History - WW1 Unit

Question 1

What were the long term causes of WW1? (Explain each)

Answer 1

• Militarism - When a country is keen to build up its armed forces in order to intimidate others.
• Alliances - When countries group together and come to agreements with one another which are mutually beneficial.
• Imperialism - When a country wants to build up its empire and impose its power on other countries.
• Nationalism - When people love their country and believe that is superior to all other countries in the world.

Question 2

Why was there competition between different European power?

Answer 2

Countries like Germany and Britain were heavily competing for the number one spot and others were hungry for revenge or desperate to build their empire up.

Question 3

What countries were in the Triple Entente?

Answer 3

Britain, Russia and France

Question 4

What countries were in the Triple Alliance?

Answer 4

Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary

Question 5

What was the 3 short term causes for WW1 that created a domino effect?

Answer 5

28th June: The Austro Hungarian Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by the Serbian Gavrilo Princip.
28th July: The Austro Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, whom it blamed for the assassination of Duke Franz Ferdinand
29th July: Russia promised to protect Serbia against Austro-Hungarian attack and prepared its troops.

Question 6

How did people react to declaration of war in 1914?

Answer 6

They were excited because they thought that their country would win and had the idea that war was good for their country.

Question 7

What do you know about Britain’s power?

Answer 7

Britain was rich due to the industrial revolution and had a massive empire. (1/3 of the world) She needed to be sure her powerful navy could control the sea in order to protect trade and the Empire.

Question 8

What do you know about Germany’s power?

Answer 8

In 1871 she proved she had the strongest European army by defeating France. To catch up with Britain many factories and battleships were built. The king wanted Germany to have a world wide empire like Britain.

Question 9

What do you know about France’s power?

Answer 9

In 1897 she had lost a war with Germany which angered the French. She wanted revenge and to regain the land lost. She was scared of losing another war so needed strong friends. She was determined to keep her large colonies in Africa and Asia.

Question 10

What do you know about Russia’s power?

Answer 10

Russia had a large empire in Asia but wanted more influence in Europe where Germany and Austro-Hungary were powerful. The Russian people had much in common with the people living there and the Tsar thought it would make him popular if he helped them.

Question 11

What do you know about Austria-Hungary’s power?

Answer 11

It ruled over many different peoples, such as the Serbs, who wanted their own independence. They wanted to stop nationalism breaking up their large empire. They were scared that Russia might gain great influence in Europe.

Question 12

Can you in short words explain the domino effect that lead to WW1 (No need to memorize the dates)

Answer 12

• 🔫 28th June: The Austro Hungarian Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by the Serbian Gavrilo Princip.
• 🤜 28th July: The Austro Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, whom it blamed for the assassination of Duke Franz Ferdinand
• 🤝 29th July: Russia promised to protect Serbia against Austro-Hungarian attack and prepared its troops.
• 🪖 1st August: Germany heard of Russian preparations and as a result of her alliance declared war on Russia.
• ⛴️ 2nd August: Britain prepared the Royal Navy for war.
• 🗺️ 3rd August: As required by the Schlieffen Plan, Germany declared war on France.
• 💣 4th August: Hoping for a quick victory, Germany invaded Belgium. Britain and Belgium declared war on Germany.
• 💥 12th August: Britain and France declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Question 13

What was the ranking of the countries in terms of strength?

Answer 13

1- Britain
2- Germany
3- Russia
4- France
5- Austria Hungary

Question 14

What can you tell me about Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 14

• Since Germany was located in the center of Europe, they were prone to any attack.
• To tackle this threat, General Von Schlieffen created the Schlieffen Plan.
• The Schlieffen Plan stated that: Germany must invade France in under 6 weeks, the Germans must enter Belgium to then enter France and send troops east to fight Russia.
• The plan failed because of a stalemate.

Question 15

What was life like in the trenches?
(tell me a definition of a trench as well)

Answer 15

• A trench is a long, deep series of holes dug in the ground by soldiers, trenches protected the soldier.
• However, there was lots of dead bodies and mud and basically trenches were unsanitary.
• Soldiers would get ulcers on their feet, diarrhea and they were fed with cold, plain and stale food.
• They had little to no sleep and there were lots of rats too.
• Soldiers generally had no time to themselves because of constant threats of bombs.

Question 16

What can you tell me about Battle of Somme?
(use who, what, where, when, why and how)

Answer 16

• Who: Douglas Haig, ~57k British Casualties, ~12k German Casualties and ~7k French Casualties.
• What: 1 week of artillery bombardment was sent to try to destroy barbed wire that protected German trenches, there was a massive assault in the French city of Verdun.
• Where: Near the River Somme in France.
• When: July 1916 to November 1916.
• Why: This battle was fought to make the German army weaker and to try to relieve the pressure at Verdun.
• How: 1 week of artillery bombardment was sent to try to kill any German soldiers and the British had telecommunication lines dug 6 feet deep under the ground to communicate with artillery.