The History of the Twentieth Century

Just weeks after the First Balkan War ended, the Second Balkan War broke out over the spoils. When it was over, Serbia was Russia's only remaining diplomatic asset in the Balkans, and was spoiling for a fight with Austria.

As the small Balkan states redraw the map of their region, Austria-Hungary is largely a spectator, tied up in her own scandals.

The small Balkan states have been coming together in alliance. Originally defensive, the allies came to a secret agreement to attack the Ottoman Empire together, while it was preoccupied by the war with Italy.

After the difficult 1912 US Presidential election, Woodrow Wilson takes office, but the women's suffrage movement upstages him with a huge demonstration the day before.

Alfred Binet invents IQ testing, Picasso cheers up, the Mona Lisa is stolen, and Jim Thorpe wins two gold medals at the 1912 Olympics.

Italy has been angling to secure Libya as a colonial possession for some time now. But war fever broke out in 1911, partly because of the Agadir crisis, prompting Italy to declare war on the Ottoman Empire over control of the province.

The year 1910 was relatively quiet in Europe, except in the turbulent Ottoman Empire. But 1911 saw another crisis in Morocco, and renewed tensions.

One of the greatest, and certainly the most famous, of disasters at sea occurred the night of April 14, 1912, when the passenger liner Titanic sank, taking with her about 2/3 of those aboard.

1912 saw a Presidential election campaign unlike anything Americans had known before or since. It was America's only true three-way race, with the added drama of a grudge match between two men who had recently been friends and allies.

Following Scott's acclaimed Discovery Expedition, he and Ernest Shackleton plan competing expeditions to the South Pole, along with a surprise appearance by Roald Amundsen.