> Instead once there was a spark, those relationships kept pulling more and more countries into the conflict This is a bad take on the cause of alliances. larg

> Instead once there was a spark, those relationships kept pulling more and more countries into the conflict This is a bad take on the cause of alliances. large wartime coalitions had been a thing since the consolidation of power into monarchies in Europe: the 7-year war had involved all of Europe's significant actors, as did the napoleonic wars, the war for the spanish succession, the 30-year war, etc. This was much earlier than the development of cross-border trade. In an imperialist era, diplomacy was the way to coordinate European nations' colonial efforts without repeating that kind of conflict. It was only temporary, though, since expansionist policies can't last forever peacefully. The reason WW1 felt so different from previous wars was technological development. That aspect was already present in earlier wars, WW1 was just the first major European conflict in a long time.