At the beginning of the 20th century, there were six major European powers: Britain,
France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Italy. Together with the growing powers
of United States and Japan, these countries dominated world affairs.
1. Britain
a. Britain was the world's greatest colonial power, with an empire which covered a
quarter of the world.
b. For most of the 19th century, she had also been the greatest industrial power.
But, in the early 1900s, she was overtaken by the United States and Germany.
c. She had by far the largest navy in the world and for much of the late 19th
century had pursued a policy of 'splendid isolation' from the affairs of Europe.
2. France
a. In the second half of the 19th century, France became industrialized and
gained the world's second-largest colonial empire.
b. Her defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 created great hostility in
France to the new state of Germany. France was determined to regain land she
had lost to Germany as a result of the war.
c. In 1900, her army was about the same size as the German army.
3. Germany
a. Since her unification, Germany had industrialized rapidly. In 30 years she had
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