The Causes Of The Forst World War

Question 1

Who were the Triple Alliance?

Answer 1

Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy

Question 2

Who were the triple Entente?

Answer 2

Britain
France
Russia

Question 3

What was Germany like before WW1?

Answer 3

Before it became Germany, it was a collection of small independent states of which Prussia was the most powerful
They won a war against France and then became Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm 1st rule
Germany took from France Alsace-Lorraine and guarded it
Formed an alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary

Question 4

What were Kaiser Wilhelm 2nd’ ambitions and concerns?

Answer 4

Felt Germany should be a world power and should have overseas colonies and an empire
The kaiser ordered the building of a large navy which is the 2nd most powerful fleet after Britain
German leaders feared encirclement - the friendship between Russia and France was seen as an attempt to surround and threaten Germany
Germany was conserved by the huge build up of arms in Russia and Russia’s large army

Question 5

What ethic groups made up Austria Hungary?

Answer 5

Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs and many others

Question 6

However, how were all these different ethnic groups a problem?

Answer 6

In the north, the Czech people wanted to rule themselves
The Slav people in south-west wanted their own state
The Serbs in the south wanted to be joined to the neighbouring state of Serbia
The emperor, Franz-Jospeh was worried about keeping the empire (Austria Hungary) together

Question 7

What problems did Austria-Hungary also have with the neighbouring states?

Answer 7

It’s newly-independent neighbour Serbia was becoming a powerful force in the Balkans
Austria was anxious if the became any stronger
Russia supported the Serbs and Russia itself had a very strong army

Question 8

What was Italy like before WW1?

Answer 8

It also wanted to set up colonies and establish an overseas empire, just like Germany
Therefore, it joined a triple alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary
However, those two countries didn’t trust Italy completely
Italy wasn’t a strong industrial or military power

Question 9

What was Britain like before WW1?

Answer 9

In the nineteenth century, they had tried not to get involved in European politics
This attitude became known as ‘Splendid Isolation’
Instead, Britain focused on her huge overseas empire
For most of the 19thC Britain had regarded Russia and France as her biggest rivals however that soon changed

Question 10

Why has France and Russia no longer been Britains’ most dangerous rivals?

Answer 10

Britain and France had reached a number of agreements about colonies in North Africa in 1904
Russia was defeated in a war against Japan 1904, so Russia was weakened, so Britain were no longer concerned about Russia
Britain were most worried about Germany as the Kaiser had made it clear that he wanted to have an empire and strong navy which Britain saw as a threat to her own empire and navy

Question 11

When did Britain sign an alliance with France and Russia?

Answer 11

Signed the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904

Also signed an agreement with Russia in 1907

Question 12

What was France like before WW1?

Answer 12

They had been defeated by Germany in the Franco-Prussian war.
Since then Germany had built up a powerful army and strong industries and had an ambitious leader (Kaiser Wilhelm 2nd)
France was worried about the growing power of Germany so she also built up her industries and armies
France had developed a strong friendship with Russia
In 1892, they established a military alliance, each promising to help the other if it was attacked by Germany

Question 13

What were France’s main concerns?

Answer 13

To protect herself against an attack by Germany

To get back Alsace Lorraine which Germany had taken from France in 1870

Question 14

What was Russia like before WW1?

Answer 14

By far the largest of the six powers, but also the most backwards
Russia was almost entirely agricultural although loans from France helped Russia to develop some industries

Question 15

What were Russia’s worries?

Answer 15

Worried about the growing power of Germany
She also had a long history of rivalry with Austria-Hungary
One reason why Russia was so friendly with Serbia
Another reason was that both Russians and Serbs were Slavs but there were also a lot of Slavs in Austria Hungary
Russia felt she could have influence over them

Question 16

How had Russia been weakened?

Answer 16

They’d lost a war with Japan in 1905
Then were was an attempted revolution against the leader Tsar Nicholas 11
He survived but knew Russia could not afford to lose in any other conflict
Therefore, the Russians began to build up a large army

Question 17

What was the Anglo-German rivalry?

Answer 17

Britain saw Germany as a threat to her position as a dominant power and her state of splendid isolation
Britain had managed to avoid alliances that would of dragged her into any major wars
However, Germany’s attempt to gain extra colonies caused tension between the two countries
A threat to Britain’s power and supremacy which cause tension over trade as Germany was Britain’s main trading partner and Kaiser was King Edward 7th nephew

Question 18

What was Kaiser’s aim in world policy?

Answer 18

Pursued Weltpolitik (world policy) and was determined to play an important role on the world stage
He built up his navy to acquire ore land and power
His unstable personality (possibly caused by brain damage at birth) and his love for military, increased tensions throughout Europe
The Kaiser surrounded himself with military advisers and staged military rallies and loved to wear his military uniform and be close in military planning

Question 19

What was the Anglo-German rivalry considering navies?

Answer 19

Germany wanted a big and powerful navy which Britain saw as a threat
Germany’s army was smaller that Britain’s but the British navy spread all over the world to protect the British empire so they needed a large and powerful navy
Germany didn’t have an empire so Britain worried why he would need a large navy but the kaiser wanted a large navy to protect growing trade and that Britain were overreacting

Question 20

By 1914, how many dreadnoughts did Britain and Germany have?

Answer 20

Britain and 29 dreadnoughts

Germany had 17 dreadnoughts

Question 21

What was Germany’s army like?

Answer 21

It was not the biggest (2.2million soldiers) but it was considered the best trained and most powerful
The problem facing commanders was that if war broke out they’d have to fight France and Russia at same time so they came up with the Schlieffen Plan
This would allow them to quickly attack and defeat France and then turn their forces on Russia, who would be slow to mobilise their army

Question 22

What was Austria-Hungary’s army like?

Answer 22

1.3million soldiers

Knew she needed help of Germany to hold Russia back and relied on success of Schlieffen Plan

Question 23

What was Russia’s army like?

Answer 23

Badly equipped but huge (3.4 million)
Given enough time, Russia could put millions of soldiers into the field
Russian plan was to overwhelm Germany’s and Austrias army by how many more they soldiers they had

Question 24

What was France’s army like?

Answer 24

Had a large army (1.8million) and well equipped
Main plan of attack was ‘Plan 17’
This is where French troops would charge deep into Germany, forcing surrender

Question 25

What was Britain’s army like?

Answer 25

Her military planners had been involved in close and secret collaboration with French commanders
This led to Britain setting up the BEF (British Expeditionary Force)
This consisted of 150,000 highly traded and well-equipped professional soldiers
They could go to France and fight alongside French at short notice

Question 26

What happened at the start of the 1st Moroccan Crisis?

Answer 26

The Kaiser visited Morocco in North Africa as Germany was trying to build her own African empire since Germany already had colonies in central and Southern Africa
However, the French had plans to take control of Morocco, so the Kaiser made a speech saying he supported the independence for Morocco.
The French were furious that he was interfering in their affairs.

Question 27

What happened when the international conference was held at Algeciras in 1906?

Answer 27

Instead of cooling things down it created more tension.
The kaiser was humiliated as instead of being seen as a major power, his views were rejected.
He was treated as if he had no say on the matter which made him bitter.
He was also alarmed how Britain and France stuck together at the conference to oppose him as these old rivals seemed close.
In the wake of the crisis, the Triple entente was born and they saw their alliance as security against Germany
However, Germany saw it as a threatening policy of encirclement

Question 28

What was the Bosnian Crisis 1908-1909?

Answer 28

The Balkan region of south-east Europe had been ruled by Turkey however, Turkish power had now been in decline as the new governments that had been set up in Turkey were regularly in dispute with each other.
However, Russia and Austria Hungary both wanted the Balkan region because it gave them access to the Mediterranean.
In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over the provinces of Bosnia.
Russia and Serbia protested but backed down when Germany made it clear that Germany supported Austria Hungary
Neither Serbia or Russia were prepared to risk war with Germany over the issue so they backed down in 1909

Question 29

What was the 2nd Moroccan Crisis 1911?

Answer 29

France tried to take Morocco again and were prepared to compensate with Germany if their trade suffered.
However, the Kaiser responded by sending a gunboat to Agadir.
The British feared Germany wanted to set up a naval base in Agadir and didn’t want German ships in the Mediterranean so another conference was called.
The British and French again stood firm against Germany and France took control of Morocco and Germany was given land in central Africa as compensation
Britain and France also agreed that the French should patrol the Mediterranean and the Royal Navy should defend France’s Atlantic and North Sea coasts.

Question 30

How did Austria-Hungary’s overconfidence and trouble with Serbia/Russia backfire?

Answer 30

Serbia had just emerged from the 1912-1913 local wars in Balkans as the most powerful country in the Balkans proving they had a very strong army
This was serious for Austria-Hungary as they were also a close ally with Russia

Question 31

What happened on the 28th June 1914?

Answer 31

Archduke Frank Ferdinand (heir to Austro-Hungarian throne) began a visit to the capital of Bosnia (Sarajevo)
A group of Bosnian Serb terrorists (armed with bombs and pistols) hid in the crowds.
Around 10:45am, the chauffeur of the Archdukes’ car took a wrong turn and Gavrilo Princip shot and Killed Franz-Ferdinand and his wife Sophie
This angered Austria-Hungary and created a lot of tension between them and Serbia

Question 32

What happened on the 23 July 1914?

Answer 32

Austria-Hungary sent out a ten-point ultimatum to Serbia.
Serbia were keen to avoid war so they accepted 9/10 points but couldn’t accept the 10th as it meant losing control of their justice system
They offered to refer that point to the International Court but this didn’t please Austria-Hungary enough

Question 33

What happened on the 28th of July 1914?

Answer 33

With the promise of German support, Austria-Hungary felt confident in acting against Serbia and declared war

Question 34

What did Russia do in response?

Answer 34

Russia was determined to support Serbia and began mobilising her armies on 30th July and the declared war on Russia on 1st August

Question 35

What was the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 35

German was afraid of encirclement so they decide the best way to solve the problem was to attack France first and defeat her within 6 weeks.
The attack would go through neutral Belgium as France wouldn’t expect it.
Russia would take a while to mobilise her armies so there would be plenty of time to move German troops to the east before Russia could launch a major attack

Question 36

What was the Treaty of London?

Answer 36

Signed by all major powers in 1839 which declared that Belgium was a neutral country and that all countries signing it, respected that.
The Schlieffen Plan broke this treaty and because Belgium neutrality was important to British interested (trading) the British government took a stand

Question 37

What did Britain do after Germany entered Belgium?

Answer 37

German troops entered Belgium on 3 August 1914 so Britain gave Germany an ultimatum - withdraw or Britain would declare war
They didn’t withdraw so Britain declared war on the 4th August 1914

Question 38

What happened on 6 August ?

Answer 38

Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia

The system of alliances had failed to keep the peace in a situation that spiralled out of control