Imperialism was one of the long-term causes that increased the rivalry in Europe, which influence the start of World War I. European countries started taking over colonies through the world since the fifteenth century. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. With the rise of industrialism, countries (Great Britain, Germany and France) needed new markets. The amount of lands ‘owned’ by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who only had small areas of Africa entering the scramble to acquire colonies. As a consequences, it caused Germany to ally with Austria-Hungary, and Britain to ally with France.
Imperialism is a major contributor to the start of world war 1. Imperialism is something many countries look to do, however it gets other nations upset as it increases a fear of being taken over by a super power. In response to imperialism, countries started to make allies and prepare for a war. It became obvious that a world war was bound to begin. The British Empire kept growing as well as France. This made Germany hungry to compete with them and this initiated the war
I agree that imperialism is one of the major reasons for the start of the first world war, but I also feel that it is a combination of imperialism and nationalism. First, nationalism, which is the pride in one’s country, creates a great sense of pride in the country, not only with the people but also with the government and its leaders. Therefore, it is because of his nationalism that a country is motivated to build up the different aspects that increase the quality of life in that nation. One of these aspects is, of course, the army and navy in order to build up the defense of the country and also, in some cases, to intimidate other countries.
These countries that have a great sense of nationalism, usually are interested in Imperialism and in expanding their borders and conquering “weaker” countries. Obviously, countries do not want to be under the control of any other stronger nation despite whether they may or may not have a lower quality of life. Therefore imperialism creates great conflicts between other countries, so much so that other nations may even choose to intervene.