What Were the Contributing Causes of World War 1?

World War 1 is often considered as being the fault of one nation, namely Germany. However World War 1 cannot be attributed solely as the fault of Germany as there are many other mitigating circumstances that disprove this. In 1914 Europe was a divided continent with five superpowers dominating it. (These 5 empires being Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia) It was the richest continent in the world, and by far the most powerful, yet it was gearing itself for a war that would ultimately end in the death of 10 million, and the loss of its status as the most powerful continent in the world. Many diplomatic crises, notably in Africa, had weakened relationships to a point where diplomacy was to fail with catastrophic results.
So how did Europe get to this stage that would lead to World War 1? A large reason that Europe was this divided was because of a date of huge significance, a day that happened 43 years prior to the outbreak of war, the day when William I was proclaimed King of a united Germany. …