This episode covers the second half of season 8, roughly from late 1904 until the beginning of the First Balkan War in 1912. In that time, the Balkan status quo broke wide open as Russia and Austria-Hungary returned to their competition for dominance. Meanwhile, the Young Turk Revolution in the Ottoman Empire greatly destabilized the country and further opened up chances to end the long-imposed status quo. As a result, Italy won a war against the Ottomans and the Balkan League formed to take its European territories.