88 ChaPter 2
and Britain had some thoughts of creating a railway there--Sudan was one of
the areas that no empire controlled yet. Despite the presence of troops and
naval forces, war did not break out, but the idea that major European empires
might go to war over Fashoda showed the intensity, if not the desperation, of
the drive for colonies. Among the powers, such rivalries were getting more
intense. At the turn of the century, Britain had the world’s largest navy, but
Germany wanted to catch up, and thus began a naval arms race. Between 1905
and 1914, Britain built 42 warships, while Germany constructed 29. Both
sides, it seemed, were preparing for war. Making matters more alarming, the
French, who had long-standing problems with Germany [in the 1871 Franco-
Prussian War, Germany invaded and took land from France], signed a treaty
with Russia, another enemy of Germany, promising that they would come to
each other’s aid if the German government attacked. Then France singed a
separate treaty with Britain [the Entente Cordiale] in which they too agreed to
support each other in the case of German aggression. For its part, the govern-
ment in Berlin had an alliance with Austria-Hungary pledging mutual support
to each other in the event of armed conflict. Europe was clearly ready for a
big war and the military spark would be lit in The Balkans.
The Balkans was the area in southeast Europe that included Serbia, Croatia,
Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and adjoining areas, between the
Adriatic and Aegean Seas. Prior to 1912-13 it was part of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans were controlled by Turkey, but by the early 20th Century, they
were falling apart and in 1912-14, the Balkan states fought a series of wars
against the Ottomans for sovereignty, or self-determination, and the other
countries of Europe joined in, seeking control over the resources and invest-
ment of the states once controlled by the Ottomans. It was within this con-
text that Serbians assassinated the Archduke in 1914, and with that Europe
exploded.
Germany began the hostilities in August 1914 with invasions of Russia and
Belgium, and England and France then joined in to fight against the Germans.
The war itself was a bloody series of war in the trenches, long ditches where
troops would lay low until they got up and lobbed bombs against the other
side and then stood up and marched toward them. They were, invariably,
gunned down in huge numbers and retreated. The other side would then do
the same, and so no land was being gained or lost, but eventually millions of
Europeans were killed. For the United States, the Great War was alarming,