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World War 1 Research Paper

Decent Essays

Cause and Effect Essay
Most of the world’s civilized societies today were established through colonialism. It was brought about through greed, necessity for expansion, and discovery. It has left its mark in various ways by the languages we speak, cultural influence, not to mention the lines on the map. Although it has shaped much of history, colonialism is an unequal exploitation of settlements or countries that has left a lot of problems in its wake. Colonialism was motivated by monarchs who desired to settle on new land. The Age of Discovery had pushed countries to build trading posts or conquer land, but this was simply for trade. Once explorers discovered new lands that seemed vastly uninhabited, mother countries changed their strategies. …show more content…

Wars such as Wars of the League of Cambrai, the Eighty Years war, and internal religious conflicts bled the participating countries dry, they needed an outside income source. During the 17th century, France and the Netherlands built their empires while Britain adopted many foreign possessions (“Mercantilism”). Those acquisitions led to the formation of the British Empire which only furthered colonialism. Countries with more revenue at their disposal had more settlements and had more power over the native …show more content…

Inarguably it was caused by alliances and too much built up military power, but the colonies had their part as well. The imperialistic activities like securing land in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific led to strained relations between European powers. Because of the colonial rivalries, (example- France battles Germany over Morocco) there were many alliances and ententes formed. With all the alliances threatening national security, Europe was pushed into an arms race. With the arms race and built up tension, there was little Europe could do when countries came to Serbia’s aid because of their previous alliances (“Decolonization and its

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