World War 1
Imperialism
• Imperialism is when countries try to expand their influence by acquiring colonies
• Countries wanted colonies so they could get new goods and sell the ones they already had
• In the late 1800’s France and Britain had more colonies than most European countries
• This made Germany jealous, they started acquiring colonies too late and only got small areas in Africa
Causes of World War 1
By the Numbers
• July 28, 1914-November 11, 1918
• Counting naval battles, happened on 6 continents
• Involved 21 countries• 38,880,500 casualties
Alliances
• Alliances are agreements between two or more countries that somehow benefit everyone involved
• Many different alliances had been signed between European countries between 1879 and 1914
• The Two main groups that formed were the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy)
Arms Build-up and Nationalism
• France and Germany doubled the size of their armies from 1870 to 1914
• The navies of Great Britain and Germany were in competition for control of the seas
• Great Britain created a new class of battleship, the Dreadnaught that Germany would soon copy