Becoming a World Power

In his farewell address, George Washington had cautioned his fellow Americans against becoming involved in European affairs. As the country grew in size and power, however, this proved impossible.

Europe was the center of world power in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. European empires controlled almost all of Africa and Asia, and they held powerful influence over the territories that they did not control directly. Great Britain was the largest power among these, with an empire that covered one-quarter of the globe, followed by France with the second-largest empire. Germany had a smaller overseas empire but a dynamic and expanding economy that, by 1900, had overtaken Great Britain and was second only to the United States. Austria-Hungary was expanding at the expense of the neighboring Ottoman Empire in Turkey, taking land in the Balkans as the Turks withdrew. During this period, the Russian Empire was attempting expansion at the expense of Austria-Hungary.

These six powers coalesced into an alliance system. On one side, France, Russia, and eventually Great Britain became known as the Triple Entente. Each of the members was interested in blocking German or Austrian expansionism. On the other side, Germany and Austria-Hungary made up the Central Powers, with the Ottoman Empire joining in 1914. Germany was interested in both overseas expansion and protecting Austria-Hungary, its most reliable ally in Europe.

A number of events contributed to the slide toward war. Germany embarked on a long period of battleship construction to improve its navy, which threatened Britain’s position as the greatest maritime power and led to a shipbuilding race between the countries. This pushed Britain into an alliance with France and Russia. Austria-Hungary annexed the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, threatening the neighbor country of Serbia and angering its ally, Russia. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1912 and 1913 created new territories for expansionist states and left Turkey looking for allies to protect its remaining territory.

KEEP IN MIND . . .
There was a great deal of history between these powers that contributed to the outbreak of war. France had lost to Germany in a war in 1870, and its people and government were still angry over the territory it had lost to Germany.

Example

Which country had the largest empire in the world in 1900?

The correct answer is C. Great Britain had the largest empire in the world by total territory and population in 1900.