End+of+Old+Europe+-+Part+1+and+2

=Part 1: The Great Powers of Old Europe=

Great Britain - An Island Empire

 * Small Country
 * Greatest of the world's great powers
 * Richest industries
 * Most trade
 * Largest number of colonies
 * Ruled almost a quarter of the world's land surface
 * Biggest Navy
 * Ruled by: **King George V**
 * Character
 * Shy and quiet
 * Very little power because...
 * Could not make his own laws, only make laws which have been drawn up by parliament
 * **Problems:**
 * Unemployment rising
 * Workers in powerful trade unions were organizing strikes
 * Riots and demonstrations were becoming common
 * **Ireland**
 * Home Rule vs Protestants
 * Home Rule wanted to break away from Britain
 * Protestants wanted to stay british ruled
 * They were both armed and ready to fight, Civil War

** Germany - A New Empire **
 * Was once split into many small states, each with own ruler, Prussia united them
 * Ruled by: **Kaiser Wilhelm II**
 * Cousin of **King George V**
 * Character
 * Energetic, strong, outgoing personality
 * Excellent horsemen
 * Swim, shoot, fence and hunt
 * Withered left arm
 * Loved army
 * Popular with subjects
 * **Problems:**
 * Workers unhappy because wages too low
 * Food expensive
 * Working conditions bad
 * More workers joining trade unions and organizing strikes, force government to improve conditions
 * Many joining Socialist Party - Wanted Kaiser Wilhelm to share his power with Germany's parliament
 * Socialist wanted to overthrow him in a revolution

** Russia - A Giant Empire ** ** Austria-Hungary - A Patchwork Empire **
 * Largest Country
 * Poorest Country
 * Rich in minerals - oil, coal, iron ore, gold
 * These were not much used
 * Huge population but most people lived in the western half of the country
 * Great amounts of land but much of it too cold for farming
 * Long coastline but most of it frozen, making sea transport impossible
 * Many different people speaking different languages
 * No overseas colonies
 * Ruled by: **Tsar Nicholas II**
 * Character
 * Weak man and not clever
 * Bad judge of people
 * Easily influenced by poor advisers
 * **Problems**
 * Poor living conditions for workers
 * Low wages
 * Homes crowded and unhealthy
 * Many ready to rebel against him
 * Union of two separate countries
 * Ruled by: **Emperor Franz Joseph**
 * 84 years old
 * Quiet, serious and religious man
 * Devoted to work
 * No colonies overseas
 * **Problems**
 * People hate their emperor: Franz Joseph's government

**France - A Republic**

 * Land was fertile
 * People hard working
 * Excellent transport system
 * Owned many colonies
 * Weaker than Britain and Germany
 * Farms and factories produced less
 * Population smaller and shrinking
 * French people lost national pride when Germans beat them in war
 * Famous for artistic life, culture and fashions
 * Cultural Capital of the World
 * Ruled by: **President Raymond Poincare**
 * Republic - country ruled by an elected president
 * Character
 * Clever
 * Honest and outspoken
 * Short tempered
 * Cold and unsympathetic
 * Most colonies in Africa, they were liked there
 * Other colonies in Indo-China where they were disliked
 * **Problems**
 * Most powerful countries in Europe
 * Lost national pride to Germans cause Germans beat France in war

** Alliance System **

 * **Three Emperor's League**
 * Agreement tied up between Germany, Austria and Russia
 * France has few friends
 * **Dual Alliance**
 * 1879, Germany quarrelled with Russia, wanted protection, signed treaty with Austria
 * Help each other if either of them were attacked
 * **Triple Alliance**
 * Italy joined the Dual Alliance
 * **Franco-Russian Alliance**
 * France and Russia afraid they would be attacked by the Triple Alliance
 * Agreed to help each other if either of them was attacked
 * **Entente Cordiale**
 * means "Friendly Understanding"
 * Signed between France and Britain
 * **Triple Entente**
 * Britain, Russia and France

** Planning for a War - At Sea **

 * HMS Dreadnought
 * **Dreadnought**
 * Battleship
 * Most powerful battleship ever built
 * Very powerful, make all other battleships out of date
 * Anglo-German Naval Race
 * **German Navy Law**
 * Ordered the building of forty-one battleships and sixty cruisers
 * **Naval League**
 * Encourage German people to take more interest in Navy
 * People given tours of ports and lectures all over Germany
 * British followed the Germans and built more battleships
 * After Dreadnought launched, each country made their own version
 * Rheinland, German version
 * HMS Neptune - Britain Version
 * HMS Queen Elizabeth - British Version, MOST powerful
 * Britain had strongest army
 * How did Naval Race Begin?
 * Germany wanted to become a great world power, needed navy that could challenge Britain
 * **Risk Theory**
 * Idea that the British navy would stay in port rather than risk being badly damaged in a battle with the German fleet (IF Germany had equal navy as Britain)
 * **Two-power standard**
 * Britain decided to build even larger navy, they needed navy to protect colonies and trade routes
 * Decided to make the Royal Navy equal in size to the two strongest navies in the rest of Europe put together
 * Have a navy so big, no other would ever dare to attack it