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At the end of the 19th century, there continued to be great inequality between men and women. Although men had achieved the right to vote thanks to the successive liberal revolutions of 1820, 1830 and 1848, women had not -
Known as the League of the Three Emperors, this was an alliance between the -
Bismarck made a bilateral agreement with Austria (Dual Alliance). Italy later joined the agreement, forming the Triple Alliance. Bismarck also revived the League of the Three Emperors. -
The German chancellor reinforced the Triple Alliance and signed the Reinsurance Treaty with the Russian tsar. This treaty guaranteed Russian neutrality in the event of an attack by France. Bismarck also signed the Mediterranean Agreements with Great Britain, Italy, Austria and Spain. -
After Bismarck resigned in 1890, two opposing diplomatic blocs formed in Europe: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy) and the Triple Entente (Russia, France and Great Britain). The Entente meant the end of British neutrality in Europe. Britain was worried because Germany’s navy had expanded into a battle fleet that could threaten the supremacy of the Royal Navy. -
France and Germany were on the brink of war over control of Morocco, a territory that Germany wanted for its strategic value and because of the raw materials it could provide for German industry. -
two Balkan Wars began. In the first, an alliance of Balkan countries– Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece–declared war on the Turks, leading to the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from Europe. In the second, the former allies fought each other. Serbia, which had the support of the Russians, benefited from this war. -
Novelist Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921) criticised the political advances made by liberal men because they had actually increased inequality between men and women.
Writer and activist Concepción Arenal (1820-1893) believed that women should not be restricted to the traditional roles of wife and mother. -
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) is considered the most important British feminist of her time. She was an activist and leader of the suffragette movement, but was criticised by her contemporaries for the very aggressive methods - such as smashing windows and supporting arson - that she used to make her views known. When she was arrested, she often fought with police and went on hunger strikes. -
The fight for women’s right to vote in Spain did not begin until well into the 20th century. This was because of Spain’s limited industrial and cultural development, and the power of the Catholic Church. Women’s initial demands were therefore related to motherhood, looking after family and certain civil rights.