Causes of WWI

The military build up from the the late 1800's to the the turn of the 20th century caused the first Great War or WWI. All European industrial nations began a massive build up of military strength which in turn caused all of the turmoil in Europe. As the years passed the struggle for dominance in other nations with the spread of imperialism tensions rose and various pacts formed between the world's great powers.
A new spirit of nationalism was born at the beginning of the 19th century. The congress of Vienna in 1815 broke apart the nationalistic philosophy to keep the peace. But, as all things do change that did as well. In a mere 40 years Germany and Italy were united as nations once more. After the nations became one the arms race began at an alarming rate. Until the build up of the Great War Germany had grossed the most earnings out of the arms race, mountingb over a $100 billion dollars
As military might increased so did the imperialistic ambitions of the European nations. This is where big rivalries stemmed from. They competed for land and geopolitical influence over territories.