Causes of the First World War
Teacher Resources
Lesson Guide
Be sure to read the instructions in this guide before beginning the Our Interconnected World activity. In addition to activity guidance, you’ll find the usual lesson timing, sample answers, and teaching tips.
First World War Casualties and Alliances map
As you teach this lesson, encourage students to explore this map, which will help them understand the scale and cost of global war.
Driving Question: What caused World War I?
Military forces grew, alliances locked in, and tensions rose across continents. When war finally came, it was no accident; it was the result of systems pushed to the breaking point.
Learning Objectives:
- Use causal-thinking skills to evaluate the factors that led to the outbreak of World War I.
- Use image-analysis skills to assess how propaganda was used in World War I.
Vocab Terms:
Considering the “what-ifs” of history can be a lot of fun. But it’s also a great way to get your students to think about contingency and causation. It helps them see how small choices can have big consequences and how so many world events are interconnected.
As they move into learning about the world wars and other conflicts of the twentieth century, encourage students to repeat the what-if exercise they’ll encounter here. For example:
- What if Japan never attacked Pearl Harbor?
- What if Khrushchev had called JFK’s bluff and ordered Soviet ships to Cuba?
Or take a step back in time:
- What if Hannibal had defeated Rome?
- What if Zheng He had sailed across the Pacific Ocean?
- What if Napoleon hadn’t invaded Russia?
Watch this what-if video about the plot to assassinate Franz Ferdinand and consider how an event in your life might have turned out differently.
Did you know: Gavrilo Princip didn’t set out to start a world war. In fact, his assassination attempt failed several times, and only some extreme luck (or lack of it) helped him finally succeed. This lesson is a helpful way to illustrate how one event can cascade into catastrophe due to many overlapping causes. The primary sources in the image carousel and the article provide students with evidence to complete the main activity.
Unpack the tangled web of alliances, rivalries, and political choices that led to war in 1914. This step helps you sort through long-term causes and immediate sparks.
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Guiding Questions
"MAIN" Causes of War
This is a fun, hands-on activity, and a great way to show students that World War I was not simply a “European war.”
Be sure to download and print the Narratives and Region Cards ahead of time. You’ll also need a large ball of yarn and large sheets of paper.
If you’re in a rush or concerned about students throwing a ball of yarn around your classroom, this OER Project teacher suggests having the students draw the webs on paper while you read the narrative. Find her tips and the slide deck she used in the OER Project Teacher Community Forum.
World War I was not confined to Europe. Explore how deeply interconnected the world already was in 1914, and how those connections turned a regional crisis into a global war.
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Guiding Questions
Consider using the Three-Step Reading routine with students to “read” visuals. First, get the big picture. Then, zoom in on details. Finally, think about what the image means. Learn more in the Reading Guide.
Now that you've explored the causes of World War I, hypothesize what the nations involved in the war were thinking as you revisit the political cartoon from earlier in the lesson.
World War I changed not just nations but the lives of everyday people. Analyze a collection of wartime voices and images to explore the many ways war shaped lives both on the front lines and at home.
World War I Poster Analysis
