New Imperialism and European Powers

World War I largely known as the Great War or the World War until 1939 was a major armed conflict between world powers assembled in two opposite alliances: The ‘Triple Entente’ and the ‘Central Powers’. The former included United Kingdom, France and Russia while the latter comprised of Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

Even though it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand; the Austrian archduke, a direct cause that led to the occurrence of World War I in July 1914, the definite causes of the war were far more complicated and cannot confined to a single source. It was the result of aggression of European leaderships towards other countries supported by their rising nationalism. Moreover, economic and imperial competition, and the fear of war provoked military alliances and an arms race, further escalating the outbreak of war.

New Imperialism and European powers

From a world history perspective, one of the most evident trends in the history of the late 19th century was the domination of Europeans over Non- Europeans. This domination took many forms ranging from absolute invasion to penetration on economic ground. Almost no area of the globe was free of European merchants, explorers and Christian missionaries.

In literal terms, imperialism can be defined as the policy of extending one’s power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. It is traditionally interpreted to mean formal annexation and political rule, while on the other hand it also implies indirect ‘control’ by economic and cultural influences. Europeans colonized Asia and Africa by using military force to take control of local governments and exploiting local economies.

A general greed and lust for the acquisition ...

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...tern Europe

The Serbians did not like the Austria-Hungary take over of the former Turkish province of Bosnia in 1908 as they wanted the province to be theirs because of the large Serb population. So they realized that the only way to incorporate millions of Serbs living in the Austrian Empire was through war.

Russia, not having a single port in her European coastline was convinced that the way to stop Austro-German ambitions and gain some Russian influence over the Ottoman Empire was also through aggression. Thus, it allied with Serbia. Germany allied to Austria-Hungary. Tensions between Serbs and Austria-Hungary were high when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.

Conclusion

With the amalgamation of several conflicts arising due to the implications of New Imperialism, World War I broke out on July 28, 1914, causing damage for generations which were yet to come.