Imperialism, a cause of WWI

The Age of Imperialism in Europe since the beginning of the 19th century can be considered
as one of the significant causes, if not the most important one, leading to the First World
War. The growing imperialist competition between the countries can be identified by three
main subtopics: Colonial Rivalry, Rivalry over trade and markets and European imperialism.

Starting in 1860, the Scramble for Africa clearly demonstrated that WWI was not only a
conflict between countries but also between empires. In this time period, the European
countries carved up Africa, with the driving force of acquiring new resources, cheap labour,
and new markets for European manufactures products. However, this run for colonies lead to
escalating tensions resulting in the first world war. The Fashoda accident, in 1898 was a near
war situation between France and the U.K with both powers wanting to control an
overlapping part of Africa. The Moroccan Crisis from 1905 to 1906 is also a relevant example
of tensions between France and Germany over an African country. As the coloniser of Algeria,
France saw Morocco as an essential asset for its security. However, Germany challenged
France’s decision, supporting Morocco’s independence. This escalated to an almost war
situation which was resolved by the Algerian conference in 1906. Simultaneously, Kaiser
Wilhelm II put in place the German Weltpolitik (1897-1914) which constated of adopting
harsh imperialist foreign policies with the aim of competing with Britain’s power (global and
naval). These examples are therefore showing that imperialism was the main cause for WWI
as it was also a driving force behind militarism and nationalism

Secondly, rivalry over trade and markets also proved that imperialism was a main cause of
WWI. With industrialisation taking a bigger place in societies, all countries started aiming for
a maximum profit, economic power such as control over resources. This lead to tensions
between countries, the strongest example being the Russo- Japanese war over the resource
rich province of Manchuria in 1904. This clearly shows that all countries had the objective of
becoming more powerful than their rivals. For example, the British by wanting to control
wealth in Africa from north to south and Germany had the ambition to take over Ukraine.

Thirdly, imperialism in Europe did lead to WWI, in addition to colonial and economical rivalry.
European imperialism was expressed by long lasting discontent such as the loss of Alsace
Lorraine in France to the Germans. The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 also lead to growing
tensions in eastern Europe. This area converged the borders of the Austrian Hungarian
empire, Ottoman empire and Russian empire, all with the ambitions to expand their
territories. The fights between the states triggered the alliances between the countries such
as Serbia and Russia. Lastly, the tipping point leading to WWI, the murder of Franz Ferdinand
in 1914 was led by anti-imperialist ideas denouncing and protesting against the recent
annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1908.