“[European nations] sought out alliances with other powers so that they would not find themselves standing alone of war did break out” (Farmer 4). These alliances had been forming over a long period of time. In 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary became united together should there be a conflict against Russia and later in 1882 Italy joined the Triple Alliance them which was a defensive agreement to aid one another against aggression by an enemy of greater power. Since Germany unified, it gradually become more powerful. Fearing that Germany may try to dominate Europe, Russia and France signed a military alliance in 1892 in the case of a defensive war against Germany. In 1904 Great Britain took similar action with France as they signed the Anglo-French Entente to provide mutual protection against Germany. Since Russia and Great Britain were both allied to France, they formalized defensive treaties at the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1907. Other countries such as Russia and Serbia were supportive of each other on the basis of common ethnicity of Slavic people. The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria allied themselves with Germany and Austria-Hungary due to national pride and a sense of revenge as Bulgaria had lost a battle to Serbia in 1913. Thus, countries all over the Eastern Hemisphere inadvertently found …show more content…
Countries around the globe were stockpiling their military artilleries and building up and preparing their armed forces in the name of defense to protect interests at home. However, this amassing of armaments only made nations more lethal and made the possibility or war more dangerous. Policies of imperialism were enforced to regain lost property and build up powerful empires and find economic prosperity. Yet, in order to reclaim lost colonies or even acquire new ones, it is necessary to seize them from someone else. This created tensions between countries contending for the same piece of land. Nationalism is an ancient concept, but many countries experienced new found domestic pride following the Napoleonic era as people of common ethnicity joined together bound by culture and ideology. The mindset that each country was dominant over another in the context of race and ethos was common on a global scale, and motivated those who were living under the rule of a different nationality to break away. This was a source of agitation among several ethnicities and countries. Alliances were formed between countries all over the globe for self-preservation and security. Nevertheless, these alliances linked countries together in a sort of intertwining web that in the event of a war, countries