Friday, September 8, 2017

About That War 100 Years Ago-- Part 2: Nearly Everybody Wanted Something

"While smaller nations sought to pick up the crumbs of imperialism let fall from the feast of their more powerful neighbors.

"In this scramble for markets and territories Africa had been carved up into colonies and protectorates, and there was every indication that the same fate awaited Asia.

"While colonial rivalries kept the chancelleries of Europe on the qui vive and precipitated numerous diplomatic crises, serious European rivalries were a continuous menace to peace.

France had never been reconciled to the separation of Alsace-Lorraine, and the more warlike of her statesmen awaited only the right moment to regain her lost provinces;  Russia, without an outlet to the Mediterranean, had her eyes fixed on Constantinople and sought to dominate the Balkans.

Just Waiting for the Spark.  --Cooter

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