On the eve of the First World War, Europe is not quite yet the modern Europe of over 50+ nation states, but neither is it the collection of large empires and micro-states that it was a century earlier. The Ottoman Empire, which controlled all of the Balkans, has let go of its European possessions. The Scandinavian Countries now form three separate monarchies after many centuries of diverse dynastic unions. Italy has been unified under the leadership of the kings of Sardinia. The low countries are now three distinct countries. Ireland is still in a United Kingdom with Great Britain...
The most prominent feature on this map is the presence in the middle of Europe of two "Central Powers" led by two powerful dynasties: the Hapsburg in Austria, the Hohenzollern in Germany. The ambitions of those two countries, conflicting with a national awakening in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe and some bitter territorial disputes in the West, were responsible for the conflagration that happened in the Summer of 1914, and that would change Europe forever.
Europe in 1914
