7.1 Shifting Power After 1900

The dawn of the twentieth century marked the decline of Europe’s unchallenged global dominance. Industrialization had generated immense wealth and industrial rivalry, but it also created instability. Older empires such as the British, French, Russian, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian realms faced new nationalist and social pressures, while rising powers like the United States, Germany, and Japan disrupted the traditional balance of power.