1. Triple Alliance (aka Central Powers)
The Alliance system
Triple Alliance (aka Central Powers)
Made up of Germany, Austria-Hungry and Italy and was formed in 1882.
Germany pre 1914
Germany took from France an important industrial area Alsace- Lorraine. Formed alliance with Austria-Hungry
German industry had overtaken Britain’s and was second in the world only to that of the USA
Kaiser wanted an empire - Germany had two colonies in Africa but wanted more
Kaiser build a large navy – 2nd most powerful
Worried about encirclement – felt surrounded by France and Russia
Concerned about large build up of arms, especially in Russia
Austria Hungary – pre 1914
Country made up of Czechs, Germans, Slovaks and Serbs. Each group had is own customs and language. Many wanted independence from them – Serbs in Austria Hungry wanted to join Serbia.
Austria- Hungry worried about growing strength of Serbia.
Russia supported Serbia and had a strong army
Italy
Italy wanted to set up colonies and build an empire.
Italy was not a strong industrial or military power
Triple Alliance agreement – Each would support any other member if attacked.
Revision Task:
Highlight the important dates and information. Now use LOOK/COVER/WRITE/CHECK to see how much of the information you can remember. REPEAT 2 or 3 times, until you have retained the information.

2. Triple Entente Revision Task:
Made up of Britain, France and Russia and was formed in 1907.
Britain pre 1914
Stayed out of European affairs – ‘splendid isolation’. Britain had been wary of Russia and France but by 1900 it turned towards Germany. Germany wanted an empire and navy (Britain had the largest navy was worried about Germany increasing theirs)
France and Britain had reached an agreements about colonies in North Africa in 1904 (Entente Cordiale)
Russia was defeated in a war against Japan in This weakened Russia so less of a threat
France pre 1914
France had been defeated by Germany in France was worried about the growing power of Germany, so the French built up their armies and industries.
1892 – Alliance signed with Russia to help each other if attacked by Germany.
It wanted Alsace Lorraine back
Russia pre 1914
Russia the largest of all six powers but mostly agricultural.
Long rivalry and history with Austria-Hungry. Both Russians and Serbs were Slavs, as many lived in Austria-Hungry, Russia felt they should have influence over them.
Russia had lost to Japan in 1905, weakened but needed to build up an army in an emergency
Revision Task:
Create a mind map identifying what each country wanted in 1914

3. Create a causes, events and effect s flow diagram of
Morocco (1905 and 1911)
1905
The Kaiser visited Morocco in North Africa. Germany had two colonies in central and southern Africa, but they wanted more.
France wanted control over Morocco and were angry with Germany for interfering. A conference was called in Algeciras in Tensions increased – Kaiser was humiliated and alarmed by France and Britain’s close relationship.
Britain and France formed an alliance with Russia in 1907 to defend themselves against Germany. Germany saw this as a policy of encirclement, being surrounded by powerful countries.
1911
France tried to take over Morocco again. France offered Germany compensation
In response the Kaiser sent the gunboat ‘panther to Agadir. Britain saw this as them setting up a naval base. Another conference was called. Britain and France stood firm against Germany and France got control of Morocco.
Germany was given swamp land in central Africa as compensation.
In secret France and Britain agreed that the French should patrol the Mediterranean and Royal Navy should defend France’s Atlantic and North Sea coasts.
Revision task:
Create a causes, events and effect s flow diagram of
Morocco 1905
Morocco 1911
Balkans Crisis
The Balkans was a very unstable area. It had been ruled by Turkey for many years. Turkish power was in decline. Both Russia and Austria wanted control over the countries in this area because it would give them access to the Mediterranean sea.
Bosnia
Austria took over Bosnia. Russia and Serbia protested, but they both backed down when Germany made it clear that it supported Austria. Neither Russia nor Serbia was prepared to risk war with Germany over this issue.
Revision Task:
Look/cover/write and check the information
Causes
Events
Effects
Causes
Events
Effects

4. Kaiser Wilhelm’s aims in foreign policy
Anglo-German rivalry
Kaiser Wilhelm’s aims in foreign policy
Kaiser’s policy of Weltpolitik – aggressive diplomacy would lead to more colonies, supported by a large navy.
Kaiser wanted to be more powerful than Britain and hoped to dominate Russia.
Revision Task:
Summarise Kaiser’s Wilhelm’s policy in 5 words
European rearmament
Naval Rivalry
Britain felt suspicious of Germany’s desire for a navy – aggressive. Kaiser thought he needed a navy to protect its growing trade.
1906 Britain launched HMS Dreadnought. By 1914 Britain had 29 and Germany had 17
Germany : million – 1914 – 1.5 million
France: 1900 – 0.7million – 1914 – 0.9 million
Russia: 1900 – 0.5 million – 1914 – 0.8 million
Britain: 1900 – 0.6 million – 1914 – 0.5 million
Use only symbols and numbers to describe the card
War plans
Germany – Couldn’t fight a war on two fronts against Russia and France. The Germans came up with the Schlieffen plan. Under this plan they would attack quickly and defeat France within 6 weeks. Then they could turn all their forces on Russia, who they thought would take a long time to mobilise
Austria-Hungry- Knew it needed help of Germany to hold back Russia. It relied on the success of the Schlieffen Plan so that Germany could help it to defeat Russia.
Russia – Russian army was badly equipped but it was large. Russia planned to overwhelm the German army in numbers
France – Large and well-equipped. Plan 17 – French troops attack through Alsace Lorraine, forcing Germany to surrender
Britain – BEF consisted of highly trained, well equipped soldiers. They would fight alongside the French
Make a rhyme to remember this card:

5. Create three images to summarise each bullet point
Outbreak of war
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and its consequences
28th June 1914 in Sarajevo, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was visiting Sarajevo in Bosnia. Hidden among the crowd were six teenage terrorists who were apart of the black hand gang. They hated Austria-Hungry, after they had taken over of Bosnia in 1908.
The first assassination attempt was by a bomb, thrown at the archduke’s car. It did not explode properly and the archduke was uninjured.
Gavrillo Princip was able to shoot the archduke and his wife Sophie, after their car became stuck down a side road, after taking a wrong turn.
Revision Task:
Create three images to summarise each bullet point
Slav nationalism and relations between Serbia and Austria Hungary
Following the successful take over of Bosnia in 1908, Austria-Hungry had felt confident that Germany would support it in future arguments. Some historians think that this made Austria too confident and encouraged them to make trouble with Serbia.
Russia resented being faced down in It quickened its arms build-up. It was determined not to back down again. From there was a series of local wars. Serbia emerged from these as the most powerful country in the Balkans. This was very serious for Austria. Serbia had a strong army and it was a close ally of Russia.
Serbia like Russia, was mostly Slav in its nationality. The strong nationalist beliefs within Austria assumed that Slav culture was inferior. Austria believed that the hugely diverse Austrian – Hungarian Empire, containing many different languages and ethnic cultures, was destined to stay intact and dominate central and south-eastern Europe.
Austria decided that Serbia would have to be dealt with. By 1914 Austria was looking for a good excuse to crush Serbia. Some of the politicians in Austria-Hungry were determined to make an example of Serbia. This feeling was encouraged by the news that Germany promised to support Austria-Hungry.
Highlight only the most important information.
Break the information down into only 15 words: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10. 11 12 13 14 15

6. Create a timeline of the key events in July-August
July Crisis
On 23rd July Austria-Hungry sent a 10 point ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia, keen to avoid war, accepted nine of the points, but could not accept the remaining one without losing control of its justice system. Serbia even offered to refer that point to the international Court at The Hague, thinking this would certainly be sufficient to placate Austria-Hungry.
However, the Austrians, with the promise of German support, felt confident in acting against Serbia. War was declared on 28th July
This declaration of war triggered off the alliances. Russia was determined to support Serbia, and on 30th July began to mobilise against Austria-Hungry and Germany. Germany then declared war on Russia on 1st August.
At this crucial stage, only eastern Europe was involved. However, the Schlieffen Plan was responsible for it spreading to the west.
Revision Task:
Create a timeline of the key events in July-August
Schlieffen Plan
When France and Russia had signed an alliance in the 1890s, Germany became concerned about the possibility of war on two fronts- east and west. In 1905 the head of the army, von Schlieffen, decided that the best way to solve the problem was to attack the French first and defeat them within six weeks. The attack would go through neutral Belgium and Holland, rather than Alasace Lorraine. In fact, the plan was revised to only go through Belgium. Russia would take a long time to mobilise, so there would be plenty of time to move German troops to the east before the Russians could launch a major attack. The whole plan relied on the swift defeat of France.
Britain had no intention of joining the war in support of Russia against Austria-Hungry. Britain, though rivals with Germany was primarily concerned with its own security. It did not want a strong country in west Europe- and this included France and the Low Countries.
The Treaty of London, signed by all the main European powers in 1839, had declared that Belgium was a neutral country and that all the countries signing it should make sure that this was respected.
When German troops entered Belgium on 3rd August, Britain gave Germany an ultimatum – withdraw or Britain declare war. War was declared on 4th August.
Create an acrostic poem (doesn’t need to rhyme!) for the Schlieffen Plan

7. Which event(s) were most responsible for causing tension in Europe by 1914?
Increases in tension
Alliance system
Colonial rivalry (Morocco and Bosnia)
European rearmament
War plans
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Revision task:
Put the events in order from most to least important for causing tension in Europe and explain how each were responsible.

8. Who was to blame for World War One
Germany
LOOK back through the information and write down any evidence that you can find that Germany was to blame
Austria-Hungary
LOOK back through the information and write down any evidence that you can find that Austria-Hungry was to blame
Russia
LOOK back through the information and write down any evidence that you can find that Russia was to blame
Britain
LOOK back through the information and write down any evidence that you can find that Britain was to blame