Bismarck arranges an alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879 and one with Italy in 1882.

His triumph, however, is a secret alliance he forms by means of the Reinsurance Treaty with
Russia in 1887, although its terms violate the spirit of the treaty with Austria-Hungary.

However much these agreements contributed to German security, Bismarck's plunge into the
European scramble for overseas colonies ultimately weakens it by awakening British fears about Germany's long-term geopolitical aims.

Subsequent feelers he puts out with a view to establishing an understanding with Britain are rebuffed.

King Kalākaua leaves Hawaiʻi on a trip around the world in 1881 to study the matter of immigration and to improve foreign relations.

He also wants to study how other monarchs rule.

In his absence, his sister and heir, Princess Liliʻuokalani, rules as regent (Prince Leleiohoku, the former heir, had died in 1877).

The King had first traveled to San Francisco, where he had received a royal welcome, then sailed to the Empire of Japan, where he had met with the Meiji Emperor.

He had continued through Qing Dynasty China, Siam under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), Burma, British Raj India, Egypt, Italy, Belgium, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the French Third Republic, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and back through the United States before returning to Hawaiʻi.

During this trip, he had met with many other crowned heads of state, including Pope Leo XIII, Umberto I of Italy, Tewfik, Viceroy of Egypt, William II of Germany, Rama V of Siam, U.S. President Chester A. Arthur, and Queen Victoria.

In this, he has become the first king to travel around the world.

Kalākaua also builds ʻIolani Palace (the only royal palace that exists on American soil today) at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars—a sum unheard of at this time.

Many of the furnishings in the palace had been ordered by Kalākaua while he was in Europe.

Russia faces difficulties in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Not only does technology and industry continue to develop more rapidly in the West but also new, dynamic, competitive great powers appear on the world scene: Otto von Bismarck's united Germany, the post-Civil War United States, and Meiji Restoration Japan.

Although it is an expanding regional giant in Central Asia, straddling the borders of the Ottoman, Iranian, British Indian, and Chinese empires, Russia cannot generate enough capital to undergo rapid industrial development or to compete with advanced countries on a commercial basis.

Russia's fundamental dilemma is that either it can attempt to accelerate domestic development and risk upheaval at home or it can progress slowly and risk becoming an economic colony of the more
advanced world.

The transformation of the economic and social structure of Russia is accompanied by political ferment, particularly among the intelligentsia, and also by impressive developments
in literature, music, the fine arts, and the natural sciences.

The loose Russo-Prussian entente, which has held fast for more than twenty-five years, collapses when Kaiser Wilhelm II dismisses his chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, in 1890.

The consequence of this development is that Russia allies itself with France in 1893 by entering into a joint military convention, which matches the German-Austrian dual alliance of 1879.

East Central Europe (1888–1899 CE): Imperial Ambitions, National Rivalries, Accelerated Industrialization, and Rising Social Tensions

Between 1888 and 1899, East Central Europe—including modern-day Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and eastern Germany and Austria east of 10°E and northeast of the defined boundary—entered a critical period marked by heightened imperial ambitions, intensified nationalist rivalries, rapid economic growth, and increasingly pronounced social and political tensions. Underlying ethnic and national divisions deepened, while major powers—particularly the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy—grappled with internal pressures and external rivalries.

Political and Military Developments

Kaiser Wilhelm II and German Aggression

In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended the throne of the German Empire, ushering in a more assertive and aggressive foreign policy. The dismissal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1890 further destabilized Germany's political landscape, creating uncertainty and shifting alliances. Wilhelm II’s ambitions for military and colonial expansion began straining relations with neighboring powers, especially Austria-Hungary, Russia, and France.

Austro-Hungarian Stability and Nationalist Challenges

Emperor Franz Joseph I maintained the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s fragile unity, but nationalist tensions escalated significantly. Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia, Poles in Galicia, Slovaks, and various South Slavic groups intensified demands for greater autonomy. The 1897 "Badeni crisis," involving language rights for Czechs, vividly highlighted ethnic and political tensions within Austria, setting precedents for future internal struggles.

Polish National Movement and Ethnic Solidarity

In partitioned Poland (under Prussian/German, Austrian, and Russian rule), nationalist activism intensified. Cultural revival, underground education, and political organization accelerated, laying critical foundations for future Polish independence aspirations. Austrian Galicia remained relatively tolerant, allowing Polish cultural institutions to flourish more freely than in the Prussian or Russian partitions.

Economic and Technological Developments

Accelerated Industrialization and Economic Expansion

Industrialization accelerated dramatically, especially in Silesia (German-controlled), Bohemia, Moravia, Saxony, and the industrial regions surrounding Budapest and Vienna. Key industries such as steel, machinery, chemical manufacturing, coal mining, and textiles grew rapidly, making East Central Europe an essential industrial and economic powerhouse within Europe.

Railway Expansion and Technological Innovation

Railway construction expanded rapidly, enhancing connectivity across the region. Railroads stimulated trade, internal migration, and urbanization, linking major urban-industrial hubs—Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Kraków, Wrocław (Breslau)—and transforming regional economies. Technological innovations, such as electrification, telephone networks, and improved agricultural machinery, further boosted productivity and modernized infrastructure.

Cultural and Artistic Developments

National Cultural Renaissance

The late 19th century saw vibrant cultural nationalism flourish, especially among Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, and Slovaks. Czech composer Antonín Dvořák achieved international fame, while in Poland, the modernist literary movement "Young Poland" (Młoda Polska) emerged, featuring prominent figures like Stanisław Wyspiański and Stefan Żeromski. Hungarian culture experienced a renaissance marked by renewed interest in folk traditions, music, and literature.

Urban Cultural Life and Architectural Splendor

Urban centers—especially Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Dresden, Leipzig, Kraków, and Wrocław—witnessed dynamic cultural life and architectural innovation. The Viennese Secession art movement (founded in 1897) influenced modernist aesthetics, while Prague and Budapest similarly displayed remarkable architectural growth with public buildings, museums, theaters, and galleries showcasing national prestige.

Settlement and Urban Development

Continued Rapid Urbanization

Cities expanded rapidly, drawing rural populations into urban industrial economies. Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Leipzig, Dresden, and Kraków grew significantly, developing extensive public infrastructure—transportation networks, sanitation, housing, hospitals—and becoming vibrant industrial, commercial, and cultural centers.

Social and Religious Developments

Working-Class Movements and Socialist Politics

Socialist and labor movements grew substantially amid industrial expansion. Working conditions and labor rights increasingly dominated political debates, especially in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. Social Democratic parties, trade unions, and strikes became common, underscoring deepening class tensions and political activism.

Religious Institutions and Social Reform

The Catholic Church, despite ongoing tensions (particularly the legacy of Germany’s Kulturkampf), remained influential, contributing significantly to education, social welfare, and community cohesion across Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian communities. Protestant churches maintained significant influence in German regions, actively participating in social welfare and educational initiatives.

Long-Term Consequences and Historical Significance

The period 1888–1899 significantly influenced East Central Europe's trajectory toward the tumultuous early 20th century. Intensified nationalist movements, the assertive imperial ambitions of Germany under Wilhelm II, and increasingly strained Austro-Hungarian internal politics set critical foundations for future conflicts. Economic expansion and rapid industrialization reshaped regional social structures, intensifying class tensions and labor movements. Cultural flourishing, urban growth, and heightened ethnic consciousness further defined regional identities. These complex and intertwined developments profoundly shaped East Central Europe's subsequent historical evolution toward the crises preceding World War I.

German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by young Kaiser Wilhelm in 1890 over a dispute about antisocialist legislation.

Northwest Europe (1888–1899): Late Victorian Britain, Imperial Strains, and Political Transformations

Imperial Strength and Victorian Symbolism

Between 1888 and 1899, Britain continued as a leading global power, its imperial influence and cultural prestige underscored by Queen Victoria’s symbolic stature. Though politically passive, Victoria remained the emblem of British stability, domestic virtue, and imperial dignity. Yet, beneath this confident façade, Britain faced intensifying political, economic, and social tensions, marking the slow end of the unchallenged Victorian era.

Political Realignment: The Liberal Split and Rise of Conservative Dominance

Britain’s political landscape shifted dramatically following Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone’s commitment to Irish Home Rule. Historically, Britain’s aristocracy had been politically divided between the Conservative and Liberal parties. However, Gladstone’s embrace of Home Rule caused many aristocrats and upper-class voters to abandon the Liberals, resulting in a permanent Conservative majority in the House of Lords. London's high society, following Queen Victoria’s personal disdain for Home Rule, ostracized prominent Home Rulers, further marginalizing the Liberal party socially.

A key event in this realignment occurred when influential Liberal Joseph Chamberlain broke decisively with Gladstone over Home Rule, taking with him a substantial faction of upper-class Liberal supporters. This group formed the Liberal Unionist Party, aligning closely with the Conservatives, and ultimately merging with them. This shift ensured long-term Conservative dominance, relegating Liberals to political opposition for much of the following two decades.

Gladstonian Liberals and The Newcastle Programme

In response, the remaining Gladstonian Liberals adopted the ambitious Newcastle Programme in 1891, proposing extensive reforms including:

• Home Rule for Ireland

• Disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales and Scotland

• Stricter liquor regulations

• Extensive factory reform

• Significant democratic political reforms

The Programme resonated powerfully with middle-class Nonconformist Liberals who felt newly liberated from the dominance of aristocratic influence, reshaping the Liberal party’s social and political foundations.

The Boer War and Imperial Tensions in South Africa

Simultaneously, Britain faced rising imperial tensions in South Africa. British control of the region, established after the Napoleonic Wars, had continuously provoked resistance from Dutch-speaking settlers, or "Boers" (Afrikaners). The Boers established two independent republics—the Transvaal and the Orange Free State—resisting British attempts to assert greater control.

By the late 1890s, the British government, influenced significantly by cabinet minister Joseph Chamberlain, protested against discriminatory policies enacted by Boer leader Paul Kruger in the Transvaal Republic. Historian Andrew Roberts later described Kruger’s administration as oppressive, labeling it a "quasi-police state," noting it refused political rights to nonwhites, Catholics, Jews, and British "Uitlanders" who provided eighty percent of the republic's tax revenues. Despite a population of over fifty thousand British residents, Johannesburg was denied local governance, the English language was banned in official matters, public meetings were outlawed, newspapers censored, and citizenship strictly controlled.

Chamberlain highlighted Uitlander grievances, intensifying tensions. In response to escalating British pressure, the Boers declared war on October 20, 1899, beginning the Second Boer War (1899–1902). Despite numbering only 410,000, the Boer fighters employed effective guerrilla tactics against Britain’s larger and better-equipped forces. Ultimately, overwhelming British numbers, superior equipment, and often harsh military strategies secured a costly British victory, but at significant financial, human, and reputational cost, foreshadowing future imperial challenges.

Rising German Ambitions and Diplomatic Strains

On the broader international stage, the rise of a unified Germany after 1871 increasingly challenged British dominance. Initially, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s diplomatic strategy had maintained a peaceful European balance of power. However, after Kaiser William II ascended the German throne in 1888, he dismissed Bismarck, embracing aggressive rhetoric and a naval buildup explicitly designed to rival Britain’s global naval supremacy.

Germany’s expanding industrial strength threatened Britain's traditional industrial and commercial dominance, creating anxiety within Britain’s political and business communities. Germany's ambitions in Africa and the Pacific exacerbated imperial rivalries, gradually leading Britain toward diplomatic isolation and ultimately prompting reconsideration of its long-held policy of "splendid isolation."

Arts, Crafts, and the Cultural Legacy of William Morris

Culturally, Britain witnessed the transformative influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement, led by the influential designer, poet, and early socialist William Morris. Morris’s designs for furniture, fabrics, stained glass, wallpapers, and decorative arts revolutionized Victorian aesthetics, championing craftsmanship, simplicity, and beauty in reaction to industrial mass-production. Morris’s philosophy profoundly reshaped Victorian tastes and contributed to broader cultural shifts toward simpler, more naturalistic designs.

Late Victorian Society: Gender, Fashion, and the “New Woman”

Socially, Britain continued grappling with shifting gender roles. The emergence of the "New Woman" challenged traditional Victorian notions, advocating increased educational opportunities, economic independence, and eventually suffrage for women. Although mainstream fashion continued to favor restrictive corseting, the uncorseted styles promoted by the Aesthetic Movement and other progressive groups gradually influenced broader perceptions of women's autonomy.

Technological Innovation and Industrial Competition

Britain maintained global leadership in industries such as shipbuilding, finance, and communications. The telegraph and rail systems continued facilitating international trade, but Britain faced mounting industrial competition from Germany and the United States, increasingly challenging its industrial supremacy. Economic pressures from the continuing Long Depression period intensified these competitive anxieties.

Lord Salisbury and Gladstone’s Final Years

Politically, Britain’s leadership transitioned between two dominant figures in this era. Conservative Lord Salisbury, characterized by his full beard and patrician bearing, served as Prime Minister multiple times (briefly until January 1886, again from November 1886 to 1892, and once more starting in 1895), offering stable but cautious leadership through a turbulent era.

In contrast, Liberal icon William Ewart Gladstone, known for his sparse beard and charismatic moral leadership, served his fourth and final ministry between 1892 and 1894, attempting once again to pass Irish Home Rule before retiring due to age. Gladstone died in 1898, symbolizing the passing of an era of dynamic, moral-driven reformism in British politics.

Military Reforms and Lingering Challenges

Despite earlier reforms by Gladstone’s War Secretary, Edward Cardwell, the British Army remained plagued by organizational inefficiencies and outdated practices, exposed painfully during the Boer War. The army's voluntary nature, though admired domestically, proved challenging when confronting sustained guerrilla tactics overseas. These weaknesses highlighted critical military vulnerabilities Britain would later need to address.

Scandinavian Stability and Icelandic Nationalism

Scandinavia continued enjoying internal stability. Norway further solidified its distinct national identity within the union with Sweden, setting the stage for later independence movements. Denmark focused inwardly, consolidating after earlier territorial losses.

In Iceland, nationalist sentiments deepened, building on the earlier intellectual and political legacy of nationalist figure Jón Sigurðsson, laying the groundwork for greater autonomy.

Leisure, Tourism, and Victorian Culture

Middle-class leisure expanded steadily, driven by improved transport and rising incomes. Tourism, popularized by entrepreneurs such as Thomas Cook, broadened significantly, facilitating increased international and domestic travel. Literary culture remained vibrant, represented by figures like Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Rudyard Kipling, whose works examined social anxieties, imperial tensions, and shifting cultural norms. Wilde’s dramatic 1895 trial, in particular, illustrated tensions within traditional Victorian morality, marking broader cultural transformations at century’s end.

Conclusion: Imperial Confidence, Domestic Strains, and Emerging Modernity

From 1888 to 1899, Britain’s imperial dominance persisted, but underlying domestic and international tensions became increasingly pronounced. Political realignment driven by the Irish Home Rule crisis, challenges posed by the Boer War, rising German ambitions, shifting gender roles, and economic competition from emerging industrial powers defined this critical era. Simultaneously, cultural shifts epitomized by William Morris’s influential designs, rising feminist consciousness, and vibrant literary expressions signaled transformative changes.

This period marked the final years of confident Victorian dominance, revealing strains that would profoundly reshape Britain and Northwest Europe as they entered the twentieth century.

The rise of the German Empire after 1871 poses a new challenge to Britain, for it (along with the United States) threatens to take Britain's place as the world's foremost industrial power.

Germany acquires a number of colonies in Africa and the Pacific, but Chancellor Otto von Bismarck has succeeded in achieving general peace through his balance of power strategy.

When William II becomes German emperor in 1888, he discards Bismarck, begins using bellicose language, and plans to build a navy to rival Britain's.

The Year of the Three Emperors, the dying Frederick III inherits the German imperial throne from his father William I on March 9, 1888; his son succeeds him as William II on June 15.

The mnemonic “drei Achten, drei Kaiser” (English: "three eights, three emperors") is still used today in Germany by children and adults alike to learn the year in question.

Wilhelm II of Germany opposes Otto von Bismarck's attempt to renew the law outlawing the Social Democratic Party.

Wilhelm forces Bismarck to resign as Chancellor in 1890.

The new emperor allows the Reinsurance Treaty between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia to fall apart.