The German empire was only 50 years old in 1914. To obtain more power, the Prussian king wanted to join the surrounding states and make a powerful empire. France and Austria wanted to stop this and declared war against Prussia. France and Austria lost the war and the German empire was formed in 1871.
<l:ep_wilhelm> ruled the German Empire. He was jealous of the British Empire and wanted to become a world power. This made him decide that Germany should have more overseas colonies. And, in fact, the German colonies were only one-tenth the size of the British colonies.