i think mainly second rate powers trying to break out from under the anglo empire and have their own colonies where they could do genocide and resource extraction in a big way. the french had worked out a compromise by this point and were included (and had plenty of colonies in africa to keep them happy).
something had to start it. as bismarck (may he rot in hell) had predicted, some damned foolish thing in the balkans would start it.
like fort sumter started the ACW, etc etc.
anyway, austria and russia were fighting over whose sphere of influence the balkans would be, or at least how to split it up. serbia definitely wasnt willing to become an austrian satellite (if anyone, they preferred the russians), hence the hostilities, hence the assassination.
It was also that the Austrias annexed Bosnia kinda illegally, which major pissed off the Serbian population. Pan-Slavism was all the rage back then, so the crumbling K.u.k was already on edge ditto with germany who feared an industrializing russia (unfounded since most of the russian industry was owned by british/french capitalists).
germany who feared an industrializing russia (unfounded since most of the russian industry was owned by british/french capitalists)
Arguably they caused an industrialized Russia by Russia's loss to them (and them putting Lenin on a train back to Russia) leading to the creation of the Soviet Union. Which then became the main reason Germany lost the second time.
That was more ww1. Both Italy and Japan were entente powers, and they were alongside germany the "new" revisionists powers seeking to take over from france and the uk. Although the underling geopolitical bases reaches as far back as the 1880s. So Lenin could confidently predict a war between Japan and the US.
ww1 for germany was already about this, ww2 was the same thing with more players because by then, the wheels had come off the entire fucking system and everyone was having a jolly old hallucination and blood rage
i think mainly second rate powers trying to break out from under the anglo empire and have their own colonies where they could do genocide and resource extraction in a big way. the french had worked out a compromise by this point and were included (and had plenty of colonies in africa to keep them happy).
So how did someone getting shot come into this?
something had to start it. as bismarck (may he rot in hell) had predicted, some damned foolish thing in the balkans would start it.
like fort sumter started the ACW, etc etc.
anyway, austria and russia were fighting over whose sphere of influence the balkans would be, or at least how to split it up. serbia definitely wasnt willing to become an austrian satellite (if anyone, they preferred the russians), hence the hostilities, hence the assassination.
It was also that the Austrias annexed Bosnia kinda illegally, which major pissed off the Serbian population. Pan-Slavism was all the rage back then, so the crumbling K.u.k was already on edge ditto with germany who feared an industrializing russia (unfounded since most of the russian industry was owned by british/french capitalists).
Arguably they caused an industrialized Russia by Russia's loss to them (and them putting Lenin on a train back to Russia) leading to the creation of the Soviet Union. Which then became the main reason Germany lost the second time.
That was more ww1. Both Italy and Japan were entente powers, and they were alongside germany the "new" revisionists powers seeking to take over from france and the uk. Although the underling geopolitical bases reaches as far back as the 1880s. So Lenin could confidently predict a war between Japan and the US.
ww1 for germany was already about this, ww2 was the same thing with more players because by then, the wheels had come off the entire fucking system and everyone was having a jolly old hallucination and blood rage