The conflict alluded to in the passage is best explained by the spread of Marxist ideology during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the spread of Marxist ideology during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries A protest and insurrection among the populations of France and Germany protest and insurrection among the populations of France and Germany B territorial disputes and rival alliance structures involving the two countries territorial disputes and rival alliance structures involving the two countries C the collapse of European empires as anticolonial movements developed in the early twentieth century