The following is an example of an expository essay about the causes of Word War I. It is meant for a 10th grade class and can be created following the unit plan and rubric.

World War 1 was the cataclysmic event, which would end the lives of 10 million young European men, therefore destroying an entire generation of Europeans. In the years leading up to 1914, rising tensions among European powers would create a “powder keg” that required only the slightest spark to start a world war. Although militarism set an aggressive atmosphere in Europe, in the end, a system of alliances, nationalism, and imperialism were what caused the first world war.   

Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. These treaties meant that if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed: Russia and Serbia, Germany and Austria-Hungary, France and Russia, Britain, France and Belgium and Japan and Britain.

Once WWI started, the two sides were based on old alliances.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

These posters display Nationalism.