Historians are like detectives; they try to understand what happened in the past, and

why it happened. The concepts of cause and consequence address who or what
influenced events to occur and what the repercussions of those events were.

Meaning of cause in English:

Cause

Pronunciation /kɔːz/

Translate cause into Spanish

NOUN: A person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition.

‘The cause of the accident is not clear’

Every historical event occurred because of a series of events that happened beforehand.
Things that directly lead to another event are called ‘Causes’. Some causes occurred
immediately before the event began, while others existed for several years before they
caused the event.

 Causes that occurred only a few hours, days or weeks before the event are called
'Short Term Causes'
 Causes that existed for years, decades or centuries before the event are called
'Long Term Causes'

Determining the importance of causes

• Evidence of a causal connection. Is the cause clearly connected with the event and not
just a coincidence? If this factor were removed, how likely is it that the event would still
have occurred?

• Degree of influence. To what extent did the cause contribute to the direction and
intensity of the event or make other causes more or less important?

• Absence of alternative explanations. Is there no reason to suspect that some other

factor, closely aligned with the suggested causal factor, can explain the outcome?

Consequences

Consequence

Pronunciation /ˈkɒnsɪkw(ə)ns/

NOUN :A result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.

Every historical event has a flow-on effect upon things that occur after it. Things that
occurred because of the event under investigation are called ‘Consequences’. Such
consequences can include impacts upon people, societies, beliefs or any other facet of
history.

 Consequences that occurred only a few hours, days or weeks after the event are
called 'Short Term Consequences'
 Consequences that occurred years, decades or centuries after the event are called
'Long Term Consequences'

Determining the importance of consequences

• Depth of impact: How deeply felt or profound was the consequence?
• Breadth of impact: How widespread were its impacts?
• Duration of impact: How long-lasting was the consequence?

Additional Information:

The more you study history, the more you realize that consequences also become
causes for other events.

https://tc2.ca/uploads/PDFs/thinking-about-history/cause_consequence_secondary.pdf

https://www.lexico.com/definition/cause