World War One Causes

The Origins & Causes of WWI

Learning Intention:

We will be learning about the reasons for the outbreak of World War 1

Success Criteria: I will be successful when I am able to:

define historical terminology and concepts
describe the alliance systems in Europe
explain the main causes of World War 1

Step 1: KWL Table

KWL = What I Know. Want to learn. What I have Learned.

In your books create a table (like the one below). You need to write down what you KNOW, what you WANT to learn, and what you have LEARNED about World War I. Add to the L section as we're working through the unit.

Note-taking Practice:

Read the 'History' resource. Focus on chapters 1-3 (Europe by 1914, The Assassination... & The road to WWI).

While reading, note down at least 5 key points in your books.

Comprehension Task: The Causes of WWI

Read through the information below and then answer the questions in FULL sentences in your books

Although it was the Assassination of the Austrian archduke, Franz Ferdinand that led to the outbreak of World War one in August 1914, the actual causes of the war were more complicated and not confined to a single cause.

Alliances

An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed. When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some countries had no option but to declare war if one of their allies declared war first.

Triple Alliance was the joining of the nations of Germany, Italy and Austro-Hungarian Empire

Triple Entente was the joining of nations Britain, France and the Russian Empire

Imperialism

Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany, who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of Africa.

The map above shows Overseas Empires of European Powers, January 1914. The colours represent the countries related to the empire. The THREE countries you should focus on are:

PINK = British

BLUE = French

DARK GREY = Germany (note that this is their old flag)

Militarism

Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high profile by the government. The growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in 1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. The German, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved attacking France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany.

Nationalism

Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's country. The Congress of Vienna, held after the Napoleonic wars, left both Germany and Italy as divided states. It was nationalism the re-unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871. France was angry because the settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian war had given Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the states in which they lived.

Crises

The Moroccan Crisis - In 1904 Morocco had been given to France by Britain, but the Moroccans wanted independence and were supported by Germany. War was avoided, but 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.

The Bosnian Crisis - In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia. This angered Serbians who felt the province should be theirs. Serbia threatened Austria-Hungary with war, Russia, allied to Serbia, mobilised its forces. Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary, mobilised its forces and prepared to threaten Russia. War was avoided when Russia backed down. In 1911 and 1912 there was war in the Balkans 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 intervened and forced Serbia to give up land. Tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary was high.

Question time! Remember to answer in FULL sentences.

What is meant by the term alliance?
List the countries that made up the Triple Entente
List the countries that made up the Triple Alliances
Why was Germany annoyed by Imperialism?
Which armies had increased in size between 1870 and 1914?
Describe the Von Schlieffen Plan.
What was the significance of the two crises in relation to the outbreak of World War I?
Which countries were bound to each other by which alliance?
How did imperialism contribute towards Germany’s increasing anger with Britain & France?
Why was nationalism an important factor?
Describe the part Germany played in increasing European militarism.

🏁Checkpoint: Take a photo of your books and submit onto the google classroom lesson.

MAIN - An acronym to remember the causes of WWI:

M = Militarism

A = Alliances

I = Imperialism

N = Nationalism

These make up the long-term causes of WWI. These formed the tensions that built-up until the event of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand... His assassination is the spark to the outbreak of the war.

Review of MAIN:

Complete these sentences in your books. You must write the full sentence, as well as filling in the blanks:
Germany wished to build up her Empire. This is known as___________. Germany also built up her armed forces - known as ______________.
Britain had both the most powerful navy in the world and the largest Empire. Copy and complete: As Britain had the most powerful navy she was worried about other countries building up their armed forces. We could call this a worry about___________________. Germany, Britain and other countries were keen to have large Empires.
Countries in Europe were very proud of themselves, and would defend their country as well as they could. This is known as ___________________.

Task: a quick closed passage

Complete the doc worksheet below.