<P> Historians, including Ferguson and Clark, believe that Germany's isolation was the unintended consequences of the need for Britain to defend her Empire against threats from France and Russia . They also downplay the impact of Weltpolitik and the Anglo - German naval race, which ended in 1911 . </P> <P> Britain and France signed a series of agreement in 1904, which became known as the Entente Cordiale . The most important feature of the agreement was that it granted freedom of action to the UK in Egypt and to France in Morocco . Equally, the Anglo - Russian Convention of 1907 is the common name used for the Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet . The convention brought shaky British--Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified respective control in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet . </P> <P> The alignment between Great Britain, France and Russia became known as the Triple Entente . Therefore, the Triple Entente was not conceived as a counterweight to the Triple Alliance, but rather as a formula to secure imperial security between these three powers . The impact of the Triple Entente was therefore twofold, to improve British relations with France and her ally Russia and to demote the importance to Britain of good relations with Germany . Clark states it was "not that antagonism toward Germany caused its isolation, but rather that the new system itself channeled and intensified hostility towards the German Empire". </P> <P> The Italo - Turkish War of 1911 - 12 was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy in North Africa . The main significance for the First World War was that this war made it clear that no Great Power appeared to wish to support the Ottoman Empire any longer and this paved the way for the Balkan Wars . </P>

Events that led to the first world war