Causes of WW1

What were the causes of WW1?

EMPIRES

The British had huge empires and the Germans and Italians were jealous. They wanted big empires too so they could have plenty of resources and cheap food. There was competition between these countries to have territory in Africa, and Germany felt that the other European countries took more land than them. 

THE "ARMS RACE"

In 1900, Britain had the biggest navy but were worried about Germany over-taking them. The two countries developed a race to build new battleships, and in 1906, Britain started making stronger and faster ships called Dreadnoughts. Germany followed suite and this caused a lot of tension between the two countries. 

ALLIANCES

Before 1914, the big countries of Europe had formed two alliances. Many people thought that the two sides were the same level of power so peace would be kept. But the two alliances became suspicious of each other because of quarrels over colonies and the tension over the arms race. 

MURDER OF FRANZ FERDINAND

On 28th…