For what reasons do countries go to war? You have two minutes to come up with as many reasons as possible.

By the start of the 20th century, war had not occurred between any of Europe’s major countries for nearly 50 years. However, during the 19th century, a new concept swept across the continent, called nationalism. It was this new idea that would help to bring the world to war in 1914.

But what does nationalism mean? To believe that all nations in the world should join together to become one single country. To have a strong devotion to your country and a belief that your country is superior to others. To believe that all larger nations should be broken up to form smaller countries.

Keyword: Copy down in your books. Nationalism: To have a strong devotion and loyalty to your country, putting their interests first.

How did nationalism help to lead the world to war by 1914?

Learning Objectives Understand the term ‘nationalism’ (All) Be able to explain the long term causes of World War One (Most) Be able to form a judgement, based on evidence, about who which country was leading the nationalistic competition (Some)

As the 20th Century began, newly formed countries such as Germany and Italy wanted to show the rest of the Europe how strong their country was. This worried powerful countries such as Britain, France and Russia. They did not want other countries becoming a threat to their dominance. Therefore, in order to demonstrate their powers, countries around Europe decided to show off their strength in a number of ways. As countries competed with each other to signify their dominance, tensions grew and problems developed…

Three Fuses Historians have identified these tensions (fuelled by nationalism) as the long term causes of the First World War. Long term causes are like fuses – they can burn away for a long time, then suddenly, something will provide a spark causing them to explode (leading to an event happening).

What do these words mean? Alliance? Empire? Arms Race?

Task Working in pairs, you should now read through the information that explains how tensions developed between countries in Europe. Once you have read the information, you should then try to summarise the information in no more than 20 words. Remember, your summary must include an explanation as to why tensions grew between countries. If you are struggling, then you may stretch to 25. Practice in the back of your book before writing up on your sheet.

What did you include in your 20 words? As you are listening to people’s summaries – think about what they have / have not included. How can they improve their work?

Who was winning this nationalistic competition? Core: Q1 Did Britain or Germany have the strongest navy in 1914? (Push yourself: Use figures from the graph you to back up your opinion.) Harder: Q2 Why was Germany annoyed about Africa? Harder: Q3 Using the table (Alliances), who do you think was the most powerful nation? (Push yourself: Use figures from the table to support your opinion.) Hardest: Q4 Explain why an arms race causes tension. Hardest: Q5 Make a decision on which countries were winning the nationalistic competition.

Plenary – gold medal (podium) In pairs, you should come up with an explanation of the long term causes of World War One. Your explanation must contain these words: Nationalism Tension Empires Arms Race Alliances Your should pretend you are explaining this to a person who has never studied this before – it needs to be as clear as possible!

Three Fuses

1 EMPIRES In 1900, large areas of the world were controlled by European countries. The British Empire stretched right across the world. It was said that ‘the sun never set on the British Empire’. Having a large empire was seen as being very important for trade and reputation. Colonies (areas of the world that made up the empire) could bring a country great wealth from raw materials for industry, cheap food, and minerals such as gold and diamonds. The European countries ‘ could also sell goods made in their country to the empire, making even more money. The power of a country was judged by the size of its empire. Both the British and the French had big empires. In the 1870s, Germany and Italy both became united countries (before this time they were lots of smaller states). They both wanted empires of their own, and a fierce competition developed between the countries of Europe. From 1870 to 1900 there was a scramble for land in Africa, and European countries divided the continent between them. Germany became angry because it felt that other European counties had taken the best land before they had a chance to get any.

1 2 ARMS RACE To be seen to have the largest and most powerful navy in the world would truly demonstrate a country’s strength. In 1900 Britain’s navy was by far the largest in the world, but Britain was worried about the growing size of the German navy. A race to build new battleships soon developed between Britain and Germany. In 1906, Britain launched its strongest and fastest type of ship to date . . . The Dreadnought. Germany quickly started to build similar ships. Other countries too wanted to show off their military strength. By 1914, the major European Powers (Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary) were spending 300 times the amount on the military than they were spending in 1870. Numbers of Dreadnoughts built by Britain and Germany, 1906-1914

1 3 ALLIANCES Due to the growing tensions created from country’s wanting to demonstrate their strength, the large countries of Europe began to form into two alliances (two sides). Each member of the alliance promised to help the others if there was a war. Many people thought that as long as the two alliances were equal in strength they would not risk attacking each other, and so peace would be kept. However, each of the sides became more and more suspicious of each other because of the quarrels over colonies and the arms race.