This last update is going to be brief because with the exception of some wars not a great deal happened that is exclusively the work of VIP changes.
The Dogs Of War Cry Havoc - In general the peaceful coexistence of the major powers in last three decades of the nineteenth century had allowed for a dramatic economic expansion and witnessed the generally peaceful process of colonization. After 1900 that would change, and conflict between major powers grew sharper. A brief summary of the major wars of this period :
The Korea War : By the end of the 19th century Japan and Russia had partitioned Korea, but there remained major tensions between the two powers, espeically in regards to their respective influence over China. In 1904 these tensions would explode into the longest and bloodiest conflict of the entire period as the two nations struggled for dominance in Korea. At first the Russians were successful, driving the Japanese nearly off the Korean peninsula until a front line stabilized around Pusan in mid 1906. for the next five years the Japanese would launch raids along the coast of Korea and the Russian Far East in an attempt to break the deadlock around Pusan, with some dramatic, thought limited success at first before the Russians broke the beachheads. Exhausted, in 1911 a white peace would be arranged that returned the boundaries to the status quo. Millions of dead Russian and Japanese had apparently fought for little gain, while Korea itself, where the heaviest fighting would occur, would see its population collapse to less than 1/3 of its prewar total.
The Congo War : The first major conflict between major European powers in the twentieth century focused on colonial borders and ambitions in Africa and would mark the emergence of Italy as a true great power. Italian expansionism in East Africa began with the acqisition of Eritrea and Somalia in 1884. This soon brought Italy into conflict with Ethiopia, leading to an Italian conquest of that state in 1886. Conquest of Ethiopia opened the African interior to Italian expansion and by 1890 Buganda, Zanzibar and Nyamweze had been added to the Italian empire. Meanwhile, the Belgians had developed a prosperous colony in the Congo Basin, but the borders between the Italian and Belgian zones of contol in the region of Ruanda were unclear. When in 1905 Belgium attempted to seize full control of Ruanda, Italy declared colonial war, and within a year the Belgians were expelled from the Congo basin, while a block of Italian controlled land split Africa in two. Interestingly, neither Britain, France nor Germany intervened to save the Belgian colony, perhaps due to the reports of the brutality of Leopold's Congo Free State administration towards native peoples in the economic development of the region.
The Macedonian War : Throughout most of the late nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire had cultivated a close relationship with Germany, seeing in it the guarantor of its territorial integrity. That relationship would be destroyed by 1900 due to Ottoman misrule of its Christian subjects in Macedonia, which turned German public opinion against the Turks. The rapid rise of Italy as a great power, in addition, suggested a major realignment of interests in the Mediterranean as Italy desired to replace the Ottomans as a dominant power in the Eastern Mediterranean. In April 1909 Italian ambition and German outrage would combine in a dramatic outbreak of war in the Eastern Mediterranean. Just how far the Ottomans had lost public support in Western Europe would be demonstrated by the decision of the French to join the Italian-German coalition against the Turks, while the British secured its dominance in Egypt and the Russians would eventually join the Europeans in 1911. The Turks would fight bravely, but in the end their resistance would fail to prevent defeat althought their endurance would surprise all. In the end the French seized Tunisia and Tripolitania as the price for peace in 1911, while the Germans and Italians continued to fight until Istanbul itself was occupied in 1913. Macedonia was partitioned between Germany, Italy and France, and the Italians also received costal enclaves in the Levant. Russia received more land in Eastern Anatolia. The once proud Ottoman State survived, but it was now an Asian empire increasingly dominated by the West.
The Serbian War : The dramatic Western occupation of Macedonia infuriated Balkan nationalists, especially in Serbia, who saw lands primarily inhabited by Serbs come under Italian control. Just weeks after the Ottomans made peace with the Russians, the Serbs, with Russian support, declared war on Italy. When Russia too declared war on Italy, Germany and Austria came to Italy's aid and supported Russia. For the Serbs (and their Montenegran bretheren) the end came quickly, with Serbia partitioned between Austria and Italy. For Russia, the war would be a major defeat, as the German and Austrian armies poured into Poland, the Baltic and Galicia. At the end of 1915 Russia sued for peace, and choice parts of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania passed to German rule (the Habsburgs, whose performance was less than stellar, got nothing, nor did the Italians, whose raids in the Black sea helped divert Russian attention from the German onslaught.
Japan's push for dominance in China - the defeat of Russia at the hands of Germany, Austria and Italy would signal for Japan a new opportunity to expand its dominance in China with little fear of Russian intervention. In 1914 the Japanese would launch what it called a "police action" that resulted in teh seizure of some coastal territory, while a second war would break out in 1918 that would end in China ceding more land and paying reparations to Japan, effectively making China a Japanese puppet.
The evolution of the British Empire - While other major powers continued to use war to expand their territorial holdings, in the British Empire a move to devolve power to responsible governments in parts of the empire. Much as had been established in Canada in 1867, the new dominions established in Australia in 1901, New Zealand in 1907 and South Africa in 1910 represented the recognition that in those colonies with large populations of European settlers and their descendants, loyalty to the Empire as a whole could be advanced if greater degrees of local self government were granted. While Britain avoided conflict with the other major powers in the first two decades of the twentieth century, the Empire with its new dominions and its massive empire in India remained a powerful force.
What a miracle 
