Which of the following is not true about the major empires leading up to world war 1? the empires of europe contained people of many ethnicities and religions the major powers were in a race to build their empire which added to their wealth and prestige the united kingdom had one of the most extensive empires in large part due to its dominant navy germany was a new "empire" and was eager to expand beyond its current holdings in africa and the pacific most of the empires were unified by their common language and religions