class of big-gun battleships. The Germans follow suit and begin building similar battleships as an all-out arms race ensues between Germany and Britain.
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Triple Entente was formed between Great Britain, France, and Russia. They became troubled, after awhile, by the alliance made by Germany, Austria-Hungary and decided to make their own pact. Tension was building between the two groups.
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Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina and this caused an outrage in Serbia. Russia than gave their full support to Serbia making them a part of the allied forces.
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The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated. The couple were on a visit to the Bosnian capital Sarajevo when they were shot and killed by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand Serbian terrorist group. This put Austria-Hungary over the edge after they found out some of the arms were given to the group by serbian officials and they had begun the process of declaring war against Serbia.
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Seen as the starting of the war which threw all the alliances into it.
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Seen as the starting of the war which threw all the alliances into it.
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Germany declares war on Russia. France and Germany begin general mobilisation of their armies.
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Britain declares war on Germany after they invade Belgium
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
