enterprise
the government attempted to provide political stability and a sound financial
atmosphere, and to encourage industrial development
it also sponsored railways, telegraph lines, and shipbuilding
family-business enterprises grew up and became very powerful institutions
in some enterprises Japan began to compete with the major in dustrial countries
economic growth at home was accompanied by expansion overseas
by 1905 Japan was competing successfully with European powers
in only a few decades Japan had undergone an industrial revolution
Japan was now a world power
The End of French Continental Ascendency-The New Balance of Power in 1871
Germany now became the single most important state on the European continent
it was large in territory and population, had great industrial potential, a strong armed
force, and a vibrant culture
France could no longer set the pace for the European continent
England expanded its empire; Austria-Hungary stumbled along; and Russia was held
back by slow economic development and reactionary governments
while the new Italy took its place alongside the great powers, many doubted that it
belonged there
Mazzini s dream had not come true-nationalism did not increase the harmony among
peoples, but often increased antagonism and created an atmosphere of animosity,
suspicion, and revenge
Europe became an armed camp in the name of national defence, and everyone feared
the possibility of a general European war
technology strengthened national units and gave the central governments of all states the
ability to control their hinterland