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It begins!

Part One Hundred: You Do Realize, This Means War

The Great War Begins: After the Turkish War, relations between the European great powers became ever more strained. Italy and Spain became worried over France's expansionist stance in the region and the perceived dominance that France exerted in the sea. It took a unified diplomatic effort by Britain, Spain, and Italy to convince other nations to prevent France from gaining Tunis and Tripoli in the Treaty of Rome. In 1903, the nations of Italy, Spain, Greece, and Portugal formed the Lega del Mediterraneo, a unified military alliance between the lesser powers of the Mediterranean. After the dispute over the Adriatic city-states was settled, Hungary joined the alliance in 1904. While the alliance was confined to the Mediterranean, it would become critical in escalating the coming conflict into a world war.

Meanwhile, the tensions between the French and British governments were becoming increasingly difficult to resolve. After the diplomatic crises of the past decade, the French people were becoming increasingly agitated with the government and the booming economy was accompanied by a wave of national pride. The dismissal of Francois Richard Waddington as French ambassador to London[1] after accusations that he sabotaged the negotiations in the Treaty of Rome led to a minor scandal between London and Paris. In July of 1904, the French people voted a Bonaparte out of office for the first time since the formation of the Republic. Charles Joseph Bonaparte was rejected by the people of France in favor of Leon Gambetta, after the events of the Treaty of Rome led to Bonaparte being perceived as wanting reconciliation with the British.

Gambetta's nationalist foreign policy, like Boulanger before him, was aimed to extend French influence over its colonies and protectorate nations and give France a leg up on the rivalry with Great Britain. Gambetta sent more military expeditions to Africa and Asia, while expanding the French coastal defense system on the English Channel. The militarization of France sparked a number of diplomatic incidents in the next years that would lead to the outbreak of the Great War. In 1905, the Japan turned its sights westward and declared war against Corea. As Japanese ships were shelling the port of Chilung[2], a French warship that had stationed there was hit in the crossfire. The French flotilla in Chilung began a counterattack on the Japanese fleet and sunk the Kirishima, a cruiser present at the battle. After the Japanese were repulsed from Chilung, France declared war on Japan in aid of Korea with the excuse that its warships had been fired upon. Both the Russians and the British took the side of Japan that the shelling was a mistake and that France deliberately attacked the Japanese fleet, and their ambassadors in Paris lodged vigorous complaints to Gambetta. The British began preparing to come to the defense of Japan and declare war on France later in 1905, but the incident was resolved before outright war broke out.

With tensions between the European powers now higher than ever with the Chilung Incident, it only took one more slight for France to fully commit itself to military aggression. This last straw broke in the oasis of Ghadames in Fezzan in March of 1906. An Italian surveying expedition to the interior of Tripolitania arrived at Ghadames, but soon encountered a French military expedition occupying an outpost in the village. As the Franco-Italian border in North Africa had never been specifically laid out after the Treaty of Rome, both forces claimed Ghadames as in their territory and a skirmish soon broke out. The French force defeated the Italians at Ghadames, and Gambetta used this opportunity to reassert France's claim on Tunis and Tripolitania. Gambetta proclaimed the Italian expedition to Ghadames was an incursion upon French territory and demanded concessions in return, but Italy refused to budge. France declared war on Italy, and the alliance dominoes began to fall. Italy activated the defensive pact of the Lega do Mediterraneo pulling Spain, Portugal, and Hungary into the war. Great Britain joined the war in assistance to Spain, while Germany entered on the side of the French. In the coming months, British diplomats in Moscow convinced the Tsar to enter the war against Germany and France as a counterpoint in both Europe and against Korea in the conflict in Asia.

[1] Waddington is the son of William Henry Waddington, and OTL French businessman and Prime Minister.
[2] Keelung, a port city in northern Taiwan.