... idea of making alliances, simply because she was never prepared to give as well as receive. However, as the world plunged toward another Dark Age, Britain was also faced with many challenges and rivals. All of a sudden other empires and alliances challenged Great Britain's industrial and naval supremacy. The alliance of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy was balanced by the understanding that existed between the might of France and Russia. All of a sudden the British Empire faced with a growth of colonial and imperial disputes. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and his Weltpolitik was also another major concern. Suddenly it was clear that while Britain stood alone in that which was called isolation, other great powers were exchanging favour for favour and promise for promise, resulting in heavy alliances between dominant European empires. In a speech at Lewes on February 26, 1896, in defence of the government's ...

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