Lemma von Zorn
The trees within a graph may be partially ordered by their subgraph relation, and any infinite chain in this partial order has an upper bound (the union of the trees in the chain). Zorn's lemma, one of many equivalent statements to the axiom of choice, requires that a partial order in which all chains are upper bounded have a maximal element; in the partial order on the trees of the graph, this maximal element must be a spanning tree. Therefore, if Zorn's lemma is assumed, every infinite connected graph has a spanning tree.