The first world war began in the year 1914. There are several factors believed to have triggered the war. The assassination of the Austrian archduke and his wife immediately triggered the war. He was assassinated by the Bosnian Gavrilo Princip an irredentist serb on 28th June 1914. The world war began on august the same year.

This event just triggered the war. The actual factors leading to the war are complicated. Some of this factors are:

Mutual defence alliances. Throughout Europe countries made alliances. The alliance in countries was to give each other help if needed. Thus if, a country is attacked, the allied countries were supposed to protect them. The alliances that existed before the world war are like Russia and Serbia, germany and Austria-Hungary, Russia and France, Britain , France and Belgium finally Japan and Britain.

Austria-Hungary first declared on the Serbians. Russia defended the Serbians. When the Germans saw the Russians getting ready for the war, they declared war on them. France then come in against Germans and Austria-Hungary. Britain was pulled into the war when Germany attacked France through Belgium. Japan then entered the war.later the united states and Italy joined their allied countries.

Imperialism is believed to have also caused the war. The british empire by 1900 had taken over five continents. France also had a large control over Africa. Countries needed new markets with the rise of industrialization. The number of continents that Britain and France increased the rivalry between them and germany. Germany tried to obtain colonies late and had small parts of Africa.

The arms race also led to the world war. The armis of france and germany had increased prior to the world war. There was competition between Germany and Britain for control of the seas. British first introduced an effective battleship called the