A build up of military technology combined with a race to compile huge arsenals of weapons, drawing on the raw
materials of Europe’s colonies
Alliances
Groups of countries ban together to protect one another. Most of these alliances are secret and serve to make other
countries suspicious of one another.
Imperialism
Competition for colonies around the world causes conflict between countries that must live next to one
another on the European continent
Nationalism
A feeling of national superiority brings together small states into a more powerful, larger state