Background information: When the war was over, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, and take full responsibility for starting the war. This excerpt is part of Germany's response to that treaty.

It is demanded of us that we shall confess ourselves to be alone guilty of the war. Such a confession from my lips would be a lie. We are far from declining all responsibility for the fact that this great World War took place or that it was fought in the way that it was . . . But we energetically deny that Germany and its people, who were convinced that they fought a war of defense, were alone guilty. No one would want to assert that the disaster began only at that disastrous moment when the successor of Austria-Hungary fell a victim to murderous hands.

In the last fifty years, the imperialism of all European states has chronically poisoned international relations. Policies of retaliation, policies of expansion, and disregard for the right of peoples to determine their own destiny, have contributed to the European malady which came to a crisis in the World War. The mobilization of Russia deprived statesmen of the opportunity of curing the disease, and placed the issue in the hands of the military powers.

–Count Brockdorff-Rantzau,
1919

According to the excerpt, what were the causes of World War I? Check all that apply.

Russia’s mobilization
the spread of disease
the assassination of the archduke
imperialism and expansion
the growth of Britain’s naval forces