This course offers an introduction to the global history of the First World War. It aims to introduce students to the different ways historians have sought to understand the war, as well as scholarly and intellectual challenges that come with studying an event of this magnitude and horror. In general, students will examine the origins and causes of the conflict, survey the factors that shaped the course of the war, and consider how and why the fighting came to an end when it did. These broad approaches will be supplemented with consideration of specific examples from around the world.