The First World War: causes, course and consequences

What you'll learn

1. 1

   The First World War (1914-18) had long-term causes building for decades and a short-term trigger.

2. 2

   The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914 was the trigger. The alliance system then pulled country after country in.

3. 3

   What is meant by the "trigger" cause?

4. 4

   Common error: "the assassination caused the war." It did not, on its own — the tensions had been building for decades. A trigger only works because the conditions are already there.

5. 5

   Why is calling the assassination "the cause" too simple?

6. 6

   Apply it: the assassination at Sarajevo in 1914 was the trigger, not the cause. The long-term causes were the alliance system, militarism, imperial rivalry and nationalism — a trigger only ignites what is already there.

7. 7

   The Sarajevo assassination is best described as what?