1. What factors caused the outbreak of World War I? There were many reasons for the outbreak of the First World War. The main causes include nationalism, militarism, imperialist alliances and the crises in the Balkans and Morocco. There were many other causes of the First World War, such as assassination. of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire Franz Ferdinand and the assassination of Jean Jaurès, a French socialist considered the last chance for peace for Europe in the lead-up to the First World War. Nationalism was a main factor in the cause of World War I. Indeed, at that time, most people were very proud of their country, because right after the great industrial revolution in Europe, this factor created tensions between rival countries such as Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia, which indirectly led to the dual alliance between Germany and Russia. Austria-Hungary to protect itself from Russia then 3 years later, in 1881, the Austro-Serbian alliance was formed between Austria-Hungary and Serbia to prevent Russia from taking control of Serbia. Nationalism was a key factor in the causes of the Great War as it helped cause tensions. between nations which led to alliances, which was also a major cause of World War I; alliances in Europe played an important role in the outbreak of World War I because if one nation declares war on another, the nations allies must help win the war, for example on August 3, 1914, the Germany Declares War on France Due to the Triple Entente of 1907, Britain had no choice but to aid its allies and declare war on Germany and help France with its offensive plan XVII aimed at crossing eastern France to reach the German borders. This happened all over Europe. Countries were drawn into war because the allies were... middle of paper... war more likely in Europe. This last attempt at peace caused the evil nationalist extremist Raoul to attempt to assassinate Jaurès to create war and so on July 31, 1914, Jaurès was assassinated in a café in Paris. This contributed to the war because throughout Europe people hoped that Jaurès would create peace and he was the last chance, so if he was assassinated, war would soon follow, so once he was assassinated, all that that it would take something which, by itself, would not provoke war to start war; in 1914, it was the assassination of François Ferdinand. To conclude, there were many factors in the build-up to war, all leading to or causing something else which, over a long period of time, made war more and more likely until July 28, 1914, Austria - Hungary declared war on Serbia in response to the assassination of its heir to the throne Francis Ferdinand.