What was the main cause of world war I ? The four main causes were imperialism, militarism, alliances, and nationalism. Without these influences the war would have never happened.

Instead of trying to point to one major cause for the First World War, like many historians attempt to argue, there were many causes that evolved around four major ones. Even Benthmann portrayed his frustration with attempting to isolate a major cause when his reply to the question of what started the war was "Oh, if only I knew". The four main causes were imperialism, militarism, alliances, and nationalism. Without these influences the war would …

…Tirpitz made in 1895. By this account alone, it can be understood as to how militarism and naval expansion were done for the focal reason of keeping a nations power and control. The First World War was shaped by four main causes; imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and alliances. Nevertheless, each of these can be traced back to the one underlying cause which served as an influence for all of the decisions made in the other factors: nationalism.