What were the main causes leading up to world war 1?

World War I was the result of leaders' aggression towards other countries, which was supported by the rising nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition, fear of war prompted military alliances and an arms race as well as the assassination of the archduke Francis Ferdinand, which further escalated the tension in the Balkans contributing to the outbreak of war. World war 1 started on the 28th of June 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia …

…its will upon the Balkans; a German desire for greater power and international influence, which sparked a naval arms race with Britain, who responded by building new and greater warships, the Dreadnought; a French desire for revenge against Germany following disastrous defeat in 1871 and how the "Great War" cannot be put on any one country's shoulders as it was a chain reaction or falling dominoes effect which dragged the world into war. By Nicholas Lilleyman