Why Was World War One a Global War?

World War One was a global military conflict that involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two conflicting alliances consisting of the Triple Entente and the Central Powers. Global then, is defined as referring to the whole world, or that of involving the globe. The ‘war to end all wars’ was a global war with conflict seen on a world scale. Although it is true that not every country or continent was directly involved within the war, every country around the globe felt to a minimum the economic flow on effects from the conflict. The war was a direct result of a number of long-term issues that had been brewing throughout the nineteenth century, such as social Darwinism, Germany wanting ‘its place in the sun’ 1 and Turkey’s desire to regain its former empire, being reacted with a number of events that happened shortly before the war began. These events included the Moroccan Crises, the Bosnian Crisis, the Balkan wars, the happenings in Sarajevo in July 1914 and the July Crisis. The tangled web of alliances that existed at the beginning of the twentieth century and the arms race between Germany and Britain further increased tensions between the European powers and their colonies. 2

To understand why World War One was a global war, it is necessary to examine the factors to its cause. While there are many factors contributing to why the war was global, there are certain important factors that lead to why the war is considered to be global. Firstly, the political factors of World War One considerably contributed to the global sense of the war, with the role of the ever-continuing imperial ambitions and aims of the major powers of Europe. Secondly, A major reason as to why Europe was not the only location where the war was being fought was highly due to the colonies of both the Axis and Allies. There were colonial ambitions and motives of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa. These colonial outposts for the Allies strike at the German...