The Causation of World War 1
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LEARNING ACTIVITY Student worksheet The causation of World War 1 Task 1: What happened in Sarajevo? It is 28th June 1914. You work for the newsroom of the Sarajevo Daily Show. Today is a big day for the city of Sarajevo. Sarajevo is the capital of the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The province is ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It can often seem like a very long way from the capital of the Empire in Vienna to the small city of Sarajevo. However, Sarajevo has a strong sense of identity and a proud history. Today is a big day! The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Imperial throne is visiting the city. Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, as he is known, is visiting with his wife Sophie. They will be arriving at the station just before 10AM. They will be met by General Oskar Potiorek, the governor of the province. He will accompany them in an open top car cortege to the City Hall for an official reception. The cars will drive down the Appel Quay along the river and there are expected to be many crowds lining the route. The Archduke is not popular in Austria, but is keen to make a good impression on his future subjects in Sarajevo. This story will be the news of the day. How are you going to report it? Where are you going to send reporters? Whose views would you like to get? What pictures need taking? How are you going to present the story? Start planning! Your colleague has arrived in the office. He has seen that there are crowds building up outside, ready to cheer the Archduke. However, there are also reports of people complaining about the arrival of the Archduke today. The 28th June is a very important day for the Serbian people of the province. Many people think it is an outrage that the Archduke should be coming to Sarajevo on the 28th June. Many Serbs living in the province would like the province to break away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and become part of the country of Serbia. Serbia‟s independence was internationally recognised by the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Since then it has expanded its people and territory. In the last few days there have been arrests. The police say these are people who might cause trouble on the day of the visit. Many people in the city think that arresting people on such a suspicion is wrong. There will a heavy police presence during the day, but the army has not been ordered onto the streets. How are you going to reflect this aspect of the day in your story? You need to be careful not to get into trouble with the authorities, but then you are a local newspaper and you aim to fairly reflect local views. The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 1 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY Someone has just run into your office with breaking news. At about 10.15, as the Archduke‟s car was proceeding towards the city hall, a mad threw a bomb at the Archduke‟s car. The driver seems to have seen the bomb flying towards him and accelerated. The bomb exploded under the wheels of the car behind and there seem to have been casualties. Your witness is not sure how many, who they might be, or how badly they might be injured. There was a lot of screaming as members of the crowd were hit by debris. The Archduke‟s car drove on its way and great speed. The man who threw the bomb seemed to take something from a small bottle and then jumped into the river Miljacka. He was pulled out by four men and has been arrested and taken into custody. How does this change your story? What is the main item now on today’s news? Your editor is pushing you to get the story out quickly. What do you know for certain? What do you only know uncertainly? What do you want to know? Who do you want to interview? What pictures would you like? Since the last news you have been working hard. There is a rumour that the arrested man is called Nedjelko Cabrinovic. It is being said that he lived in Serbia for a while. Could he be part of the movement wanting to be part of Serbia? Was he acting alone? There is no information from the police yet. You sent a reporter to the city hall and he has just arrived back. He says that there was a crazy scene on the city hall steps. The city officials carried on with their speech as if nothing had happened. They said that everyone in Sarajevo was delighted to welcome the Archduke. The Archduke looked angry, but played his part. He read his pre-prepared response to the welcome in a sarcastic tone, as the script he was handed was spattered with blood. A strange welcome! The royal party then entered the city hall. It is now clear that two of the Archduke‟s party were seriously injured. They have been taken to the local hospital. The Archduke has insisted upon going to visit them and Sophie has insisted upon accompanying him. How does this change the emphasis of your story? What do you want to add in to your report? What can you be certain of now? What details do you still need to check out? Your editor is pushing you to release a full story. What do you feel confident to report? What are the most important details that the public should know? You barely got started on the new information and then one of your young reporters arrived out of breath having run from Franz Joseph Street. He was just about to go into Schiller‟s delicatessen, when he heard a car turn the corner. To his surprise, he recognised it as the Archduke‟s car. The car stopped, there seemed to be a discussion and he heard the crunch of reversing gears. He raised his camera to get a good picture for the paper. At that moment he heard, he thinks, two shots. Sophie slumped down and the Archduke appeared to be bleeding. He was close enough to hear the Archduke say: “Sophie dear! Don‟t die!” The gun man turned the gun on himself, but before he could shoot, he was wrestled to the ground. Your reporter thinks he has captured a good picture of that. The police have arrested him. Now your editor says that you have to get the story out quickly. What do you need to know? What are you certain of? What questions need asking? What information to you have that no one else may have? The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 2 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY News have arrived that both the Archduke and Sophie have died of their wounds. The assassin has been named as Gavrilo Princip. He is being interrogated in custody. There are many people saying that he is a member of a gang called the „Black Hand‟ who have vowed to do anything to get the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of Serbia. One witness says that Princip is reported to have links to the Serbian government. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. This is a very serious matter. What will the consequences be? Decide which are the most important parts of this whole dramatic story? Think about which parts are fact and which parts are rumour? What questions do you have? What might happen next? The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 3 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY Task 2: How did the Sarajevo assassination result in the major European powers going to war? Resource for Activity 2: Use the „Timemap of World War 1‟ and „Descent into War‟ to help you complete this worksheet. Your teacher will be able to find these on historiana.eu 5th July 1914 28th June 1914: Archduke Franz 23rd July 1914 Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo. 28th July 1914 1 August 1914 4th August 1914 3rd August 1914 2nd August 1914 5th August 1914 6th August 1914 WAR Underlying causes of World War 1. We are going to start to find out how these connect to the assassination in Sarajevo, which was the spark that led to the outbreak of war in August 1914. The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 4 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1914 in Europe in alliances power major the show to map this key and Colour The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 5 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY Task 3: What do the sources tell us about the political situation in Europe in the early 20th century? COUNTRY ENEMIES SUSPICIONS AND PROBLEMS AMBITIONS POWER RATING 1 - 5 GERMANY FRANCE AUSTRIA - HUNGARY RUSSIA BRITAIN The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 6 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY Sources for use in Activity 3 British political cartoon c. 1914 The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 7 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY German political cartoon 1914 The causation of World War 1 | Helen Snelson | Page 8 of 15 LEARNING ACTIVITY Original caption: “En Chine -- Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs” English: "China -- the cake of kings and... of emperors" (a French pun on king cake and kings and emperors wishing to "consume" China). French political cartoon from 1898. A pastry represents "Chine" (French for China) and is being divided between caricatures of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, William II of Germany (who is squabbling with Queen Victoria over a borderland piece, whilst thrusting a knife into the pie to signify aggressive German intentions), Nicholas II of Russia, who is eyeing a particular piece, the French Marianne (who is diplomatically shown as not participating in the carving, and is depicted as close to Nicholas II, as a reminder of the Franco-Russian Alliance), and a samurai representing Japan, carefully contemplating which pieces to take.