Countries such as Britain and Germany discovered that having several different countries under control of their Empire, provided boundless economic opportunities; they had unlimited access to raw materials and manufactured goods and received enormous profits for exportations. It was not simply the act of being faithful to one's Empire that caused the war; it was the concepts of security, strength, the prosperity of the economy and power, brought on by imperialism, that corrupted the minds of many. The Empiring Government would have the responsibility to provide security to the smaller, weaker countries it had control over. This was achieved by strength through armies and naval protection, which gave the Empire a boost of confidence. As the Empire would have total control over the countries it protected, it would be provided with a false sense of absolute power. All these example led to the sense of invincibility in the Empires. This sense of invincibility grew into a desire to prove oneself as more powerful than anyone else who dare challenge, and of course, there was no better method than war. When the Archduke was assassinated, the Empires were finally given the opportunity to prove their worth through war. While most of the countries under control of the Empires had never fought in a large war, the power of their Empires instilled hope and determination, where a victory was sure to occur. While hope and determination are wonderful, they were rooted from power, which only leads to self-destruction. Imperialism was the cause of this self-destruction, which is otherwise known as World War I.
The last contributing factor to the Great War is the alliance systems. As more military defense rose in several different powerful countries, governments had the idea of forming alliances. While alliances began as a means to ensure public and political safety, overall, they would only provide more terror and violence.