How far did the colonial problems create tensions between the Great Powers in World War 1?
The race for Africa increased tension between the great powers in the late part of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th. Another key colonial issue was oil (yep our old friend) in guess where Persia lol ringing any bells? The British were not happy with the massive amount of support the Germans were giving to the Ottoman Empire, increased German presence in the Middle East shocked the two super powers; Russia and Britain (the two had formally been enemies in the region). The Baghdad railway would open up Iraq to Germany and threaten Russian and British dominance over Persia its oil supplies (India was also threatened). This is the final stage of what has become known as the ‘Great Game’. Actually during the war colonies played second place to the European war to a large extent. However if you return to the middle east you can look at issues like Arab independence which was ‘supported’ by the Allies (Lawrence of Arabia etc) and Indian self rule ‘supported’ by the Central Powers (S
