ABSTRACT
The international system based on mutual fears and suspicions that derived from unchecked ultranationalism could not function forever. By 1900 rival imperial claims in Africa and Asia, economic competition, and political conflict in Europe had divided the continent into two rival armed camps: the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Ottoman Turkey) and the Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, and Russia). Nevertheless, peace in Europe allowed for the outward facade of stability. 1 Only the Russo-Japanese War (1903–1905) broke this pattern. An abortive revolutionary upheaval, born in defeat, further weakened the czarist autarchy, although in the end the principle of absolutist monarchy was upheld for the time being. No other European state suffered so much turmoil as Russia did, although again it must be emphasized that in most cases stability was just a facade. 2
