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 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 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 and the .

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 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 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 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 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. Do not add any new information to the conclusion, this should be explained in the P.E.E.L Paragraphs.

You must proof read your answer:

At the end of the essay you must look back through your essay to check your spelling, punctuation and grammar. Remember that capital cities, names and places all have capital letters at the start and always end each sentence with a full stop. You will not be marked for this, but the best historians always check to make sure that their work is error free as this makes it more enjoyable to read!

Remember:

When you explain you must say why! Using because in your sentences is a great way to ensure that you are explaining your answer not just describing your point.

Task 5: Complete a P.E.E.L Paragraph to answer this question.

Do you agree that Nationalism was the biggest causes of World War One?

______

Task 6: Complete the True or False Quiz without your book

True/ False The Triple Alliance formed in 1882 True/ False Britain had the largest Navy by 1914 True/ False The large ships were called the Bossnaughts True/ False In Austria-Hungary they had over 6 different ethnic groups True/ False Militarism triggered the chain of Alliances True/ False The assassination triggered the chain of Alliances True/ False Germany lost out in the Scramble for Africa True/ False the Triple Entente formed in 1905 True/ False Archduke Franz Ferdinand was French True/ False Britain promised to defend Italy True/ False Britain spent on its military before war True/ False France spent on its military before war True/ False Germany spent on its military before war True/ False Russia wanted to defend Serbia True/ False Countries don’t have to defend your allies True/ False Both alliances caused each other tension

Comprehension questions-

Use the revision guide and book to answer the following questions

• What was the name of Germany’s ruler, 1888-1918? • What was the title of Germany’s national anthem and what does it mean? • What is Nationalism? • What did Kaiser Wilhelm say in 1901 that he wanted for Germany? • What is imperialism? • How much of the globe did the British Empire cover in 1900? • What was Britain’s ambition in Africa? • What is militarism? • How big was the German army in 1914? • How many men (including reservists) could Germany call up if there was a war? • How many warships did Great Britain have in 1914? • Whose army was growing fastest? • Why did politicians try to build up huge armed forces and military alliances? • What was the ? • What was the Triple Alliance? • What was the Triple Entente? • Who was the ‘sick man of Europe’? • What had happened to France in 1870? • What did the German Navy Law of 1900 say? • What did people mean by ‘We want 8 and we won’t wait’? • What provoked the • How was the first Moroccan Crisis solved? • What provoked the Second Moroccan Crisis? • How was the Second Moroccan crisis solved? • What was the ? • How was the ended? • When was Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot? • What was the name of the Serbian terrorist group? • What is an Ultimatum? • When was the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia? • Which point of Austria’s ultimatum did Serbia reject and why? • What did Tsar Nicholas II think of the Austrian declaration of war? • Why was it significant that Nicholas ordered a ‘general mobilisation’? • Why did Germany declare war on France? • Why did Britain declare war on Germany? • When did Britain declare war on Germany?