After 1905 Japan took control of Korean domestic and foreign policy. The assassination of a prominent Japanese diplomat provided the excuse in 1910 for Japan's annexation of Korea.

(i) 1914 is a turning point in world history.
(ii) The political and social processes that began in 1789 culminated in the First World War that broke out in that year and decisively shaped the course of the twentieth century.
(iii) Historians therefore call this as 'the long twentieth century'.

i) The League appeared to be an organisation of those who were victorious in the First World War.
ii) Since it lacked the military power of its own, it could not enforce its decisions.
iii) The founders of this peace organisation underestimated the power of nationalism.
iv) The principle of  'collective security' could not be applied in actual practice.

i) The Russian revolution fired people's imagination across the world.
ii) In many countries, communist parties were formed.
iii) The Russian Communist Government encouraged the colonies to fight for their freedom.
iv) Debates over key issues, land reforms, social welfare, workers' rights, and gender equality started taking place in a global context.

i) Mustafa Kemal Pasha did a remarkable role for Turkey's rebirth as a nation.
ii) Kemal Pasha modernised Turkey and changed it out of all recognition.

Trench Warfare:
(i) Trenches or ditches dug by troops enabled soldiers to safely stand and protect themselves from enemy fire.
(ii) The main lines of trenches were connected to each other and to the rear by a series of linking trenches through which food, ammunition, fresh troops, mail, and orders were delivered.

Britain, France and Russia are the three countries in the Triple Entente.

(i) In 1894 Japan forced a war on China.
(ii) The crushing defeat of China by little Japan in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) surprised the whole world.
(iii) Despite the warning of the three great powers Russia, Germany and France Japan annexed the Liaotung peninsula with Port Arthur.
(iv) By this action Japan proved that it was the strongest nation of the East Asia.

(i) The Covenant of the League was worked out at the Paris Peace Conference and included in each of the treaties that were signed after the First World War.
(ii) It was largely due to the pressure from I President Wilson that this task was: accomplished.
(iii) In drawing up the constitution of this organization, the ideas of Britain and America prevailed.
(iv) The League consisted office bodies the Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat, the Permanent Court of Justice, and the International Labour Organisation.
(v) Each member-country was represented in the Assembly.
(vi) It discussed general policy and any decision taken in the Assembly had to be unanimous.
(vii) The Council was the executive of the League. Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States were originally declared permanent members of the Council.
(viii) Each member had one vote and since all decisions had to be unanimous, even the small nations possessed the right of veto.

(i) The Russian Communist Party could eliminate illiteracy and poverty in Russia within a record time.
(ii) Russian industry and agriculture had developed remarkably.
(iii) Women were given equal rights, including rights to vote.
(iv) Industries and banks were nationalized. Land was announced as social property.
(v) Land was distributed to poor peasants.
(vi) Lenin thought the most important factor for the fall of Provisional government was its failure to withdraw from World War.
(vii) So Lenin immediately appealed for peace.
(viii) Unmindful of the harsh terms dictated by the Central Powers, Lenin opted for withdrawing from the War to concentrate on the formation of new government.
(ix) In March 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed.

European Alliances and Counter - Alliances:
(i) In 1900 five of the European Great Powers were divided into two armed camps.
a) One camp consisted of the Central Powers namely Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. They formed the Triple Alliance in 1882.
b) The other camp consisted of France and Russia. Their alliance was formed in 1894 with the promise of mutual help if Germany attacked either of them.
(ii) The Anglo-Japanese Alliance prompted France to seek an alliance with Britain to resolve colonial disputes over Morocco and Egypt.
(iii) In 1904 Entente Cordiale was signed between France and Britain.
(iv) Finally it led to the formation of Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia.
Violent Forms of Nationalism:
England's Jingoism, France's Chauvinism and Germany's Kultur were militant forms of nationalism, contributing decisively to the outbreak of war.
Aggressive attitude of Germany:
a) Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany proclaimed Germany would be the leader of the world.
b) Germany's aggressive diplomacy and rapid building of naval bases convinced Britain a German navy could be directed only against her.
Imperial power politics in the Balkans:
a) The Young Turk Revolution of 1908, provided both Austria and Russia with the opportunity to resume their activities in the Balkans.
b) Austria and Russia met and agreed Austria should annex Bosnia and Herzegovina. This aroused intense opposition from Serbia. Germany gave Austria firm support.
c) The enmity between Austria and Serbia led to the outbreak of war in 1914.
The Balkan wars:
a) The Ottoman Empire extended over the Balkans and across Hungary to Poland.
b) The Turks and their subjects of different nationalities in the Balkans indulged in the most frightful massacres and atrocities.
c) The league attacked and defeated Turkish forces in the first Balkan War (1912-13).
d) According to the Treaty of London signed in May 1913 the new state of Albania was created and the other Balkan states divided up Macedonia between them.
e) The division of Macedonia, however, did not satisfy Bulgaria. Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece. But Bulgaria was easily defeated. The second Balkan War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest in August 1913.
Immediate cause:
a) The climax to these events in the Balkans occurred in Sarajevo in Bosnia. On 28 June 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by Princip, a Bosnian Serb.
b) The German army which was planning a war against both France and Russia wanted to use the occasion to its advantage.
c) The German violation of Belgian neutrality forced Britain to enter war.