Outbreak of the Great War (WWI)

The Great Illusion was an influential and best-selling book written by Norman Angell and originally published in 1909 as Europe's Optical Illusion. Angell argued that the economies of the industrial countries of Europe had become so interdependent that war between those countries would be harmful to all the countries involved. However, five years later, the countries of Europe plunged into a continent-wide war that would last until 1918 and result in over 15,000,000 deaths.

Your task is to investigate how this happened! What are the causes of the Great War, also known as "the war to end war," and later known as World War I?

Part I: A Family Affair

• Look over the map of Europe in 1914
• Watch "When Family Squabbles Turn to War"
• Read "The Family Relationships that Couldn't Stop World War I"
• Watch the first 06:30 of The Guns of August

Part II: The Spark of Ignition

• Look over the map of European military alliances in 1914
• Look over the map of the Balkans in 1914
• Read "The Balkan Powder Keg"
• Read "Breaking News: Austrian Heir and His Wife Murdered in Bosnian capital"
• Choose one: Read two eyewitness accounts OR read "Heir to Austrian Throne Assassinated"
• Complete the digital jigsaw puzzle (optional!)
• Watch "Margaret MacMillan: Balkans, Middle East Parallels in History"

Part III: The July Crisis

• Watch "The July Crisis 1914 - The Prelude to World War One"

Complete a short recap quiz!

Great job!

You should now have a good understanding of the causes of World War I. If you would like to continue on your Quest, watch the rest of The Guns of August. Then, check out these great resources:

• "Home Before the Leaves Fall..."
• Interactive Timeline of WWI

This WebQuest aligns with several of the key ideas found in the NYS Grades 9 - 12 Social Studies Framework, including that "international competition, fueled by nationalism, imperialism, and militarism along with shifts in the balance of power and alliances, led to world wars." As stated in Section 10.5A of the Framework, "students will compare and contrast long- and short-term causes and effects of World War I and World War II."

This WebQuest incorporates several of the reading standards for literacy in history and social studies described in the NYS Grades 9 - 12 Social Studies Framework, including the ability to "analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them" as well as to "compare the points of view of two or more authors in their treatments of the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts."

This WebQuest was designed to be a historical investigation. As Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan state in "Teaching History and Literacy," "the only way students are likely to learn to be literate in these specialized disciplinary ways is through a kind of apprenticeship that brings them into participation in the discipline rather than as just an observer or a consumer. If students are to be sophisticated readers of history, they need to understand what historians are trying to do..."