The World History World War 1 In the late 19th centuries and early 20th century, world nations and countries had alliances especially in Europe. These associations came into play due to shared defense agreements whereby if an ally nation or state was attacked by the enemy, the associate will come in to defend or help in fighting the enemy (David,). Before the World War 1 the following alliances were in place: Russia and Serbia, Germany and Austria-Hungary, France and Russia, Britain and France and Germany, and Japan and Britain. For instance, the big economies then were countries like, Britain, Germany, France and Russia (David,).