World War one was a war that was triggered by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, who was the heir to the Austrian-Hungry throne, but what if the assassination of the archduke was not successful and the formations of alliances did not occur, would ther

Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and maintenance of empires (: 2006). The British insisted on showing the world the extent of their strength which they did during the crowning of King Edward VII in 1901 when representatives from all the British colonies attended. There were representatives from India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbean as well as Canada. For the British imperialism was the creation of an empire for political and economic purposes. Imperialism was a benefit to European nations which increased importing and exporting as well as increased wealth and industrialization. Kaiser Wilhelm felt as though he was denied his rightful place among the European leaders and decided he would forcibly take control of other colonies and began to become a threat to the British. The British increased military spending determined to protect their own colonies increasing tension between Germany and Britain. The fact that so many countries were out to become the world’s most powerful nation caused problems; imperialism caused economic exploitation, poverty and violated freedom and human rights which without a doubt would cause war. Imperialism helped increase the inevitability of World War One because in a world where countries are fighting to be the most powerful there is without a doubt, going to be a war.

Throughout the twentieth century Europe had increased rivalries and disagreements over land and resources through industrialization. Many European countries felt a sense of nationalism and not only wanted to the most powerful nation but superior to other nations. The British saw themselves as the strongest and most powerful which in turn would create envious rivalries. The Germans felt Britain restricted the Germans because they controlled the oceans and did not allow Germany to create colonies overseas. The French were also suspicious of the British with whom they had border disputes, but had even more problems with Germany and both anticipated another war. The Russians who were an enormous army were still weak but insisted on protecting the Slavs from Austria and created a strong bond with the British and were waiting for Austria to attack any Slavic state so they could redeem themselves through another war. Both Italy and Austria-Hungary resented the more powerful nations and felt challenged by the Czechs and Slavic minorities. They felt that war could help boost economic development, but with this type of attitude it is inevitable to stop war. Due to these rivalries, alliances were formed one was the Triple Entente which included the British, French and Russians and the Triple Alliance which included the Germans, Italians and Austro-Hungarians. Although alliances traditionally were created to avoid war many nations declared war on others because they formed hatred for other nations. World War One was inevitable because national rivalries created alliances thus making it extremely hard to avoid war.  

It is extremely evident that World War One was inevitable which is proven through the arms race, imperialism and national rivalries. As European nations battled to increase their military strength they began an arms race which would lead to war because they began to produce and create new technology and military weapons leading to war. Also as nations sought to become more powerful they began to imperialize other nations which without a doubt would cause nations to become furious and attack one another to stop other nations from becoming even more powerful. As well, national rivalries sparked many ongoing feuds between nations and caused nations to form alliances in order to protect their own interests. Therefore World War One could not have been prevented only delayed making it inevitable.

References

Bolotta, A., Hawkes, C., Jarman, F., Keirstead, M. & Watt, J (2002). Canada: Face of

A Nation. Toronto: Gage Educational Publishing Company.  

Wikipedia. (17 February 2006). Imperialism.

. (17 February 2006).

The Inevitability of World War One

By: Shil Patel

Room Number: 401

Teacher: Mr. MacPhee

Course Code: CHC 2D0

Due Date: Monday February 20th 2006