These nations were kept in constant fear of war.  As soon as France equipped her army with machine guns, Germany and Austria had to do the same.  As soon as the Germans invented a new magazine rifle, the Russians and French had to invent similar arms for their soldiers.  If Germany passed a law compelling all men up to the age of forty-five to report for two weeks’ military training once every year, France and Russia had to do the same.  If Italy built some powerful warships, France and Russia had to build still more powerful ones.  This led to still larger ships built by Germany and Italy.  If France built a fleet of one hundred torpedo boats, the Triple Alliance had to “go her one better” by building one hundred and fifty.  If Germany equipped her army with war balloons, Russia and France had to do the same.  If France invented a new kind of heavy artillery, Germany and Austria built a still bigger gun.

This mad race for war equipment was bad enough when it had to do only with the five nations in the two alliances about which you have been told.  However, the death of the old emperor of Germany in 1888 brought to the throne his grandson, the present Kaiser,[5] and he formed a plan for making Germany the leading nation on the sea as Bismarck had made her on the land.  He saw France and England seizing distant colonies and dividing up Africa between them.  He at once announced that Germany, too, must have colonies to which to export her manufactures and from which to bring back tropical products.  This meant a strong navy to protect these colonies, and the race with England was on.  As soon as Germany built some new battleships, England built still others, larger and with heavier guns.  The next year, Germany would build still larger ships, and the next England would come back with still heavier guns.  As fast as England built ships, Germany built them.  Now, each battleship costs from five to fifteen million dollars, and it does not take long before a race of this kind sends the taxes too high for people to stand.  There was unrest throughout Europe and murmurs of discontent were heard among the working classes.

[5]The present Kaiser’s father reigned only ninety-nine days, as he was a very sick man at the time of the old emperor’s death.

Questions for Review

 1.  How did France pay off her war indemnity so promptly?
 2.  Why did Bismarck’s three-emperor-alliance fail?
 3.  What is meant by “the balance of power”?
 4.  What was the condition of the Serbs, Bulgarians, etc. before 1878?
 5.  Why did Russia covet Constantinople?
 6.  Why did the powers prevent the treaty of San Stephano from being
    carried out?
 7.  What wrongs were done by the Congress of Berlin?
 8.  Why did Bismarck form the Triple Alliance?
 9.  How was he able to induce Italy to join her old enemy, Austria?
10.  What was the effect of the formation of the Triple Alliance on
    France and Russia?
11.  What result had the formation of the two alliances on the
    gun-industry?
12.  How was England brought into the race for war equipment?