The Great War. Or World War 1.
This massive whirlpool is not simply an upgraded version of the Russo-Japanese War.
If it were merely that, a single war couldn't have finished four empires, dragged emperors to the ground, and replaced ruling parties and regimes of 8 out of top 10 countries except America and Japan.
This 5-year war is one where you regress even in victory, and lose everything in defeat.
Then is there nothing to gain even in victory? That's not true.
"Competitors decrease."
Though people say war causes intertwine with all sorts of incidents and national situations, in one word, it's just due to neo-imperialism.
Yes, great powers' expansion.
That imperialism blooming since 18th century gunboat diplomacy with clipper ships before ironclads.