The most powerful countries, France and Britain, received the most land(Doc A). This further proves that European nations truly believe they showed power through the amount of land they conquered. It is an unfortunate outcome but Africa did serve as a means of settling the competition between European nations although this friendly quarrel was not the only driving force behind European imperialism. The cultural attitudes of a nation can serve as a hidden motive to conquer the unknown
In 1914, Britain put a distant blockade on Germany, which allowed them to control exits from the North Sea and damaged both Germany’s economy and War effort (Roskill 4: 533). Germany attempted to break Britain’s blockade, which resulted in the Battle of Jutland, in 1916. The role that other nations’ navies played was also extremely influential on the outcome of World War I. The role of naval Warfare during World War I, especially the Allied blockade of Germany, proved to be crucial in defeating the Central Powers, which consisted of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. The naval race between Great Britain and Germany from 1898 to 1914 caused great friction among the two nations and was one of the causes for World War I.
Citizens were given war sense and were made aware of different war alarms including that of ‘warning’ and ‘all clear’. The First World War resulted into many economical and structural changes especially in Europe. Gerd Hardach in “The First World War 194-1918” calls this Great War, the ‘event of Europe’. Gred argues that prior to the war; Great Britan was engaged in trade with Europe and other continents. He has mentioned the highest volume of Britain trade as compared to other countries.
During the 1900s, many people took pride in their countries and wanted to prove the world how great their country is. And to do that, they would have to declare and win a war against their rivals. It led to the war for the reason that the overconfidence fueled their strength in militarism. This is probably why other countries such as Portugal and Italy joined the war- simply because of their confidence. There were downsides to it- it made the war longer then everyone thought it would be as there were so many countries fighting, hence being called World War 1.
These raw materials were exploited for the benefit of the population because it demonstrated how these resources speak quickly and rapidly in England. Along with that, England had a trade base in their harbour and a Royal Navy that protected merchants and private traders. This allowed England to obtain maritime and colonial power in which explained how they had access to the environment. Documents 1 and 4 show how the population reacted to the resources and how they used them efficiency, which caused an advantage in England, since these raw materials were necessary for the Industrial
The United States had for years been improving and growing rapidly. Away from the other world powers in Europe, they were able to avoid their conflicts for a long time, but that changed. America got involved in World War One and it affected some of their advancements. U.S imperialism was able to thrive in WWI, with America using the power to expand their empire. American progressivism however, fell between the cracks and disappeared for a long while during and after the war.
. .”. All of the interest from these industries greatly strengthened the demand of giant industries for colonial raw material. An excerpt written by American Senator A.J. Beveridge in 1898 also talks about the fact that American factories were making more than the American people could use.
The one that stands out to me the most is the rational decision made by Woodrow Wilson to enter the war. When the United States entered the war the tables had finally turned to benefit the Allied Powers. Before that time both the Allied and Central Powers were balanced and looking for new Allies to support them in winning the war. The Tables were finally turned favoring the Allied Powers including the British Empire, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, and the United States of America, while the Central Powers of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire were defeated in 1918. After the war it brought on a lot of changes all over the world, such as women gaining the right to vote, and the Treaty of Versailles was signed, which declared Germany responsible for starting the war and ordered them to pay reparations.
I think this is because the colonization of Africa is between 1870 and 1900, so by 1900, Africa had been colonized. Another thing that I notice is that both the amounts of imports and outports drastically spiked, and again, I think this is because of the colonization of Africa. According to this document, a driving force behind European imperialism in Africa is the economical benefit that came from Africa’s many natural resources. For example, the bar graph shows an extreme increase in the amount of money exchanged throughout the imports and exports, and their is a large difference between 1854, before colonization, and 1900, near the middle of the colonization period. The fact that the exports from Africa increased and became greater than the imports during the colonization period shows how Europe was using Africa as a source of income and took advantage of the resources within Africa.
World War 1 officially began on July 28, 1914, and lasted until November 11, 1918. It all began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Although the assassination did help the start of the war many other things helped too. Some other things that led up to World War 1 are militarism, alliances, and imperialism. Also even though World War 1 happened over 100 years ago, things that happened then can be connected to things that are happening today.