17. First World War: August 4, 1914 to November 11, 1918

Causes: The events of July and early August 1914 are a classic case of "one thing led to another" - otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.
Mutual Defense Alliances- Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Thus, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them.

16. Unification of Germany

• The unification of Germany into a politically integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France.
• Like Italy, Germany was also divided into many states. At the end of Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815 there were 38 independent states in Germany.
• In 1815, the German states along with the Austria were organized into a Germanic confederation.
• Prussia was one of the most powerful states.

15. Unification of Italy: 1848-70

The Italian Unification or Italian Risorgimento is known as the chain of political and military events that produced a united Italian peninsula under the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. These events can be broken down in five stages: