Tensions between Serbia and Austria eventually drew in the other European powers and escalated into a world war.

As the 20th century approached, most of 19th-century Africa had been carved up among the various European powers.

In the context of emerging western imperialism and economic competition between European kingdoms seeking wealth through the establishment of trade routes and colonies, Columbus's speculative proposal, to reach the East Indies by sailing westward, eventually received the support of the Spanish crown, which saw in it a promise, however remote, of gaining the upper hand over rival powers in the contest for the lucrative spice trade with Asia.

Unlike some of their continental European counterparts, the Monarch and her Governors-General in the Commonwealth realms hold significant " reserve " or " prerogative " powers, to be wielded in times of extreme emergency or constitutional crises usually to uphold parliamentary government.

A group of left wing Labour MPs organised under the banner of " Keep Left ", urged the government to steer a middle way between the two emerging superpowers, and advocated the creation of ' third force ' of European powers to stand between the USA and USSR.

The Indian indentured servants that were brought over from India by different European powers, brought this dish, as well as their culture, to the West Indies.

Such an involvement would also directly defy the Monroe Doctrine ; a United States policy which, while limiting the United States ' involvement with European colonies and European affairs, held that European powers ought not to have involvement with states in the Western Hemisphere.

Following World War II, the major European powers divested themselves of their colonies at an increasing rate: the number of ex-colonial states jumped from about 30 to almost 120 after the war.

Superpowers, such as the European great powers, had always felt no compunction in intervening in civil wars that affected their interests, while distant regional powers such as the United States could declare the interventionist Monroe Doctrine of 1821 for events in its Central American " backyard ".

The colonial empire planters from Britain and France, and other European powers stratified laborers.

The European colonial period was the era from the 1500s to, arguably, the 1900s when several European powers ( particularly, but not exclusively, Spain, Portugal, Britain, the Netherlands and France ) established colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

In the late 19th century, many European powers were involved in the Scramble for Africa.

The famous 1942 film Casablanca underlined the city's colonial status at the time — depicting it as the scene of a power struggle between competing European powers.

Despite occasional entanglements with European Powers such as the War of 1812 and the 1898 Spanish-American War, U. S. foreign policy was marked by steady expansion of its foreign trade and scope during the 19th century, and it maintained its policy of avoiding wars with and between European powers.

The European powers then determined to intervene, and authorized the landing in Beirut of a body of French troops under General Beaufort d ' Hautpoul, whose inscription can still be seen on the historic rock at the mouth of Nahr al-Kalb.

The boundaries of modern Eritrea and the entire region were established during the European colonial period between Italian, British and French colonialists as well as the lone landlocked African Empire of Abyssinia which found itself surrounded and its boundaries defined by said colonial powers.

Parliament is the " first institution " of the EU ( mentioned first in the treaties, having ceremonial precedence over all authority at European level ), and shares equal legislative and budgetary powers with the Council ( except in a few areas where the special legislative procedures apply ).

During the Cold War, Finland's foreign policy was based on official neutrality between the Western powers and the Soviet Union, while simultaneously stressing Nordic cooperation in the framework of the Nordic Council and cautious economic integration with the West as promoted by the Bretton-Woods Agreement and the free trade treaty with the European Economic Community.

After the king's execution in January 1793, these powers, along with Spain and most other European states, joined the war against France.

The military significance of the Grand Duchy of Finland had been increasing for the Russians from the mid-19th century with the rising tensions and competition among the major European powers.

A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC in later centuries on the rest of the then known European continent.

In Taverne's case, he had been fighting efforts by the Lincoln Constituency Labour Party to deselect him largely over his support for British membership of the European Communities.

In the Middle Ages, combinatorics continued to be studied, largely outside of the European civilization.

While many older Soviet and European cars remain in service in Cuba, they are largely eclipsed by the island's great 1950s Cadillacs, Packards, De Sotos and similar products from one of the most ornate styling periods in U. S. auto history.

The Late Period extended from three thousand years ago until first contact with European settlers and was dominated by the organization of First Nations peoples into the Algonquian-influenced Abenaki Nation which existed largely in present-day interior Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and the Mi ' kmaq Nation which inhabited all of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, eastern New Brunswick and the southern Gaspé.

The Cathars were largely a homegrown, Western European / Latin Christian phenomenon, springing up in the Rhineland cities ( particularly Cologne ) in the mid-12th century, northern France around the same time, and particularly southern France — the Languedoc — and the northern Italian cities in the mid-late 12th century.

The concept of representative democracy arose largely from ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages, the Age of Enlightenment, and the American and French Revolutions.

In the 19th century, the Congress of Vienna reasserted the rights of diplomats ; and they have been largely respected since then, as the European model has spread throughout the world.

Both World Wars were largely focused upon Europe, greatly contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the United States and Soviet Union took prominence.

Whites ( in Spanish blancos ) are estimated at 6 %, and consists largely of those of unmixed or predominant European descent.

After the abdication of Napoleon following the War of the Sixth Coalition, Austria participated as a leading member of the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Vienna, which was largely dominated by Francis's chancellor Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich culminating in a new European map and the restoration of Francis ' ancient dominions ( except the Holy Roman Empire which was dissolved ).

The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor which largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century.

While its influence continued to be felt in small ways in some west European states, the Gothic language and culture largely disappeared during the Middle Ages.

Russia turned its attention eastward to Asia and remained largely inactive in European politics for the next 25 years.

Upon taking power, James immediately made peace with Spain, and for the first half of the 17th century, England remained largely inactive in European politics.

European states kept these weapons largely among themselves by refusing to sell these weapons to African leaders.

The personal, improvisatory and creative traditions of Western European religious art are largely lacking in Russia before the 17th century, when Simon Ushakov's painting became strongly influenced by religious paintings and engravings from Protestant as well as Catholic Europe.

Whether facing native spear or European bullet, impis largely fought as they had since the days of Shaka, from Zululand to Zimbabwe, and from Mozambique to Tanzania.

Before 1500 European economies were largely self-sufficient, only supplemented with Asia and Africa.

Before the Industrial Revolution in the mid-to-late 19th century, demand for oriental goods remained the driving force behind European imperialism, and ( with the important exception of British East India Company rule in India ) the European stake in Asia remained confined largely to trading stations and strategic outposts necessary to protect trade.

The term " secular " is more popular as a self-description among Israeli families of western ( European ) origin, whose Jewish identity may be a very powerful force in their lives, but who see it as largely independent of traditional religious belief and practice.

Its European peoples, of ethnic French, Spanish and Mexican descent, were largely Catholic ; in addition, there was a large population of enslaved Africans made up of a high proportion of recent arrivals from Africa, as Spain had continued the international slave trade.

By the end of the 20th century, almost the only steam power still in regular use in North America and Western European countries was on heritage railways largely aimed at tourists and / or railroad hobbyists, known as ' railfans ' or ' railway enthusiasts ', although some narrow gauge lines in Germany which form part of the public transport system, running to all-year-round timetables retain steam for all or part of their motive power.

Between 1945 and 1980, the posture of Western European states towards Liberia was largely that of the U. S .. Americo-Liberian rulers received hundreds of millions of dollars in unrestricted foreign investment, mainly from the U. S., but also from Western Europe.