Confronting a Global World: Empires and the Coming of War

The first global order, created during the nineteenth century, could never resolve the tension between the competitive system of states and the universal force of globalization that depended upon peace. The breathtaking economic growth powered by trade, investment, and industrialization had to be weighed against fears that ties across borders threatened nations’ security. One of the most important answers to these fears was imperialism. Controlling lands outside of Europe through empires, it was hoped, would guarantee markets, investments, or raw materials. A chorus of self-appointed prophets such as Halford Mackinder, Alfred Mahan, Friedrich Ratzel, and J.R. Seeley encouraged nations, most importantly Germany, to build navies and see empires as the wave of the future. Nationalism, which grew after the French Revolution destroyed the legitimacy of monarchical rule, became a support for imperialism, The imperialist myth became more dangerous as the balance of power weakened as a check upon war. Once insecure leaders of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia thought the risk of war was worth the possible gains from conquest, the myth of empire could inflame their planning enough to lead to war.