What were the causes of the First World War and why did the U.S. become involved?

Answer 1

There still is some debate on this. I found this on wikipedia:

On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student, killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group whose aims included the unification of the South Slavs and independence from Austria-Hungary. The assassination in Sarajevo set into motion a series of fast-moving events that escalated into a full-scale war. Austria-Hungary demanded action by Serbia to punish those responsible, and when Austria-Hungary deemed Serbia had not complied, they declared war. Major European powers were at war within a matter of weeks because of overlapping agreements for collective defense and the complex nature of international alliances. Though the assassination was the event that started the war, it was the last in a long succession of complex causes and events that pitted the nations of Europe against each other.

Answer 2

The Key Cause of World War One:

The explosive that was World War One had been long in the stockpiling; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

The Causes of World War One:

http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm

United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.

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Answer 3

while the assasination of arch duke ferdanand had a large part in it, there's an old saying about that time..

Europe was split in to several empires: German, Hungarian-Austrian, and Ottoman.

France and Britian were the only serperate countries that did not support their views.

Its really a colony war that grew when the United States joined the war to keep britian from falling.

I think its not just the assasination. there was tention all accorss europe to end colonization of the continent.

It probably was "a shot heard round the word" when the arch duke was killed.

As for the United States, Wilson didnt want to join and viewed the war as "Their problem"

but as the war dragged on, Britian was being starved to death, and germany was willing to go to any extent to keep america out of the war.

But they made 2 mistakes

The U-boats started attacking and sinking U.S. Ships as well as european, and this began to anger Washington.

But they say it was a near alliance that really was the icing on the top of the cake.

Germany called on Mexico to invade texas and the South west to keep the US out of europe.

This finally caused Wilson to declare war.

Answer 4

the causes: Franz Ferdinand was assasined and then germany gave a blank check to austria where ferdinand was from and russia was allianced w/ serbia in which the guy who killed franz waa from. Also the Schleiffen plan in which belgium and france were involved Britain allianced w/ beligium joined.

US joined because Germany had given Mexico a telegam talking bad about U S and instead of Mexico getting it, US got it so US joined WW1

Answer 5

after the germans supposedly offered mexico land if they attacked the united states was why we entered the war, and the asassination of arch duke ferdinand

Answer 6

A Yahoo Search: causes WW1

will get lots of information.

Good luck.

Answer 7

To my knowledge it was the murder of Franz Ferdinand and his wife (girlfriend maybe) in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Answer 8

japan bombed pearl harbor that got us involved officially. plus there was the zimmerman note which hitler tried to persuade mexico to join and be allies against the U.S.