Bismarck tried to keep conflicts minor with the British,[1] but after Bismarck's dismissal at the behest of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, the careful balance of power in Europe collapsed. The ambitious young Kaiser increased tensions with the British through the Anglo-German naval arms race and the First Moroccan Crisis; in which the Germans almost went to war with the French and British between 1905-06 over the Kaiser's recognition of Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco, challenging French rule there. This demonstrated that the newly-formed Entente Cordiale was strong, and that an Anglo-French alliance wouldn't budge, effectively ending all chances of an Anglo-German alliance resurrecting and destroying the lever.