Alliances

Without alliances WWI would have never happened. Ironically, the chain of alliances that caused WWI were made to prevent war. It was thought that if you had a large enough alliance, no one would dare start such a large war. It'd be suicidal to declare war on one of the countries in that alliance, think, if you started a war with the Britain, who would come to their rescue? Nowadays, its hard to say. As an American I can almost guarantee the United States would, but back then, France, Britain, and Russia had all promised each-other that they would back each-other up. Three of the biggest world powers of that time. It's a scary thing to rely on, and it almost definitely happens to this day. WWI unleashed the biggest war the world had yet seen, it was a full realization of the drawbacks such alliances held. Unprecedented casualty rates, war costs, and damages. France was torn to pieces. And yet, the war started between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Alliances spread the war. Europe was in flames.