ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Historiography of the causes of World War I

Historiography is the study of history and how the past is looked at or written about. The historiography of the causes of World War I can be looked at in many different ways.

Basically, World War I was a major war that took place in Europe between 1914 and 1918. Different countries got involved in the war and millions of people died. Historians try to figure out why the war happened by looking at things that happened before and during the war. They look at things like treaties and agreements between countries, political decisions, and invention of new weapons like tanks and airplanes.

Many historians agree that one of the main causes of the war was a system of alliances. This means that different countries had agreements to help each other if one of them was attacked. For example, if Germany was attacked, then Italy and Austria would come to help. This could cause a chain reaction of countries getting involved in the war.

Another major cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist in 1914. This event was the spark that caused the conflict to become full-scale war.

People can have different opinions about why the war happened. That's why historians look at the facts in many different ways when they're writing about the causes of World War I.