The First World War 1914-1918Causes of the War.

L.O:- To be able to explain and analyse the causes of the First World War

Key Words:MilitarismImperialismAlliancesNationalism

In today’s lesson we will look at:• What lead to the start of the First World War in 1914•The countries which were involved in start of the war.

StarterWatch the following clip and make notes on thereasons given for war breaking out.

Clip:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/z7sw6sg

Feedback:-What 4 reasons did the clip give for the

outbreak of the war?Which countries were Germany in an Arms

and Naval Race with?

MilitarismKaiser Wilhelm II wanted to make Germany a

great country again, he wanted to do this by:o Improving his Navy to rival Britain’s which had

dominated the seas for over 100 years. o Strengthening his Army to rival those of Russia

and France

Why would this lead to a war?

AlliancesIn 1904, Entente Cordiale signed between

Britain and FranceThe Entente Cordiale did not however

specifically mention Britain’s involvement in military action.

In 1907, Russia joined the Entente making it a Triple Entente.

AlliancesIn 1879, Dual Alliance between Germany and

Austria-Hungary.In 1881, Italy joined the alliance which made

it a Triple Alliance.

Alliances1839: Treaty of London. Britain and Belgium

signed a treaty in which Britain agreed to guard Belgium’s neutrality if war broke out.

This meant that when Germany invaded Belgium in order to attack France, Britain had to act.

ImperialismBritain was at the helm of a great empire by

1914 with lands in Africa, Canada and India.France also owned most of West Africa and

Germany owned 2 African States. The Kaiser wanted to expand his country but

this couldn’t be done without military action.

Why would this be a problem?

NationalismNationalism:- The desire of independent

nations for dominance and prestige.This meant that countries such as Italy,

Germany and Austria-Hungary took great pride in their country and wanted to be the leading power in Europe.

28th June 1914On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was in

Sarajevo, inspecting troops. Sarajevo is part of Bosnia which was under the control

of Austria Hungary, but Serbia didn’t like that.A group of young Bosnian Serbs had planned to kill the

Archduke on the way to his royal duties. One of group tried to kill the Archduke with a bomb but

it missed.The Royal Car then went down its planned route but

the driver had not be told of the change in routeThe car then stopped to turn around when it stopped

near Gavrilo Princip, one of the Bosnian Serbs.

The AssassinationPrincip then took this opportunity to kill the

Archduke. Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were

both shot and died. The group of Bosnian Serbs were supplied

with the equipment needed to kill the Archduke by a Serbian Terrorist group called the Black Hand.

Austria Hungary blamed Serbia for the death of the heir to their throne.

Task:-In your books, explain the factors which lead to the

start of the war and explain the factor you think was most important in causing the first world war.

Be able to give some reasons for the start of the war in paragraphs (Level 4)

Be able to identify causes of the war and show links between them (level 5)

Can identify the most important cause with reasoning (Level 6)

Show analysis of the causes in you answer (Level 7)