Causes of WWI
The five main causes that started the "Great War"
Militarism
Militarism is the act of trying to have the best military in the world by constantly trying to come out with the newest and best weapons. Everyone in the world was trying to do this, which was making everyone paranoid and ready to go to war any second.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The thing that kicked this whole war off was the assassination of the French general/second in command, Archduke Ferdinand. This angered the French who angered other countries which eventually made everyone turn on each other.
Nationalism
Nationilism is believing that your country is the best and wanting to prove it by taking over countries or beating them in war
Imperialism
Imperialism was a big factor in this war because every country was wanting to expand their country and wanting to be a more powerful nation.
Alliances
The final reason for the Great War was all the different alliances. Everyone was in alliance with someone who was in alliances with someone else who was someone else's enemy which made everyone very confused. Once a country attacked another country, all of that countries allies would come together and fight on their side which made other countries fight on the other side, which was very difficult and hard for everyone to comprehend.