How did imperialism influence the start of world war 1?
Imperialism, which is really colonialism, was the start of much of the trouble with neighboring countries in Europe. It worked sort of like this: 1 The nations of Europe were fighting to control sources of raw materials. Some of these were in Europe, but, increasingly in the last half of the 19th Century, the struggles to control raw material sources were outside of the Continent and in far flung places over the globe. This increased national friction as one country or another sought to control those sources in SE Asia (tin, necessary for manufacture), the African coast (raw or natural rubber for tubing of all sorts) and even the Pacific Islands (coaling stations for the China fleets of naval vessels protecting a national interests in China and the country’s business interests there). 2 As the struggle for raw materials intensified, alliances were formed among the European nations to guarantee their security. These alliances were the eventual cause of WWI. The assassination of the Arch
