1. Frank and Brian absolutely loved gardening in the flowerbeds. There were only so many flowerbeds in the gardens and Frank and Brian had claimed most of them. They had claimed the best ones. When Gerald joined the retirement home he wanted to garden too. He thought it wasn’t fair that Brian and Frank should get all the flowerbeds. He argued with Frank and started to plant flowers in some of Franks best flowerbeds. Frank wasn’t pleased. The people in the retirement home were too old to fight, even if they wanted to. However it had been known in the past for them to throw food at one another if they were really annoyed. So they didn’t fist fight but they had food fights. Gerald was a proud man and knew times in the retirement home were tough. He always kept a good supply of food in case a food fight broke out. He thought Brian and Frank wanted to get him because he was new and Frank and Brian weren’t the only strong personalities around the home anymore. Frank knew that Gerald was keeping lots of food so he started to secretly build up the amount he had, he thought Gerald must want a fight. Brian also found out that Gerald was building up his food supplies, he thought Gerald must be about to start a fight, so Brian secretly built up his food supplies. Reginald, Isaac and Alfred found out that everybody was saving food in case of a fight. They thought they’d get badly beaten in a food fight unless they started saving up too. So they started saving up their own supplies. Gerald found out that Brian, Frank and Reginald were all building up their food supplies, he thought they must be getting ready to attack him all at once, because he thought they were all good friends. Gerald made an extra effort to make good friends with Isaac and Alfred, he got them all to secretly agree together that if any of them were attacked in a food fight, they’d jump to the defence of each other. Frank found out that Gerald had made friends with Isaac and Alfred. Frank thought that Gerald must be doing this so it would be easier to beat Frank in a food fight. Frank got Reginald to secretly agree that if any of them were attacked in a food fight, then they would jump to the defence of each other. Frank and Reginald had always been good friends. Brian was really prepared for food fights, he had a secret weapon: Werther’s Original. They don’t half hurt when they hit you and everyone knew he had them so nobody really fancied getting into a fight with Brian. Gerald saw that Brian had Werther’s Originals, so he started buying some of his own so he could compete with Brian if he ended up in a food fight with him. Werther’s Original were expensive but Gerald thought they were worth it. When Brian heard about Gerald having his own Werther’s Originals he was really mad and really worried. He started buying more and more, even though they were expensive for a pensioner. Brian was happy to secretly agree with Frank and Reginald to help each other if attacked. He felt threatened because he wasn’t the only one with Werther’s Originals anymore.

2. Barry and Cyril were the two weakest and most frail old people in the retirement home. They had to rely on their friends to stick up for them. Alfred and Cyril had a really comfy chair just outside their rooms. It was nearer to Cyril’s room so Cyril thought it should be his to sit in but Alfred new Cyril was a frail old man, so he took it for his own. Cyril was outraged but there wasn’t much he could do. Barry and Brian were really good friends. Barry relied heavily on Brian to look out for him because he was too weak to do much for himself. Brian really cared about Barry and swore that if anybody did anything to Barry he’d sort them out. Cyril was extremely good mates with Reginald, they had been friends since they were young. Gerald was a very organised old man. He thought that it looked like there might be a food fight and he thought he’d most likely end up fighting Frank, because it was Frank he’d annoyed the most by planting his plants in Frank’s flowerbed. So Gerald made a plan: Gerald knew that Frank would expect Gerald to attack him through his front door on the corridor, but Gerald had a better idea; he’d sneak through Barry’s room, easily shut Barry up if he complained with a simple food fight and then crash into Frank’s room through the back and take him by surprise. It did mean he’d have to get Frank first though, before Frank came out to attack him. EXTRA INFORMATION Barry and Cyril were the two weakest and most frail old people in the retirement home. They had to rely on their friends to stick up for them. Alfred and Cyril had a really comfy chair just outside their rooms. It was nearer to Cyril’s room so Cyril thought it should be his to sit in but Alfred new Cyril was a frail old man, so he took it for his own. Cyril was outraged but there wasn’t much he could do. Barry and Brian were really good friends. Barry relied heavily on Brian to look out for him because he was too weak to do much for himself. Brian really cared about Barry and swore that if anybody did anything to Barry he’d sort them out. Cyril was extremely good mates with Reginald, they had been friends since they were young. Gerald was a very organised old man. He thought that it looked like there might be a food fight and he thought he’d most likely end up fighting Frank, because it was Frank he’d annoyed the most by planting his plants in Frank’s flowerbed. So Gerald made a plan: Gerald knew that Frank would expect Gerald to attack him through his front door on the corridor, but Gerald had a better idea; he’d sneak through Barry’s room, easily shut Barry up if he complained with a simple food fight and then crash into Frank’s room through the back and take him by surprise. It did mean he’d have to get Frank first though, before Frank came out to attack him. EXTRA INFORMATION

3. Britain and France were keen empire builders. They owned countries around the world. Between them they owned some of the countries with the most resources in the world. In 1870, when Germany was formed, there was a war with France. France lost the war and had to give up two regions of the country to Germany; Alsace and Lorraine. Germany was jealous of Britain and France’s empires. Germany wanted it’s own empire but all the countries with the most wealth were already owned by France or Britain. Germany was a proud military nation and always kept a strong army. After it became a country in 1870 Germany increased its army and navy – this is in part because Germany thought France and Britain wanted to keep Germany weak. France found out about Germany secretly building up her army, France worried that if they didn’t started building up their army then Germany would beat them easily in a fight. France started building up the army. Britain found out about Germany secretly building up her navy and army, so Britain started to build up hers – especially the navy. Germany realised that France, Britain and Russia were all building up their military. This made Germany really worried because Germany felt surrounded. They thought they were about to be attacked. Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy found out about the other countries building up their militaries. They didn’t want to be the weak ones so they too started to build up their armies. Germany signed secret alliances with Austria- Hungary and Italy. The alliances said that they would come to the defence of each other if they were attacked. When France found out Germany was building up it’s army France worried that Germany would attack, so they had to build up their own army. France and Russia worried that Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary had signed a secret alliance in order to attack them. So Russia and France agreed to their own secret alliance. The alliance said they would help each other if either of them were attacked. Britain had the most powerful battleships in the world in her navy: The Dreadnoughts. These ships could destroy any other ship in a fight at sea. Germany wanted to be able to compete for an empire and to be able to defend itself if attacked so Germany decided to build its own Dreadnoughts. When Britain heard that Germany was building its own Dreadnoughts, Britain was worried and started building more of their own. Britain also signed a secret alliance with France and Russia that said if any of them were attacked then they would help each other. The Triple Alliance Germany, Italy, Austria- Hungary The Triple Entente France, Britain, Russia

4. Belgium and Serbia were the two weakest countries involved in this crisis. They couldn’t hope to win a war against any of the stronger countries. Austria-Hungary had taken control of Bosnia, which the Serbians thought should be part of their country. Serbia couldn’t hope to fight Austria-Hungary so it had to accept that they couldn’t have Bosnia. Britain had signed a treaty in 1839 that said it would defend Belgium if it was ever invaded. Russia and Serbia were full of a race of people called the Slavs. Russia and Serbia were friendly to one another and Serbia would look to Russia if it needed support. Germany had a plan in case there was a war in Europe. Germany guessed that if there was to be a war then they would have to fight France and Russia at once, and they were on either side of Germany. The plan was to march through Belgium and easily beat the Belgian army if it tried to fight back, then to invade France in an area that the French wouldn’t expect them. When the German army had beaten the French it would then get into trains and travel across Germany to attack the Russian army. EXTRA INFORMATION Belgium and Serbia were the two weakest countries involved in this crisis. They couldn’t hope to win a war against any of the stronger countries. Austria-Hungary had taken control of Bosnia, which the Serbians thought should be part of their country. Serbia couldn’t hope to fight Austria-Hungary so it had to accept that they couldn’t have Bosnia. Britain had signed a treaty in 1839 that said it would defend Belgium if it was ever invaded. Russia and Serbia were full of a race of people called the Slavs. Russia and Serbia were friendly to one another and Serbia would look to Russia if it needed support. Germany had a plan in case there was a war in Europe. Germany guessed that if there was to be a war then they would have to fight France and Russia at once, and they were on either side of Germany. The plan was to march through Belgium and easily beat the Belgian army if it tried to fight back, then to invade France in an area that the French wouldn’t expect them. When the German army had beaten the French it would then get into trains and travel across Germany to attack the Russian army. EXTRA INFORMATION