This volume offers a comprehensive account of the wars before the Great War and their role in undermining international instability.

1. Introduction William Mulligan, Andreas Rose and Dominik Geppert; Part I. The Belligerents: 2. Italy, Libya and the Balkans Francesco Caccomo; 3. The Italian soldiers' experience in Libya, 1911-12 Vanda Wilcox; 4. Ottoman diplomacy, the Balkan Wars, and the Great Powers Gul Tokay; 5. Mass violence against civilians during the Balkan Wars Ugur Ungor Umit; 6. War, civic mobilization and the shaping of the Ottoman home front during the Balkan Wars, 1912-13 Eyal Ginio; 7. Civil and military relations in Serbia during 1903-14 John Paul Newman; 8. The great expectations: political visions, military preparation, and national upsurge in Bulgaria at the onset of the Balkan Wars Nikolai Vukov; Part II. The European Military between Real and Imagined Wars: 9. The Russian threat calculation, 1910-14 Bruce Menning; 10. The French military mind and the wars before the war Adrian Wettstein; 11. The perception of the 'wars before the wars' in Austria-Hungary Gunther Kronenbitter; 12. Between Manchuria and the Marne: the German army and its perception of the military conflicts of 1911-14 Markus Poehlmann; Part III. The Wars and Great Power Politics: 13. Austro-Hungarian foreign policy and the Balkan Wars Alma Hannig; 14. German foreign policy and the Balkan Wars, 1912-14 Patrick Bormann; 15. Entente diplomacy vs détente, 1911-14 T. G. Otte; 16. Anglo-French relations and the wars before the war Friedrich Kiessling; Part IV. The Wars in the European Public Sphere: 17. The Habsburg Empire's German speaking public sphere and the First Balkan War Tamara Scheer; 18. From 'illusion' and 'Angellism' to détente - British radicals and the Balkan Wars Andreas Rose; 19. Uncivilised wars in civilised Europe? The perception of the Balkan Wars 1912-13 in English, German, and Irish newspapers and journals Florian Keisinger; 20. Socialism and the challenge of the Balkan Wars 1912-13 Wolfgang Kruse.