... of the war was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which, if not for the aforementioned factors, would have a much smaller consequence than a world war. In fact, if not for the tension which was built and maintained for around the last three decades, this last cause may not even be a cause for war. So, yes, I agree with McDonough: I believe that although it was this last event that sparked war, it would have had no significant effect if the long term causes had not taken place. During the nineteenth century, most of the major European powers had no interest in colonies. But, starting from about the 1870s, there was a huge interest in imperialism, annexing big parts of Africa and Asia. This scramble for colonies, which were thought to be economically beneficial in the future, created competition and international tension between the European powers. For example, Britain, ...

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