Visualizing the Causes of the First World War

Explaining the causes of the First World War can be tricky for students. Franz Ferdinand’s assassination might have triggered the war, but it didn’t cause the war. No single event or development caused the war; many things did. When we teach the causes of the war, it’s an excellent opportunity to help students understand the concept of conjuncture, when separate events come together to produce a unique historical moment.

The 1914 cartoon above shows how European states blamed each other for the outbreak of the war. Because there were multiple factors, it was easy for each state to blame others. So how can we help students make sense of the war’s causes and why it became a global war?

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