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History Revision Booklet Autumn Term: 'The Causes of World War One'

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History Revision Booklet Autumn Term: 'The Causes of World War One' Humanities History History Revision Booklet Autumn Term: ‘The causes of World War One’ This booklet should be used, as well as your exercise book, to revise for your upcoming assessment. This assessment will be for 45 minutes and this will be one essay question. This will require you to use knowledge you have learnt across both half terms. Also you can use BBC Bitesize, History Home and Ducksters online by typing these into google followed by WW1 for great additional information! Militarism Militarism is the belief that your country should build a large military force. This is not just an arms race, but also a government's attitude, seeing war as a valid means of foreign policy (this often includes an influence over government by the Generals.) Militarism alone did not start World War I but it created an environment where war, rather than negotiation or diplomacy, was considered the best way of resolving international disputes. All the nations of Europe were militaristic, but the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary were especially so. Examples of militarism are the Naval Race between Germany and Britain from 1906-1914 and the arms race. Alliances An alliance is an agreement between two or more countries to trade with each other and to defend each other. Countries that are in an alliance together are called allies. Examples of alliances are the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. Alliances usually contain promises that in the event of war or aggression, one country will support the other. This makes war more likely as if two countries fall out, their allies will be drawn into the conflict. Imperialism Imperialism means to expand a country’s power and influence by the use of military force. Countries are called imperial powers, as it comes from the Latin word imperium which means to rule. In the 1800’s and 1900’s the countries of Europe wanted to become imperial powers, to rule lands far away from their borders. The lands they controlled were called colonies, and these colonies together made up an empire. Colonies were important because they could take cheap natural resources from the colonies and use them to make manufactured goods. They could then sell these goods back to their colonies at a higher price. Examples of imperialism are the Scramble for Africa and the Moroccan Crisis. Nationalism Nationalism is the belief that your country/region is better than others. During the late 1800’s and 1900’s countries were starting to turn more and more nationalistic, meaning that their people and governments started to believe they were better than all other countries. These countries were very and were willing to fight for their safety. Europe had many empires within it. For example the Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed of eight separate countries, which each had separate identities and cultures. During this time lots of countries within empires wanted independence, to be free from their empires. This is because they had nationalistic ideas that they should be free to rule their own country the way they wanted to. An example of nationalism is the Balkans Crises. Assassination Sarajevo was in Bosnia, the province that - to Serbia's anger - had been annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. He was inspecting the army in Sarajevo with his wife Sophie. The royal couple arrived by train at 9.28am. Seven young Bosnian Serbs planned to assassinate Franz Ferdinand as he drove along the main road in Sarajevo, the Appel Quay. The first conspirator who tried to kill Franz Ferdinand threw a bomb at his car. He missed and was arrested. The Archduke escaped unhurt. He decided to abandon the visit and return home via a different route to the one planned. No one had told the driver the route had changed. On the way back, therefore, the driver turned into Franz Josef Street, following the published route and, when told of his error, stopped the car to turn around. Unfortunately, the car stopped in front of Gavrilo Princip, one of the conspirators, who was on his way home thinking he had failed. Princip pulled out a gun and shot at Franz Ferdinand, hitting him in the jugular vein. There was a tussle, during which Princip shot and killed Sophie. By 11.30am, Franz Ferdinand had bled to death. Causes of WW1: Crises Moroccan Crisis In 1904 Morocco had been given to France by Britain, but the Moroccans wanted their independence. In 1905, Germany announced her support for Moroccan independence. War was narrowly avoided by a conference which allowed France to retain possession of Morocco. However, in 1911, the Germans were again protesting against French possession of Morocco. Britain supported France and Germany was persuaded to back down for part of French Congo. Bosnian Crisis In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over the former Turkish province of Bosnia. This angered Serbians who felt the province should be theirs. Serbia threatened Austria-Hungary with war, Russia, allied to Serbia, and mobilized its forces. Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary mobilised its forces and prepared to threaten Russia. War was avoided when Russia backed down. There was, however, war in the Balkans between 1911 and 1912 when the Balkan states drove Turkey out of the area. The states then fought each other over which area should belong to which state. Austria-Hungary then intervened and forced Serbia to give up some of its acquisitions. Tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary was high. How the war actually started What was Austria-Hungary to do? It is important to realise that Austria hated Serbia anyway. Nationalism threatened the very existence of the 'empire', and the Austrian Chief of Staff General Hotzendorf had asked for a 'surprise' war to destroy Serbia more than 25 times in the eight years after 1906. They blamed Serbia for the death of Franz Ferdinand and wanted to make them pay for it 5 July: Austria-Hungary approached the Germans and got a promise (the so-called 'blank cheque') that they could rely on Germany's support. 23 July: The Austro-Hungarian government sent Serbia an ultimatum containing ten really tough demands. Failure to meet all of these demands, they said, would result in war. (They expected Serbia to reject the ultimatum, which would give Austria-Hungary an excuse to invade.) 25 July: But the Serb government did not reject the ultimatum. Instead it sent a reply in which it agreed to everything EXCEPT part of demand 6. It was SO conciliatory that, after reading it, Kaiser Wilhelm wrote on 28 July: 'the reply amounted to a capitulation in the humblest style, and with it there disappeared all reason for war'. 28 July: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Serbian Response to the Ultimatum, 25 July, 1914 The Serbs had wrong-footed the Austrians. Whereas, on 28 June, everyone in the world had supported the Austrians, now they looked unfair, unreasonable and war-mad. As the Austrian army shelled Belgrade (the capital of Serbia) the Serbians called up their army and asked their ally, Russia, for help. What was Russia to do? 24 July: Russia did not want war. The Russian Grand Council decided - if Serbia was invaded - not to give military support, but to appeal to a conference of the Great Powers. Even the mad Rasputin warned that a war would destroy Russia. 29 July: But the Tsar Nicholas had already let down Serbia in the Bosnian crisis of 1908. And - he told the Kaiser in a telegram - it was a matter of right and wrong (see Source C). Nicholas decided to mobilise (call up) his army. 31 July: At first, Nicholas hoped to mobilise only against Austria-Hungary, but -when his generals told him that this was impossible - he was forced to order a general mobilisation (against Germany as well as Austria-Hungary). However, he sent a telegram to the Kaiser assuring him that the mobilisation was NOT against Germany. 1 August: The Kaiser, therefore, gave the order to mobilise and Germany declared war on Russia. 3 August: claiming that French planes had bombed the German town of Nuremberg, Germany declared war on France. 4 August: with German troops on the march to invade France, the French declared war on Germany Task 1: Glossary 1. Write in the definitions to the following key words for this term. Key word Definition Militarism Alliances Imperialism Nationalism Assassination Tension Task 2: Separate the Five main causes of World War One into Long and Short term causes Long Term Short Term Task 3: Explain how each of the following causes created war/tension in Europe Militarism Alliances Imperialism Nationalism The Assassination Task 4: How to answer a GCSE style Question The question you will answer for your assessment will ask you to judge how important a cause is. Throughout the topic you have been assessing which you think the most important causes is and it will be your job to compare each of the causes against each other. You will write the assessment using an introduction, then P.E.E.L Paragraphs, then a conclusion. Introduction: Introduce your argument and what you are going to discuss. Answer the question in the first paragraph! (three sentences) P.E.E.L Paragraphs: After the introduction you will write P.E.E.L paragraphs explaining your point. Remember to have a Point, Evidence, Explanation and then Link back to the question. Conclusion: To finish your essay you will need to conclude your argument. To do this you need to make short, snappy sentences that sum up your argument.
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