---
title: "Causation and Periodisation Definition | Model Diplomat"
description: "Causation and periodisation are key historical methods that help explain events and define eras, crucial for civil services and historical analysis."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/causation-and-periodisation"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Causation and periodisation are the two core analytical operations of historical method: explaining why events occurred and dividing the past into bounded, named eras.
- Why is the impact-response model criticised in periodising modern China?
- How should an exam essay handle periodisation explicitly?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Causation and periodisation are the two core analytical operations of historical method: explaining why events occurred and dividing the past into bounded, named eras.

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Example

In 1984 Paul Cohen's \*Discovering History in China\* rejected Fairbank's impact-response periodisation of modern China, arguing that beginning the "modern" period at the 1839 Opium War wrongly made Western causation primary over China's own internal dynamics.

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[Late Qing Decline The 1911 Revolution](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/china-modern-history-late-qing-decline-the-1911-revolution)

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[China Modern History](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/courses/china-modern-history)

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