The Rise of Empires: European History, 1870–1919 surveys one of the most volatile epochs in modern European history, from the consolidation of nation-states after 1870 to the imperial rivalries and ideological tensions that culminated in the First World War and its aftermath. Written in a lucid, expository style characteristic of early twentieth-century historical scholarship, the book situates diplomacy, militarism, nationalism, and colonial expansion within a broad narrative of political transformation. Its literary context belongs to the tradition of grand historical synthesis, attentive to causes, institutions, and consequences rather than anecdote alone. Charles Downer Hazen, an American historian and professor at Columbia University, was deeply engaged with European political history and the forces that shaped modern international relations. Writing in the shadow of the Great War, Hazen brought to his subject both scholarly discipline and contemporary urgency, seeking to explain how Europe's systems of power, alliance, and empire produced a crisis of unprecedented scale. This volume is recommended to readers seeking a clear, historically grounded account of Europe's imperial age and its collapse into war. Students, general readers, and specialists alike will value Hazen's disciplined narrative, which remains useful for understanding the origins of the modern world order.

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