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Powder keg of Europe
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<p>The powder keg of Europe or Balkan powder keg was the <a href="/facts/Balkans/5Hy8ly0d">Balkans</a> in the early part of the 20th century preceding <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>. There were many overlapping claims to territories and <a href="/facts/Spheres_of_influence/vxSwzH8K">spheres of influence</a> between the major European powers such as the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/Austro-Hungarian_Empire/9WPUPj0W">Austro-Hungarian Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">German Empire</a> and, to a lesser degree, the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> and the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Italy/X5hxYBvF">Kingdom of Italy</a>. </p><p>In addition to the imperialistic ambitions and interests in this region, there was a growth in nationalism with the indigenous peoples of this region leading to the formation of the independent states of <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a>, <a href="/facts/Serbia/U0LVzPdI">Serbia</a>, <a href="/facts/Montenegro/QynKJrw5">Montenegro</a>, <a href="/facts/Bulgaria/Er5pY3YS">Bulgaria</a>, <a href="/facts/Romania/yolzk5cN">Romania</a> and <a href="/facts/Albania/8GP40BUD">Albania</a>. </p><p>These tensions had boiled over during the decades long diplomatic crisis in the Balkans: starting with the <a href="/facts/Macedonian_Struggle/DK8yYzAj">Macedonian Struggle</a>, the <a href="/facts/Balkan_Wars/NzG0UlCm">Balkan Wars</a>, and then the <a href="/facts/1914_Greek_deportations/dUXH3Ih9">1914 Greco-Turkish war scare</a>, though the <a href="/facts/Great_Powers/KBtjXLun">Great Powers</a> ruled out military intervention with the region until the <a href="/facts/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand/TPK68sok">assassination of Franz Ferdinand</a>. </p>