World War 1 History Exam July 2021

Question 1

Long term causes of the war (8)

Answer 1

Rival Alliances 
Nationalism
Industrialization 
The arms race
Naval rivalry between britain and germany
Economic rivary
Colonial rivalry 
Collapse of ottoman empire

Question 2

Explain rival alliances

Answer 2

Triple alliance - Germany, austria-hungary, Italy (Turkey)
Triple entente - Britain, France, Russia

In the event of war countries of each alliance would form a united front against the other group

Question 3

Expain nationalism as long term cause

Answer 3

Pride and devotion to ones own country

By the end of 19th century european countries were competimg tonbe the richest most powerful and strongest european nation.
Citizens became proud of their country’s achievements and were prepared to go to war and fight for their country

Question 4

Explain industrializations as long term cause

Answer 4

During the industrial revolution, britain led the way and became very rich through manufacturing.

Germany was catching up by producing steel and iron, cars

By the beginning of the 20th century britain wasnt leading the economic race anymore and was feeling threatened that other countries were also rich and powerful

Question 5

Explain arms race as long term cause

Answer 5

Countries began to build up military power through armies, navies and airforce. A lot of weapons could be produced quickly because of the industrial revolution

Countries felt proud and powerful the stronger their army was

Question 6

Explain naval rivalry between britain and germany as lomg term cause

Answer 6

Britain is an island and so had the strongest naval power for more than a century . Their navy made it possible to protect their country and their colonies and their trade routes.
When germany started building up a strong navy as well, britain felt threatened and competition started between them

Question 7

Explain economic rivalry as long term cause

Answer 7

By 1914 germany was priducing more steel , iron and coal than Britain. Britain felt threatened because it had always been the leader

Question 8

Explain Colonial rivalry as long term cause

Answer 8

One way that countries showed their power was by conquering large numbers of colonies .
Colonies provided more raw materials and more markets.
The race between European countries to get more colonies particularly in Africa increased tensions between them

Question 9

Explain collapse of the Ottoman empire as long term cause

Answer 9

Turkey or the ottoman empire began to fall apart due to rising nationalism, different language groups and different religions in the Ottoman Empire.

Small south Eastern European countries like Serbia that were part of the ottoman empire started to break away ( this area was known as the Balkans or Balkan powerkeg)
Austria and russia competed to gain control of these countries

Question 10

Short term causes of the war

Answer 10

1. Tension in the balkans
   Serbia wanted to unite the people of the balkans and become an independent state
2. Austria/Hungary took over part of the balkans instead
3. A young student gavrilo princip assasinated archduke Franz Ferdinand in sarajevo in 1914
4. Austria blamed serbia and declared war on them
5. Russia supported serbia
6. Both sides of the alliance were drawn into taking sides and war broke out

Question 11

Name the 2 Assassins who were out to kill the archduke

Answer 11

Cabrinovic

Gavrilo Princip

Question 12

Of which country would the Archduke be the next emperor ?

Answer 12

Austria

Question 13

Which country is the city sarajevo in ?

Answer 13

Serbia

Question 14

Explain the scale of the war ( how big was it ?)

Answer 14

1. It involved 30 countries
2. Fighting happened in 3 continents: Europe, asia and africa
   And 2 oceans : atlantic and pacific
3. About 70 million men were conscripted to fight
   Casualty rates were very high - 10 million killed and 20 million wounded
4. A large number of civilians got involved especially women
5. There was a lot of propaganda used to get people involved
6. The nature of the fighting / trenches and number of weapons meant there was a lot of destruction and death
7. A lot of money was spent on the war by the countries involved especially germany, russia and britain

Question 15

Main features of trench warfare

Answer 15

1. Long trenches - row on row facing each other - 600km across northern france and belgium = western front
2. Sandbags and coils of barbed wire protected the trenches
3. No mans land in the middle
4. Healthy, wounded, dead men all stayed in trenches
5. Shelling was very noisy - emotionally and psychologically damaging
6. Deserters were tried and shot dead
7. Censorship meant they couldnt talk or write about the conditions

Question 16

Worst trench battle

Answer 16

Battle of Somme - on the first day 55,000 allied soldiers were killed wounded or missing and no land was gained

Question 17

How did life get increasingly difficult for everyone during the war (3)

Answer 17

Conscription was introduced by governments - if men refused they were jailed
Laws put in place to limit freedom ( government could take land , arrest anyone they suspected, censor news and force people to work)
Food was rationed - germany and britain tried to starve each other out of the war by sinking each other’s supply ships

Question 18

World war one weapons ( land )

Answer 18

Rifles- with bayonette to stab enemies 
Machine guns
Flamethrowers
Mortars 
Artillery ( long caliber guns) 
Poison gas ( tear, chlorine, mustard)
Tanks = land battleships ( little willie was the first )

Question 19

World war one weapons (sea)

Answer 19

102 different types of ships
Dreadnought was first designed by british as a powerful battleship
Submarines or uboats - germans were responsible for destroying half of all food and supplies of british navy

Question 20

World war one weapons (Air)

Answer 20

Triplanes
Biplanes
Zeppelins - full of gas - very combustible

Fights between planes called “ dog fights”
Planes made of wood and fabric so very fragile
Pilots who mastered the skill of shooting down enemy planes were called aces - manfred von richthogen = red baron = ace of aces

Grappling hooks
Throw grenades
Pitols
Machine guns ( most success )

Question 21

Propaganda

Answer 21

1. A form of persuasive communication which influences peoples beliefs, opinions and emotions
2. May be true or false
3. Appeals to heart and emotions - not mind and reason
4. Uses fear, exaggeration and lies to get people to support a cause

Question 22

The british used propaganda posters to persuade the british population that :

Answer 22

Germans were evil
Men had a duty to protect women and children
Men had a duty to fight for good ( british) against bad ( germans)

Question 23

What is conscription

Answer 23

Compulsory military service

Question 24

What is a conscientious objector

How were they treated

Answer 24

A person who refuses to serve in armed forces because they believe it is wrong

Conscientious objectors were seen as cowards and traitors and women were encouraged to hand out white feathers to men not in uniform

Question 25

How did women’s lives change during the war?

Answer 25

Since men were at war, women took over doing the men’s jobs 
Plumbers
Bus drivers
Gravediggers
Factory workers 
Steel workers 
Etc

Question 26

How did women’s lives change after the war?

Answer 26

1. Personal freedom - since the war had them doing mens jobs they became more empowered and had more self confidence- went out socially with female friends, smoked in public, wore trousers
2. Voting rights ( Emily Pankhurst leader ) - wanted to be able to vote- a group of ladies called suffragettes used civil disobedience to get the attention of the press and public …. Broke windows of government windows, set fires to cricket grounds, chained self to railings, hunger strikes- by 1920’s most women in europe were able to vote

Question 27

Impact of the war on south africa

Answer 27

1. South africa was a British colony and so sent troops to help fight on the british side
2. Some white afrikaans speaking people did not support the war effort because they had been on opposing sides with british white south africans during the south african war
3. The government did not want to give weapons and training to black south Africans - but despite this 80,000 black south africans volunteered in non fighting roles
4. South african soldiers fought in Africa - ( in namibia - german south west africa and Tanzania - german east africa ) and Europe ( western front)
5. Battle of delville wood most famous battle involving south african troops
6. Sinking of the mendi in the english channel - 616 black south african soldiers died

Question 28

What happened in the sinking of the mendi

Answer 28

There was a heavy fog in the english cannel
The mendi and another british ship (the SS Darro)collided
The SS Darro kept going
The Captain of the SS (Captain Stump)got his licence suspended
Soldiers on the mendi could not swim so tgey drowned

Question 29

Battle of delville wood what happened ?

Answer 29

South african troops on the western front were told to capture the wood at all costs
5 days of fierce fighting
2400 men out of 3152 were killed or wounded
A memorial has been set up for them in somme valley france

Question 30

What does SS before a ships sname stand for

Answer 30

Screw Steamer

Question 31

Where were the memorials set up to honour those sunk with the SS Mendi

Answer 31

New Bridghton in Port Elizabeth, Mowbray in Cape town

Question 32

Who was on borad the SS Mendi

Answer 32

600 South african men

Question 33

How did the men on the SS Mendi cope

Answer 33

The acted with dignity and were calm

Question 34

Trench warfare some items in the trenches

Answer 34

Periscope
Duck boards
Wooden or iron supports
Sandbags
Lee enfield rifle
Parapet 
Fire step
Dugout

Question 35

levels of trenches going back

Answer 35

Front line trench
Support trench
Concrete block house to house machine guns
Reserve trench
Long range artillery about 10km behind front line