Editing History of Europe (section)

===Imperialism===
{{Main|Colonial Empires|History of colonialism|Habsburg Monarchy|Russian Empire|French colonial empire|British Empire|Dutch Empire|Italian colonial empire|German colonial empire}}
[[File:Afrikakonferenz.jpg|thumb|The [[Berlin Conference (1884)|1884 Berlin Conference]] headed by [[Otto von Bismarck]] that regulated European colonization in Africa during the [[New Imperialism]] period]]

[[Colonial empires]] were the product of the European [[Age of Discovery]] from the 15th century. The initial impulse behind these dispersed maritime empires and those that followed was trade. Both the [[Portuguese Empire]] and [[Spanish Empire]] quickly grew into the first global political and economic systems with territories spread around the world.

Subsequent major European colonial empires included the [[French colonial empire|French]], [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]], and [[British Empire|British]]. The latter, consolidated during the period of British maritime hegemony in the 19th century, became the largest empire in history because of the improved ocean transportation technologies of the time as well as electronic communication. At its height in 1920, the British Empire covered a quarter of the Earth's land area and comprised a quarter of its population. Other European countries, such as [[Belgian colonial empire|Belgium]], [[German colonial empire|Germany]], and [[Italian colonial empire|Italy]], pursued colonial empires as well (mostly in Africa), but they were smaller. Russia built its [[Russian Empire]] through conquest by land in Eastern Europe, and Asia.

By the mid-19th century, the [[Ottoman Empire]] had declined. This instigated the [[Crimean War]] in 1854 and began a tenser period of minor clashes among the globe-spanning empires of Europe. In the second half of the 19th century, the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] carried out a series of wars that resulted in the creation of Italy and Germany as nation-states, significantly changing the balance of power in Europe. From 1870, [[Otto von Bismarck]] engineered a German hegemony that put France in a critical situation. It slowly rebuilt its relationships, seeking alliances with Russia and Britain to control the growing power of Germany. In this way, two opposing sides – the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance of 1882]] (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and the [[Triple Entente]] of 1907 (Britain, France and Russia) – formed in Europe, escalating military forces and alliances.