Term 1 Yr 9 History revision notes

Europe before WW1

Empires The world was divided into empires not countries.

These empires were ruled by European monarchies (royal families)
The British empire was the biggest, strongest and had the best navy.
Having a strong empire meant you had immense wealth, resources and
power.
Tension among these empires and royal leaders in Europe began to
build due to various reasons which led to the outbreak of WW1.

Monarchy a state, country or empire ruled by a king or queen. Having absolute or

limited power

WW1 When: 1914 - 1918

Who: Triple Entente (France, Britain & Russia) and Triple Alliance
(Germany, Austria-Hungary & later… Italy)

Militarism A belief that a government or country should have a strong military and
use it to expand/grow

Alliances A grouping of countries created for mutual benefit

Imperialism Extending a country's power or influence through colonisation or military

force

Nationalism Support and pride in your own nation/country

Militarism
Germany builds Britain has the most powerful navy in the world
a navy In 1898, Kaiser Wilhelm II (German Empire leader Kaiser Wilhelm I)
announced his intention to improve the German navy.
He believed that in order for Germany to become a world power they
had to have a better navy than Britain

The navy The navy is a part of the armed forces that does military work at sea

German navy In 1898 & 1900: Germany passed the German Navy Laws. Which
laws ordered the building of 19 battleships then later 38 battleships
Admiral Tirpitz, German naval chief, set up the Navy League which
arranged:
Tours of shipyards
Gave lectures about the German navy
The aim was to encourage public interest in the navy and develop
patriotism

Patriotism Love for your own country

Britain’s Alarmed, the British ordered the building of the most powerful battleship
response ever built: the HMS Dreadnought

Germany’s Germany built their own version called the SMS Rheinland
response This led to a dangerous naval race
By 1914 Germany had doubled the size of its navy and was the second
biggest naval power (Britain was first)

Franco-Prussian War

The There was no country called Germany until 1871, only a collection of
Franco-Prussia small states joined by language and custom.
n War Insulted by a telegram (the Ems Dispatch) Germany sent, France
declared war on 19th July 1870
This led to the unification of the German states in order to fight against
France.
Germany's army was well equipped and dominated by Prussians. 500
000 troops marched into France on 4th August 1870. French troops
(180 000) were no match for them.
Germany won the war

The Siege of French troops retreated to the fortress of Metz.

Metz (19 They were surrounded by Germans.
August - 27 The best French troops were trapped in the Metz until the end of the
October 1870) War.

The Battle of This was an attempt to keep the Germans away from the Metz, but it
Sedan (1 failed.
September - 2 By midday of the first day the French had 17 000 casualties and 21 000
September were taken prisoner by the end of the day including the French emperor,
1870) Napoleon lll.
This should have ended the war but France deposed their emperor and
declared themselves as a republic. The war continued.
The Siege of The German commander decided the quickest way to end the war was
Paris (19 to take over Paris.
September - 28 This siege lasted 4 months.
January 1871) The city surrendered on 28 January 1871.

German gains Germany gained French territories after the war and formed the
German Empire with Kaiser Wilhelm I as the emperor. This was
announced at the Palace of Versailles in France.
The German empire upset the balance of power with the great powers
in Europe (Britain, France & Russia)
Germany was aware the great powers would be worried and initiated
The Schlieffen Plan (to mobilise their military and fight Russia & France
first) followed in 1914

The Schlieffen The Schlieffen Plan was Germany's tactical solution for avoiding a
Plan two-front war with France and Russia.

Nationalism

Balkan Once part of the Ottoman Empire, Balkan states wars and riots of
nationalism independence.
The Black Hand (a secret society started by Serbs) was established.
Their aim was to unify Serbs.

The The Black Hand assassinated them by shooting them in their car.
assassination Their death resulted in violent riots
of Franz The assassination set in motion the events that would lead to WW1.
Ferdinand

Nationalism Nationalism is an ideology that emphasises loyalty, devotion, or

allegiance to a nation

Practice Germany was a new nation, as a show of strength, it invaded France

answer and annexed some of its territories. This was an example of
nationalism. Secondly, the Balkan states sought independence and took
part in terrorism such as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in order
to gain independence for their states.
The great powers such as Britain were worried about the rise of
Germany as it would disrupt the balance of power in Europe. Their
national interest and empire was threatened.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophie was a
direct target on the Austrian-Hungarian throne and empire. Their death
resulted in violent riots and unrest in the region. The assassination set
in motion the events that would lead to WW1.
Yes, nationalism is a powerful force that can cause wars because
nationalism exemplified by Germany and the Balkan states erupted in
riots, unrest and eventually, WW1.

Triple alliance Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary.

Afraid of being Germany.

encircled by the
Triple Entente
Triple entente Britain, France and Russia.

Smallest Germany. 900,000 troops

empire

Purpose of both To assist each other if they went to war

alliances

Franz Franz Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne

Ferdinand Austria-Hungary had conquered Bosnia
Bosnia sought independence like their neighbour, Serbia
Serbians living in Bosnia form group “The Black Hand”The Bosnian
Serbs were causing a lot of problems for Austria-Hungary.

Practise long Franz Ferdinand was the heir of Emperor Franz Josef and the
answer Austrian-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary had conquered Bosnia
which had been previously independent like Serbia. The Black Hand
opposed this and used violence to gain Bosnian independence.
Therefore, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie went to Bosnia to ease
tensions.

Timeline of Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia

WW1 Russia as part of Triple Entente attack Austria-HungaryRussia declared
war on Austria-Hungary

WW1 timeline

Write down 10 FACTS you recall from the video and timeline.
Winners of WW1 also had losses (economy, manpower, resources)
Cost 5 trillion dollars in today’s monetary value (200 billion then)
Allies were funded by the UK
USA prospered through exports to Europe
WW1 began july 28, 1914
WW1 ended November 11, 1918
Triple entente (allies) spent twice as much as the Triple Alliance - they
won due to prosperous resources and funding
USA joined later
Triple alliance (Central powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy,
Turkey
 Triple entente: Russia, UK, France, then later - USA
The war lasted longer than expected - lack of resources
Treaty of Versaille - massive losses for Germany

imperialism Nationalism is an ideology that emphasizes loyalty, devotion, or

allegiance to a nation. It is also love and devotion to your country!
The Great Powers were Britain, France and Russia.
The Central Powers were the empires of Germany, Austria-Hungary
and Italy was replaced by the Ottoman Empire.
Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, triggering WW1.

Empires make The great powers were trying to keep their colonies because they
enemies provided raw materials for their industry and markets.
Colonies contributed to the wealth of the great powers therefore their
strength and importance
Great Britain, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary all had powerful
empires

German The German empire sought power too

ambitions Concerned about Britain
Concerned about encirclement
Growth of empire
They did this by creating an empire after 1871 (after winning
Franco-Prussian war)
Eventually, Germany had the third largest empire in the world
Rising tensions: Germany and Britain
GERMAN POLITICIANS THOUGHT BRITAIN WAS STOPPING THEM
FROM BECOMING A GREAT POWER
BRITISH POLITICIANS THOUGHT GERMAN AMBITIONS TO
EXPAND THEIR NAVY WAS THREATENING THE BRITISH EMPIRE

reading In the nineteenth century, international relations had been dominated by

two forces - nationalism (the belief that your state is superior to others)
and imperialism (the belief that nations had to conquer other lands and
build up an empire). The British who genuinely believed that Britannia
ruled the waves due to ruling a ⅕ of the globe. The French who too had
a new expanding empire wanted to revenge Germany who had taken
Alsace and Lorraine. Russia was also an expanding empire at the time.
Despite this the nations decided they should unite to maintain
international peace. However, the arrival of Germany onto the world
stage in 1871 destabilized international relations. The new Germany
was an economic and military superpower and it frightened the other
nations. One way they responded was by forming alliances seeking
safety whilst making defensive agreements. This meant that no one
would attack a country as their allies would attack them as well.

The British, French, German and Russian empires were expanding

during the 19th century.
Britain had the largest empire in the world, encompassing half of the
world, therefore Germany was threatened.
While nationalism increased a country’s power at home, imperialism
allowed an empire to spread through acquiring land, resources and
manpower, as well as ideology and culture (COLONISATION).
(extension) Imperialism was an important factor in triggering World War
 1 as it effectively caused a power struggle between empires, and
disrupted the balance of power.

Allies and European countries wanted to keep themselves safe from attack.
enemies To defend themselves they made alliances (friendships) with other
countries.
However… this meant that going to war with one member of an alliance
meant going to war with all of them.

How did Many believed alliances would keep people from war
alliances lead But there was growing suspicion across Europe:
to war Germany believed they were purposefully being surrounded to stop
them from becoming a great power
Britain and Germany were already in a naval race
All great powers were building up their armies
By 1914, Europe was very close to war, it only needed one spark to
cause the explosion that was WW1.
This spark came from the Balkans

Start of ww1 Many countries had made alliances with one other. They agreed to
protect each other. If one was attacked, the others would defend them.
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary, was shot and killed by a Serbian man who thought
Serbia should control Bosnia instead of Austria.
Because its leader had been shot, Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia. As a result:
Russia got involved because Russia had an alliance with Serbia.
Germany then declared war on Russia because Germany had an
alliance with Austria-Hungary.
Britain declared war on Germany because of its invasion of neutral
Belgium. Britain had agreements to protect both Belgium and France.

Alliances were Alliances can be seen as the main cause for the First World War,
the main cause because the alliance system brought in a substantial number of
of WW1 - countries from Europe into a Balkan conflict. Due to the nature of the
discuss Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, world superpowers were forced
into the conflict over the assassination of Franz Ferdinand which could
have been resolved between Serbia and Austria-Hungary.
This therefore created a world war instead of a small conflict. Not only
did alliances enhance the size of the war but the system set the sides
that would be fighting each other when war broke out. The alliance
system began creating tension between the two sides from an early
stage. Creating a defensive atmosphere and the reassurance that one
country would be supported by their alliance if they were to engage in
conflict. These reasons encouraged the fighting countries to seek
conflict rather than peaceful resolution when tensions were at their
highest.