Empires Clash
Industry’s unsentimental nature means capital follows the path of least resistance. Nations that through better conditions improve technology by capital outlay can out pace less fleet-of-foot rivals in a few years. This new characteristic, still at play, first became obvious as the new Saturn-Uranus wave began around 1897. The United States, Germany and to some degree, Japan, turned into major players on the power of their economies.
Belligerent Speak
As the 19th Century ended, industry and nation began an intimate relationship that spanned ever larger portions of the globe. Factories devour resources and demand consumers. Overseas markets commandeered by any means, often belligerent, conveniently met these needs. A colony bound to a home country offered a market monopoly and dedicated sources of supplies that could be sold to others who lacked them. This policy often pitted empire against empire, especially when a home nation depended on colonies as part of its economic concerns. In other cases, newer empires sought to gain at the expense of teetering ones like Ottoman and Chinese. With the state and industry so intimately connected, any threat to commerce became a belligerent threat. This condition presaged the coming century, one in which the once inconsequential United States had to factored in. The American Century that began with the self-manufactured Spanish-American War was a sign of things to come.
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