ing and began to cause small crises between several countries. One of these conflicts occurred in Morocco in 1911 between France and Germany. This occurred when Germany challenged the French claim in Morocco but it was settled and left the Kaiser displeased (Ross 25). A conflict in Macedonia occurred in 1912 when Russia attempted to ally with Serbia and Bulgaria and take over Macedonia. This is an excellent example of crises which arose as a result of the weakening of Turkish power. After taking over Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria argued over who would control Macedonia. Serbia then crushed Bulgaria and took over much of Macedonia, which angered Austria-Hungary (Ross 26). The growing political instability of Europe in the late 1800s laid the foundation for a large-scale European war. The upset stability of Europe coupled with the forming of rivalries and alliances between countries would eventually cause small crises, like the one in Macedonia, to explode into a world war.While the political instability of Europe grew, imperial and commercial rivalries were being formed between countries. The British were the most successful imperialists. Their empire, on which the sun never sets, covered a fourth of the worlds land surface including India, Australia and New Zealand (Ross 16). Other nations were jealous of Britains colonial wealth and they became a great threat to the British Empire. For years, Britain had colonial conflicts with France and Russia in areas like Sudan and Afghanistan but by 1900, these problems ceased. A major reason why Britain settled their differences with France and Russia was that Germany was a new aggressive player on the imperial board (Ross 17). German economic success was an even greater threat to Britains position in the world. Between 1870 and 1914 Germanys coal production soared 800 percent to rival Britains. By the outbreak of war, Germany was producing as much iron as Britain and twice as much steel. Its el...
