Powder keg of Europe

[1] To complicate matters, in the years preceding World War I, there existed a tangle of Great Power alliances, both formal and informal, public and secret.

This theory held that opposing combinations of powers in Europe would be evenly matched entailing that any general war would be far too costly for any nation to risk entering.

As is insinuated by the name "the powder keg of Europe," the Balkans were not the major issue at stake in the war, but were merely the catalyst that led to the conflagration.

The Chancellor of Germany in the late 19th century, Otto von Bismarck, correctly predicted it would be the source of major conflict in Europe.

The powder keg "exploded" causing the First World War, which began with a conflict between imperial Austria-Hungary and Pan-Slavic Serbia.