The United States wanted to build the Panama Canal in order to save time and money on trading. Before the Panama Canal, people had to sail all the way around Africa in order to get to the other side of the world, which costed much more money and took a lot longer. The US owns the canal because of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty, which gave the rights to the USA to build and manage it.
Factors that caused European nations to look for new markets and new trade routes include the Renaissance which contributed to European Exploration by influencing Europeans to have interest in overseas trade. The search for profits by bankers also led to exploration of new trade routes. Another factor is the rise of nation states whereby ambitious monarchs in the Europe sought for increased wealth
Otto von Bismarck- appointed to head the prussia cabinet by william i, a conservative junker politician, built the prussian army into a powerful war machine. was a master chess player. tried to unify germany, wanted to get Prussia as the leading German state.
