Historical epochs do not coincide strictly with
centuries. The French Revolution in 1789, not
the year 1800, marked the beginning of a new
historical era. The beginning of the twentieth

century, too, is better dated to 1871, when Ger-
many became unified, or the 1890s, when inter-
national instability became manifest in Europe

and Asia and a new era of imperial rivalry, which
the Germans called Weltpolitik, began. On the
European continent Germany had become by far
the most powerful military nation and was rapidly
advancing industrially. In eastern Asia during
the 1890s a modernised Japan waged its first
successful war of aggression against China. In the

Americas the foundations were laid for the emer-
gence of the US as a superpower later in the

century. The US no longer felt secure in isola-
tion. Africa was finally partitioned between

the European powers. These were some of the
portents indicating the great changes to come.
There were many more.