Causes of WW I

World War I took place during 1914-1918. It was first called "The Great War". It involved most of Europe and the United States. There are many causes as to how it started.

One of the causes of World War I was nationalism. The countries involved in WWI were strongly nationalistic. They loved their country and thought that everyone should be like them. As this thought went around, many countries were trying to dominate others. They wanted to spread their countries' ways. This made the countries involved in WWI want to try to dominate each other.

Another cause of World War I was militarism. The countries involved in WWI started expanding their military. They were in constant fear of other countries going to attack them. They believed that other countries were planning attacks on their country. For the fear of getting attacked they made their military bigger and stronger. They started making plans and were always ready to attack.

Another cause of World War I was the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand. Francis Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian throne. He was killed with his wife in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. He was killed by a Serbian nationalist, who was part of a group called the Black Hand. This officially helped start WWI. Austria-Hungry then seeked vengeance against Serbia for killing the heir to their throne. This lead to Germany backing up Serbia. One by one countries were declaring war on each other.