Causes and Effects of World War I What were the causes and effects of World War I? The answer to this seemingly simple question is not elementary. There was more to the onset of the war then the event of an Austrian prince being murdered in Serbia, as is what most people consider to be the cause of World War I. Furthermore, the effects of the war were not just concentrated to a post-war era lasting for a generation of Westerners. No, the effects of the war were widespread throughout the world and can be traced to generations after the war. It is not a rare occasion that when a person is asked what the causes of Worl