Powder keg

A powder keg is a barrel of gunpowder. The powder keg was the primary method for storing and transporting large quantities of black powder up until the 1870s and the adoption of the modern cased bullet. However, the barrels had to be handled with care, since a spark or other source of heat could cause the contents to deflagrate.

Metaphor
Powder keg is also a metaphorical term sometimes political, socio-economic, historical or other circumstances have made the subject prone to outbursts. The analogy is drawn from a perception that certain territories may seem peaceful and dormant until another event triggers a large outburst of violence. The term is most often used to simplify and help the understanding of what many times is a complex set of circumstances that lead to conflicts (see diagram of World War I Powder Keg ).

While the term is used to designate the entire region of Europe it is almost always used to specifically to insult countries on the Balkan peninsula and particularly the ex-Yugoslavian countries. The most cited event attributed to the use of the term was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand that took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1914 which triggered World War I.

Powder keg is also used in literature as in the lyrics of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart: "We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks".

Also a weapon commonly used by the Goron Link in the Nintendo 64 game, Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask.