Why did Europe go to war?

Source A

Country 1900 1910 1914France 0.7 0.8 1.0Britain 0.5 0.5 0.4Russia 1.1 1.3 1.5

Austria-Hungary 0.25 0.3 0.48

Germany 0.5 0.7 0.8Italy 0.25 0.3 0.35

Size of the armies in Europe (in millions) 1900-14. The figures show the number of soldiers who could be mobilized at the time not the total in the armies.

1. Which country increased their army the most between 1900 and 1914?2. Can you think of why they may have done this?3. What happens to Britain’s army during this period?4. Can you think of a reason why this may have happened?5. Other than increasing the number of people in your army how can you increase

your numbers?6. What effect do you think this increase in numbers would have on the realtions

between the countries?

Task 1

• Look at and compare the maps showing the Balkan area of Europe

• What changes have taken place? (New countries; new boarders; break up of empires)

• Why do you think these changes might have happened?

• What might have caused them?

• http://britishbattles.homestead.com/balkans.html

The Balkans, 1900

The Balkans, 1914

Task 2Why did Bosnia cause a problem before 1914?

• Once part of the Ottoman Empire• End of the Ottoman Empire then other empires wanted to control former Ottoman

colonies• Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia• Bosnia was a Slav state• Serbia was a Slav state• Serbia wanted Bosnia, they asked Russia for help• Russia demanded a conference to discuss A-H control of Bosnia• Even though the Kaiser was not pleased with A-H acting without him he promised

them he would support A-H against Russia• Russia was too weak to fight Germany and so backed down…

HOW DO YOU THINK THIS WOULD AFFECT RELATIONS BETWEEN GERMANY AND RUSSIA IN FUTURE?

EVENT DESCRIBE – What? When? Who? Where?

EXPLAIN – Why did this lead to war?

Did the Kaiser make things worse?

Alliances

Arms & Naval Race

Moroccan Crises

Balkan Crises