Imperialism is the desire to acquire colonies and create an empire.

Germany attempted to challenge the large overseas empires already held by France and Britain. This was an issue as colonies provided raw materials, and were markets for goods produced by the European powers that governed them. If they lost these, they lost money.

The European powers and their overseas colonies in 1914 were as follows:

• ❖ Great Britain had 56 colonies, with a total population of 390 million.
• ❖ France had 29 colonies, with a total population of 58 million.
• ❖ Russia had 0 colonies, although it was looking to expand in the Balkans.
• ❖ Germany had 10 colonies, with a total population of 15 million.
• ❖ Austria-Hungary had 0 colonies, although it did control other European countries such as Bosnia.