ese political and military alliances existed there is no direct evidence to indicate that any nation declared war on that basis. There had been several ‘crisis’ during the period 1905-1913. First the Moroccan crisis involving France and Germany during 1905 and 1911. No wars eventuated only tensions and fears regarding Germanys aggressive expansionist policies. Britain supported France being involved in Morocco and France conceded some territory in the Congo to Germany. Second the 1908 Balkans crisis eventuated because of the collapse of the Ottoman [Turkish] Empire. Austria-Hungary annexed the provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia was insensed and sought Russian assistance. Germany became involved and Russia backed down. Finally two wars developed in the Balkans. The first Balkan war [1912] was between Turkey and the Balkan League [Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece] with Turkey being driven out of the Balkans. The second Balkan war [1913] occurred between Bulgaria and Serbia/Greece. Winning this war strengthened Serbs position and this gave Austria-Hungary concern regarding its influence in the Balkans. The main significance of the Balkan wars was the position of Britain and France placing restraint on Russia and Germany restraining Austria-Hungary. This did not happen with the July crisis of 1914 which resulted in World War I. [Condron - The Making of the Modern World] Also the two Balkan wars resulted in renewed antagonism between Bulgaria and the other Balkan states especially Serbia and caused general dissatisfaction because of the interference of the great powers in Balkan politics.[Grolier - World War I]. Evidence does support that while the various events discussed did not contribute directly to World War I they did indeed contribute to extreme tensions and suspicions between the great powers and certainly fueled the arms race which in effect prepared nations for the total disaster that was to follow the July crisis. The ...
