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Y218: International Relations 1890–1941

The causes and nature of the First World War: long-term causes, pre-war crises and the July Crisis

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on Balkan nationalism, imperial rivalry, militarism, the Schlieffen Plan, the alliances, the naval race, the Moroccan and Bosnian crises, the Balkan Wars, the July Crisis and the war aims of the powers.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Evaluation

What was the Anglo-German naval race and why did Britain treat it so seriously?

Who and when

What happened in the two Moroccan crises, and what did they achieve for Germany?

Key term

Trace the July Crisis from the assassination to the outbreak of general war.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did nationalism in the Balkans threaten the peace of Europe before 1914?

    Model answer

    Serbian ambition to gather the South Slavs into a single state threatened to break up Austria-Hungary, whose survival depended on holding together a dozen nationalities, so Vienna came to see Serbia as a mortal danger.

  2. 2

    In what way did imperial rivalry contribute to tension between the great powers?

    Model answer

    Competition for colonies, markets and prestige produced repeated confrontations outside Europe, and Germany's demand for a 'place in the sun' under Weltpolitik convinced Britain and France that its ambitions were unlimited.

  3. 3

    What is meant by militarism in the pre-war context?

    Model answer

    The growth of mass conscript armies, the prestige and political weight of the officer corps, and the assumption that war was a legitimate and probably necessary instrument of policy.

  4. 4

    Outline the Schlieffen Plan and the assumption on which it rested.

    Model answer

    Germany would send the bulk of its army through Belgium to defeat France within weeks, then switch by rail to the east; it assumed Russia would mobilise too slowly to matter, and because such plans depended on rigid timetables they left statesmen very little room to pause once a crisis began.

  5. 5

    Name the two alliance blocs of 1914 and their members.

    Model answer

    The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Triple Entente of France, Russia and Britain.

  6. 6

    What was the Anglo-German naval race and why did Britain treat it so seriously?

    Model answer

    Germany's Navy Laws built a battle fleet in the North Sea, and the launch of the all-big-gun Dreadnought in 1906 made earlier ships obsolete and effectively restarted the contest; since Britain depended on seaborne trade and had no large army, naval supremacy was treated as a matter of survival.

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