<P> As a result of the crisis, Russia's weakness in military power prevailed . The Russians could not rely upon their financial means as a tool for foreign policy . </P> <P> Historians caution that, taken together, the preceding crisis should not be seen as an argument that a European war was inevitable in 1914 . </P> <P> Significantly, the Anglo - German Naval Race was over by 1912 . In April 1913, Britain and Germany signed an agreement over the African territories of the Portuguese empire which was expected to collapse imminently . Moreover, the Russians were threatening British interests in Persia and India to the extent that in 1914, there were signs that the British were cooling in their relations with Russia and that an understanding with Germany might be useful . The British were "deeply annoyed by St Petersburg's failure to observe the terms of the agreement struck in 1907 and began to feel an arrangement of some kind with Germany might serve as a useful corrective ." </P> <P> British Diplomat Arthur Nicolson wrote in May 1914, "Since I have been at the Foreign Office I have not seen such calm waters ." </P>

Events that led up to world war i