"The alliance system had already been tested in the two Moroccan Crises of 1905-6 and 1911, when Germany tried to muscle in on French dominance in Morocco. Germany had backed down each time, and war, although seeming inevitable, was averted by diplomacy. A third test would come in the Balkans, a hotbed of nationalism and a key area of imperial squabbling, particularly between Austria-Hungary and Russia."
"Backing Austria-Hungary was Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), who came to power as emperor of Germany in 1888 (and reigned until 1918). The kaiser was determined to expand Germany's rather small empire and defend Germany against two enemies, France in the west and Russia in the east. The Anglo-German arms race had seen these countries plough enormous sums of money into expanding and improving their naval fleets."
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 directly triggered a chain of events that led to the First World War by August 1914. Longstanding causes included imperialism, an intense arms race, rising nationalism, and a complex web of international alliances. Two opposing blocs— the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente—faced repeated tests, including the Moroccan Crises. Germany, Britain, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Italy all had competing strategic aims. The Balkans served as a flashpoint where nationalist agitation and imperial competition transformed a single assassination into a continent-wide conflict.
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