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How Did Imperialism Cause Ww1

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Some people would say that nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and or industrialization were the cause of World War I. Colonies wanted the glorification of the military and fight for land, and its resources. What I prove is that the leading cause of WWI was caused by militarism and imperialism. Militarism was a major contributor to World War because new weapons, emerging technologies and developments industrial production, fuelled a Europeans arms race in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Militarism is the incorporation of military personnel and ideas into civilian government – and the belief that military power is essential for national strength. Furthermore, British militarism, though more subdued than its counterpart, was considered essential …show more content…

Imperialism is when a powerful nation-state seizes territories outside its own borders, transforming and governing them as colonies. Colonies would existed to profit and enrich in the imperial power. Furthermore, the British imperialism was driven chiefly by trade, the importation of raw materials and commercial sale of manufactured goods (J. Llewellyn, Jim Southey and Steve Thompson). The main advantages of imperialism, however, were economic. Britain wanted to trade special materials and essentially make profit of all these low priced items. During WWI saw a race to acquire the last territories open for colonization. Much of this occurred in Africa, where Britain, France and Germany all competed for new colonial possessions. The scramble for empire in Africa also gave rise to several diplomatic incidents. Furthermore, as the French were attempting to suppress a rebellion in Morocco, the Germans landed an armed vessel, the Panther, at the Moroccan port of Agadir – a landing made without permission, prior warning or any obvious purpose. This incident triggered an even stronger reaction and brought France and Germany to the brink of war (J. Llewellyn, Jim Southey and Steve Thompson). This shows that the French were attempting to fight and or rebel over land such as Africa. This causes tension between nations and later eventually becomes a factor of WWI. Nations …show more content…

Tensions on the rise, the great powers begin to build up their armies and navies. The fiercest competition was naval rivalry between Britain and Germany. Furthermore, Germany acquired overseas colonies, and began to build up its own navy army (Esler, 818). Germany wanted to beat Britain’s world’s most respected navy army. However, Britain just wanted to protect its overseas empire and trade routes. Furthermore, ‘scramble for empire’ fuelled rivalry and led to several diplomatic incidents, such as two ‘Moroccan crises’ that were largely precipitated by the German Kaiser (J. Llewellyn, Jim Southey and Steve Thompson). Colonies would race for the largest empire using militarism. Imperialism is major factor of World War one because colonies only wanted land to begin with and protect its valuable resources which causes

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