Causes of WWI: model answer

Students read a challenging essay answer on the causes of the First World War then highlight the text to identify features of the writing.

Extract from the essay

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 was due to a combination of causes which were both long-term and short-term: alliances, militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This essay will consider the extent to which the alliance system was the most significant of these causes, and more crucially, the way in which the alliance system was linked to the other causes. It will be argued that the alliance system, whilst a key provocation of tension, was neither the most significant cause nor the trigger for war; however, it was arguably the factor which created a war on such a scale − which created the first ‘World War’.