The Causes of World War I What exactly were the causes of World War I? Sure, it sounds like a pretty simple question, but it's most definitely not a simple answer! There was whole lot more to the start of the war than an Austrian prince being murdered in Serbia, as is what most people think was the whole cause of World War I. Besides, the effects of the war weren't just concentrated to a "post-war era" lasting for a whole generation of Westerners. Nope! The effects of the war were widespread throughout the world and can be traced for generations after the war! Its not very rare that when a person is asked what caused World War I, that they"d answer saying: an Austrian Prince being shot in Serbia. However the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie , in Sarajevo was not the main cause of the Great War. It was really the breaking point for Austria in dealing with Serbia. The truth of the whole matter is that several factors played a role in the "outbreak" of the catastrophic war that took over the nations of Europe for over four years. World War I was truly the result of building hostility throughout the countries of Europe, which was backed by the rise of nationalism. To add to the disastrous "soup of war", if you will, there was also huge, almost threatening competition plus the fear of military alliances and an arms race. More and more ingredients were being added to this "soup" and tension was growing by leaps and bounds, something was going to snap. The 1st world war now seemed inevitable! (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2000) Military alliances were definitely a big issue. Two of the major opposing alliances developed by the Bismarckian diplomacy after the Franco- Prussian War was one of the major causes of the war. In order to inconspicuously cut off France, Bismarck came up with the Three Emperor's League in 1872, which was basically an alliance between Germany, Russia, and Austria/Hungary.