IGCSE World War I Causes

<Tab/>World War I began in 1914 after the famous assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But the Great War undoubtedly did not just happen. There was build up to the catastrophe that began way back to the times of Bismarck.
<Tab/>During the German Unification, Bismarck had used a war with France to include the South German States into his German Empire. But in the process, he took the region of Alsace-Lorraine from the French, as well as a gigantic indemnity of two billion francs. Bismarck had created hostile relations with the French. But he also tried to ma…