Explaining the Outbreak of the First World War - Closing Conference Genève Histoire et Cité 2015

Margaret MacMillan, Professor of International History, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. Professor MacMillan is former Provost of Trinity College and Professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson University. A leading expert on history and international relations, MacMillan is a commentator in the media. One hundred years after the event there is still no agreement on how or why the war started. Explanations range from national rivalries to arms races, focus on policies such as alliances and arms races, or seek to assign responsibility to particular powers or individuals. This lecture will ask why the forces tending towards war were stronger than those for peace and whether the war could have been avoided.” This lecture is part of the “Construire la paix” festival organised by the University of Geneva’s Maison de l’histoire in collaboration with the Graduate Institute and HES-SO Geneva.