Why Did the Cold War Start?
Why did the Cold War start? How the U.S.-Soviet alliance broke down from Yalta and Potsdam to the Truman Doctrine, Berlin Airlift, NATO and the Soviet bomb.
Why Did It Happen?
Clear answers to history’s biggest questions. Each article sets out the main causes historians point to, where they disagree, and the sources behind every claim.
Why Did the Great Depression Happen?
Why did the Great Depression happen? The 1920s boom, the 1929 crash, bank panics, Fed mistakes, the gold standard, Smoot-Hawley, Dust Bowl and what ended it.
Why Did the Civil War Start?
Why did the Civil War start? What the seceding states said in their own words, the fight over slavery in the West, Lincoln's election, and Fort Sumter.
Why Did World War II Start?
Why did WW2 start? Versailles, the Depression, Hitler's aims, Japan in China, appeasement at Munich, the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Poland in 1939 and Pearl Harbor.
Why Did the Roman Empire Fall?
Why did the Roman Empire fall? What 476 CE really marks, the main causes historians cite, why the East lasted to 1453, and the decline vs transformation debate.
Why Did the Titanic Sink?
The Titanic sank after an iceberg opened her five forward compartments in April 1912. Why she flooded, why about 1,500 died, and what changed at sea after.
Why Did World War I Start?
Why did WW1 start? The long-term causes, the Sarajevo assassination, the July Crisis day by day, how alliances spread the war, and why the U.S. joined in 1917.