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Before World War I, Africa and parts of Asia were
points of contention among the European countries. This
was especially true because of the raw materials these
areas could provide. The increasing competition and
desire for greater empires led to an increase in
confrontation that helped push the world into WW I.

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As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race
had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase
in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both
greatly increased their navies in this time period.
Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military
establishment began to have a greater influence on
public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the
countries involved into war.

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Mutual Defense Alliances:
When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany, seeing that Russia was mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France by marching through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

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Immediate cause: In June 1914, a Serbian-nationalist terrorist group called the Black Hand sent groups to assassinate the Archduke. Their first attempt failed when a driver avoided a grenade thrown at their car. However, later that day a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip shot the Archduke and his wife while they were driving through Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary. They died of their wounds.

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The Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire.

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The Battle of Caporetto was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central Powers and took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid.

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The Battle of Cambrai was a British attack followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force since 1914, in the First World War.This battle marked the first large scale battle using tanks.

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The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916

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Poison gas. On April 22, 1915, German artillery fired cylinders containing chlorine gas in the Ypres area, the beginning of gas attacks in the First World War. Other nations raced to create their own battlefield gases, and both sides found ways to increase the severity and duration of the gases they fired on enemy troop concentrations.

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Most machine guns of World War 1 sustained fire of 450–600 rounds per minute, allowing defenders to cut down attacking waves of enemy troops like a scythe cutting wheat. There was some speculation that the machine gun would completely replace the rifle. Contrary to popular belief, machine guns were not the most lethal weapon of the Great War.

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Although the U.S. tried to remain neutral when WW1 broke out, it finally joined on April 6, 1917 after declaring war on Germany. The reason for America to become involved in WW1 was Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, which had already sunk several American merchant ships.

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After two and a half years of isolationism, America entered the Great War. The contributions of the United States military to the Allied effort were decisive. Since the Russians decided to quit the war, the Germans were able to move many of their troops from the eastern front to the stalemate in the West.

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The aftermath of the first World War, saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved in the war

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4 empires collapsed at the end of the war: The Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Russian. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland emerged as independent nations.
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to Britain and France taking their colonies in the Middle East as League of Nations mandates. And under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to accept guilt for the war and pay $31.4 billion in reparations