what were the major causes of WW1?

Answer 1

Every country who took part of WWI had reasons to fight :
- France : revanchism after the defeat of the war of 1870, and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. The increasing of the German population, compared to the French one (+25 millions for Germany between 1870 and 1914, +5 million for France)
- England : the power of the German fleet, very modern, and who can fight for the control of the seas. England always wanted to have no first power in Europe (only same strength countries), so the war would be an occasion to maintain this statut-quo.
- Russian : defend Serbia (same cultur and religion), and restard expansionism in South-East Europe (Romania and Bulgaria).
- Germany : the wish to defeat one for all France, and took revenge of the Morroccan affair. The impossibility to get colonies (every is almost owned by France und U-K)
- Austrain-Hungarian Empire : crush the independance of Serbia, and conquer the South-East Europe.

That are the main reasons for the main countries of WWI (except the USA, wo took part of the war later).
The Alliance system was first made to prevent an aggression, but it made the opposite, by forcing every country to declare war to the others, because each allied were attacked. The murder of the heir of the Austrian Empire gave the oppotunity to crush the Serbia. Russia, to avoid the loss of a friend, prepare to war, or to help Serbia, Germany, according to the Triplice, prepare to help Austria against Russia, so France prepared to fight against Germany to help Russia, England prepared to help France ...

Answer 2

The reasons for the outbreak of World War I are a complicated issue; there are many factors that intertwine. Some examples are:

Fervent and uncompromising nationalism
Unresolved previous disputes
The intricate system of alliances
Convoluted and fragmented governance
Delays and misunderstandings in diplomatic communications
The arms races of the previous decades.
Rigidity in military planning
Colonial rivalry
Economic rivalry
Nationalism between the countries
Alliances formed

Answer 3

Well the first was that Serbia wanted parts of it's former empire to be given back by the Austrio-Hungarian empire. Second was that Germany started building up it's navy possing a big threat to the 2 biggest European naval powers at the time, France and the U.K. Third the Ottoman empire kind of was at war with it's minorities and Russia had many interests to protect these minorities and to expand it's empire further into Turkish land.

Answer 4

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off several other events that had been building such as the arms race between Germany and Great Britain, and the instability caused by Kaiser Wilhelm's rise to power in Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_I

Answer 5

militarism, nationalism, imperialism- long term
Alliance system, assassination of Franz Ferdinand- immediate