What instigated WWI other then the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand?

Question

I'm researching WWI.

Answer 1

It was each country trying to become the most powerful which really caused the war. You have massive arm races in each nation. As the armies grew, so did fear of each other. So countries looked to allies. Pile that on to already existing rivalries that countries already had and the smallest thing would had started that war.

Answer 2

The naval rivalry between Germany and Britain, which began when the Kaiser decided he wanted a blue water navy, and colonies. British naval superiority was a VERY serious matter with the British government... before Wilhelm started building dreadnoughts, Germany and Britain were friends... France was the British rival.

The "Eastern Question" -- what would happen to the Ottoman Empire, aka the "Sick Man of Europe". Powers jockied to be in the best position to pick up bits of the carcass.

A general cultural malaise. Many saw Belle Epoque Europe as decadent and enervated. A war, in this view, would reinvigorate European culture. (Gee, that didn't pan out as planned, did it?)

Answer 3

Hello,

The Austria - Hungarian empire wanted a seaport on the Adriatic and eyed Serbia. There was also a big arms race building up since the 1870's, many alliances were made in Europe and that assassination was the straw that broke that
camel's back.

Mike

Answer 4

military alliances
alliances of marriage( Queen victoria is associated with the tsar of Russia through her niece , Alexandria and the reason for the male child's hemophilia)
quest for empire and colonization
quest for power