World War I was one of the deadliest wars that lasted only four years from 1914 to November 1918. It was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Within a month, events had spiraled out of control. By August 1, 1914, armies across Europe were arrayed against each other. By the end of 1918, 10 million soldiers and civilians died and 20 million were wounded. It is important to try to understand the underlying cause of this tragedy. In other words, the three fundamental causes responsible were network alliances, weapons accumulation, and imperialism. Alliances contributed significantly to the war. Europe was generally divided into two groups of nations. On one side there was the Triple Alliance, made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and for a short time Italy. On the other side was the Triple Entente which also included France, England and Russia. When Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Austria logically pointed the finger at the Serbian government. Due to ethnic ties, Russia quickly sided with Serbia. G...