During this period nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of each other and ever ready to go to war. The major European powers, in turn, manipulated the nationalist aspirations of the subject peoples in europe to further their own imperialist aims. The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871 was the ares called the Balkans.

The Balkans which was a region comprising of geographical and ethnical variation comprising modern day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs. The Balkan states were fircely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of the others. Matters were further complicated because the Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry.

Each power- Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary – was keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area. This led to a serious of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

                                                                            OR

The role of women in the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam:

(i) In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed women as brave fighters. There were pictures of women militia shooting down planes. They were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated. Stories were written to show how happy they felt when they joined the army and could carry a rifle.

(ii) Women were represented not only as warriors but also as workers: they were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other. Whether young or old, women began to be depicted as selflessly working and fighting to save the country. As casualties in the war increased in the 1960s, women were urged to join the struggle in larger numbers.

(iii) Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the enemy. Along the Ho Chi Minh trail, young volunteers kept open 2,195 km. of strategic roads and guarded 2,500 key points.

(iv) Between 1965 and 1975, out of the 17,000 youth who worked on the trail, 70 to 80 percent were women. One military historian argues that there were 1.5 million women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces and professional teams.

(v) By the 1970s, as peace talks began to get underway and the end of the war seemed near, women were no longer represented as warriors. Now the image of women as workers begins to predominate. They are shown working in agricultural co-operatives, factories and production units, rather than as fighters.