Between 1871 and 1917, the Industrial rise of Japan, Germany and the United States was given tough competition to British companies.
The rise in industry effectively brought in economic prosperity and challenge to Britain's global dominance.
In the middle-East, Russia and the United Kingdom has effectively destroyed the outer-core of the Ottoman Empire by supporting local separatists movements. A smaller Empire coupled with rising debt, meant that the Ottomans were increasingly known as the 'Sick man of Europe'
By 1917, Germany and United Kingdom were supporting opposing forces in the Middle East and by the end of the first World War, Great Britain had established a mandate in Palestine.