What Did Imperialism Cause Ww1

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Tension grew all throughout Europe, countries became hostile against one another, and bridges were burned. Impending doom approached European countries, this doom was known as war. War was something every country wanted to avoid. European citizens tried many things to prevent such an outcome, but a powder keg full of tension was just waiting for a spark to explode Europe into conflict. A Serbian Nationalist group called The Black Hand provided the spark and assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand; the group had thought the murder would start a rebellion within Austria-Hungary. They never considered that all of Europe would have gone to war! Unfortunately, Europe in entirety would not have fought ravenously if the three main causes were put in …show more content…
Imperialism is known as the policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Document E shows that the Germans did not like the British imperialistic ideas of spreading out to all parts of the world. In the propaganda cartoon, England is portrayed as an octopus and labeled as “England, the bloodsucker of the world.” The word bloodsucker obviously has a negative connotation. It can be deduced that Germany saw England as bloodsuckers of trade, specifically in colonies. According to Document F, England had 12,740,000 square miles in colonial empires whereas Germany only had 1,139,000 miles. Once again, the issue of tension was very prominent here. England had many more colonies, therefore many more resources. Germany definitely wanted to conquer these colonies and grow their nation which vaulted their ambition to start a war. If England had never expanded in the first place, there would have been no need for competition and no place for tension. Another instance in which imperialism caused tension between nations was when countries like Germany, France, and Britain all rushed to obtain a piece of land from Africa. This event was known as the “Scramble for Africa” 1880. Colonies were important then, similar to how they were important for Germany during World War I. To further prove that imperialism was the most important cause, there are many instances in which imperialism caused the need for alliances. For instance, Document E portrays Britain as an octopus and shows that they were far ahead of Germany in their expansion of colonies. Germany likely needed some help because the British were far more advanced in size and resources, so they looked to other countries for aid and allied with them. Imperialism also prompted the belief of militarism. The speech Bernhard von Bülow gave to his people described how France,