Two Bullets That Led T O Nine Million Deaths

At the beginning o f 1914, there hadn't been a war involving all the major European powers for almost a century, since Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. But the recent economic and political growth o f Germany and the emergence o f a unified Italy had made the traditional powers nervous. France sought an ally and found one in Russia. Britain, protected by the sea and its navy, followed a policy o f "splendid isolation," but meanwhile negotiated an entente cordiale, or "friendly understanding," with France and, consequently, Russia, an agreement that became known as the Triple Entente. Inresponse, Germany struck a "Triple Alliance" with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Thus, while Europe was technically at peace, it was in reality divided into rival camps, both primed for war.