Imperialism and WWI

All the powers had some imperialistic ambitions that lead to the war:

- Russia wanted a warm water port/ control of dardanelles
- France wanted Alsace-Lorraine back, a formerly French territory that was taken in the earlier Franco-Prussian War
- Germany like you said, wanted land in Africa like the rest of the European powers and this caused tension between it and the others
- Italy wanted land from Austria-Hungary
- Serbia wanted Bosnia-Herzegovina from the Austrians

Pretty much, the war was just an excuse for everyone to grab some land.

Dilly said:

Hey guys !
I currently need help with this problem, it goes like this
" Describe the relationship between Imperialism and WWI "

So far I the only detail I have is that they both wanted land in Africa,
anyone else have ideas ?

Thanks !

Click to expand...

Who do you mean with both?

I would wager that he made a mistake there.

Dilly said:

Hey guys !
I currently need help with this problem, it goes like this
" Describe the relationship between Imperialism and WWI "

So far I the only detail I have is that they both wanted land in Africa,
anyone else have ideas ?

Thanks !

Click to expand...

I wouldn't use 'land in Africa' among the major causes if I were you! The various Empires were flexing their muscles for years - arms races, territory races etc. They just thought it might come to a quick slug-it-out in the playground. Nobody conceived the possible consequences, but it was always going to happen given a spark.

I assume you know that (here goes):

Bosnia was taken over by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1908 (from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire), but Serbia thought it should belong to them. So a Serbian terrorist group assassinated the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. The Austro-Hungarian Empire gave Serbia an ultimatum (Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character.")

Serbia was protected by it's slavic big brother, the Russian Empire, who then declared war on Austria/Hungary. The (new) German Empire came to the rescue of the Austro-Hungarians against Russia (1879 alliance). There had been several treaties of mutual support between France (Empire) and Russia, Britain (Empire) and Russia, Britain and France, and all 3.

So once the Austro/Hungarians attacked Serbia everyone else was compelled to go to war. Brilliant move eh?

Mind you it nearly came about in 1805 over Germany's (bizarre) support for Moroccan independence.

Have a read:

First World War.com - Feature Articles - The Causes of World War One

Extract:

Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was almost entirely placatory: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.

Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilisation of its vast army in her defence, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.

Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August.

France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.

Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August. Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty. With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defence later that day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.

United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.

Japan, honouring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.

Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both. In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies

Excellent,pithy post John,thank you.I feel slightly less ignorant on the topic.

Great book on the subject as it was written in 1918:
Cram, Ralph Adams. The Sins of Our Fathers. Boston: Marshall Jones Company, 1918.
Discusses needs for economic/social expansion in land and trade power. Talks about quantitative standard in relation to industrial revolution. Discusses path of peaceful penetration to forced annexation and how/why it happened. Also discusses psychological justifications.


Did paper on imperialism of the 19th century (leading into WWI). Mostly economic studies bt if you want to see more the bib I can post it. Some great books in there as I recall

The prime cause of WW1 was unresolved issues involving several large empires (France, Britain and Russia) and the new "upstart" one, Germany, who found that there was no room in Europe for another empire. Germany, so newly unified, believed that the big boys were ganging up on Germany and squeezing her attempts to fulfil what Germany believed was her right: an empire of her own.

Germany saw the British as reactionary: as did Napoleon in his time, and with good reason. Germany had never forgiven France for what Napoleon did in Germany, and this, also, led to waves of embracing then rejecting Liberal ideas. This led to nationalism, Pan Germanism and, ultimately, the Nazis. The Tripartite pact between the 3 big empires was further compounded by often ancient principles, such as the (largely defunct) Holy Roman Empire (which had been Germanic since Charlemagne), and also the Ottoman's long standing reactions against the Big 3 empires, also for historical reasons.

Germany felt that she was being deprived of her rightful place in the world: the big 3 empires, plainly, felt that there was no more room for another empire in the world. Ironically, the bloodshed of WW1 would do nothing to resolve that.