Germany 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 powerfull empire. France and Austria wanted to stop this and declared Prussia war. France and Austria lost and the German empire was formed in 1871. 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 oversea colonies. And in fact the german colonies were only one tenth the size of the British. Facts in 1914: Population:65 million Army:4.2 million soldiers Navy:281 ships Anual coal prod.:277 million tons Anual steel prod.:14 million tons