Many causal factors lead to the outbreak of the First World War. These causes are both preconditions and precipitants. Preconditions are factors that have accumulated over the long term; while precipitants are catalysts or short-term factors. The preconditions are aimed at war as much as the arms race and treaties, such as the Entente Cordiale and the Triple Alliance; or less intentional warfare such as nationalism and imperialism. Precipitating events are events that include the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Rudyard Kipling's poem “The White Man's Burden” articulates the imperialism of the English empire in India, Cambodia, China and Africa. The English thought it was their duty to take control of these barbaric nations to civilize them. They justified their act of Westernizing and destroying other people's cultures as the "burden" they were born to carry. “And when your goal is nearer the end sought by others, watch sloth and pagan madness bring all your hopes to naught.” They attributed the ineffectiveness of their efforts to the laziness of the natives. They are the ones whose entire world is turned upside down; being immersed in a new culture with new laws and strange people. Yet, somehow, they are the lazy ones and, despite the trails for the white man, they are ultimately advantageous to the savages. In the letters of the British missionaries the foreign power of England is once again made evident. The missionaries urge the Queen to annex the South Sea Islands because if she doesn't, the French will. And, Lord, have mercy if the French annexed the islands instead of England. “The sympathy of the natives of New Herbrides is all for Great Britain, so they desire British protection, while… in the middle of the paper… the time has come for Germany to be a world leader. In contrast, England believed that it was in the world's interests to remain a world power. Both countries are very power hungry and manipulate words to best suit their own interests and not the well-being of other countries. Due to nationalism, countries see other countries as a threat. An arms race begins and alliances are formed. So when one thing is added to another, a war breaks out and the whole world is involved. Now, as a Christian, I'm not trying to say that God is not in control, on the contrary, I find it hard to believe that God would step back and allow war to break out among all of His creation. I believe, through past examples, that it seems more likely that man's selfish and sinful nature caused the creation of preconditions that in the end enough was enough and the world found itself engulfed in conflict..