About This Lesson
One Bullet, Ten Million Dead — What Actually Caused World War I?
Topic: The causes of WWI beyond "Franz Ferdinand got shot". Students rank and argue the deep causes — alliances, militarism, imperialism, nationalism — against the trigger, and confront how historians disagree about blame.
Target learning outcomes — by the end, students can:
- Distinguish a trigger from an underlying cause, using WWI as the case
- Argue a ranked position on which cause mattered most, citing evidence
- Explain how the alliance system turned a regional crisis into a world war in 6 weeks
Audience: Grades 9–10 (ages 14–16), 24 students. Strong readers mixed with students who switch off at long texts — sources must be short and punchy.
Constraints: One 60-minute in-person lesson. Debate energy is welcome but it must land on evidence, not opinion shouting.
