Colonial rule was carried out in Britain, France and other European countries, occupying a large area of land in the world. The industrialization of Britain, led by Britain, was far faster than that of other European countries, this has caused dissatisfaction in some countries, led by Germany, they want to wage war to change the world order. Nationalism played an important role in breaking through the shackles of medieval theocracy and promoting the nation state. However, with the transition from free capitalism to imperialism, European nationalism gradually went to the extreme and transformed into the theoretical basis and spiritual motivation for the foreign expansion and hegemony of the great powers. The germans regard themselves as the descendants of “pure” aryans, emphasizing the purity and nobility of their own blood, and believing that their nation is glorious and great, which is a kind of nationalism. Imperialism falls into two categories: “regressive imperialism” such as the Nazi-empire, and “progressive imperialism” such as the Roman Empire and British Empire. Militarism is derived from imperialism, such as Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire. An alliance is an interest group formed by several countries according to their own interests, like the Center Power were made up of German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of Bulgaria, Triple Entente formed by England, France and Russia.
The event that directly started the war is assassination in Sarajevo. June 28, 1914 is Serbia’s National Day. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the crown prince of the austro-hungarian empire, were visiting sarajevo when they were shot dead by the Serbian youth gavrilo princip.
The cartoon shows the chains between 2 groups of countries，the ones with the blue circles are the Triple Alliance，the rest represents the Triple Entente. It shows that before the WWI broke out, the tension between countries, all countries were ready to fight but no one started.
“Canadians marched and sang in the streets at the declaration of war in early August 1914. Those who opposed the war largely stayed silent. Even in Quebec, where pro-British sentiment was traditionally low, there was little apparent hostility to a voluntary war effort.” That means Canada supported WWI and is eager to play its part in the war.
And Canadian has an upsurge of patriotism
During world war I, Canada provided troops to the Triple Alliance as Canadian troops rather than as part of the British, this had an important impact on Canada’s subsequent place in the Paris peace conference.
The war in air: “These flyers were often depicted as “Knights of the Sky,” despite the hardships and cruelty of aerial warfare.” Air combat is the most attractive of the three, so the selection of soldiers is very strict. More than half of the air force was born in Canada and there were 171 Canadian air aces . Canadian flyers received at least 495 British decorations.
The war in sea: In 1910, the royal Canadian navy was established. To appease the royalists, the government stipulated that the Canadian navy could join the British naval fleet if necessary. But in the first world war, the size of the Canadian navy developed rapidly and played an important role in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The war in land: The Canadian army planned well and prepared well in the battle, and successfully used the gunstep coordinated tactics. With the continuation of the war, the Canadian army fought bravely. For example, the front-line Canadian army took four days to defeat the enemy at the battle of Vimy Ridge and captured Vimy Ridge on Easter Sunday, 1917