While East Africa's Second Five-Year Plan was underway, the world of 1907 was far from peaceful. Contradictions among European states were growing increasingly acute, with the conflict between the German and French in particular standing out, clearly influenced to a certain extent by the economic crisis.
The relationship between the United Kingdom and Russia also underwent a certain degree of change. In the Russo-Japanese War, Russia was the biggest loser, but the aftereffects were not entirely unfavorable to Russia. For example, on the Central Asia issue, Russia and the United Kingdom reached a compromise; the two countries reopened negotiations over regions such as Persia and Afghanistan, and the reasons behind the warming of their relations were relatively complex.
