THE CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Task: Read the following passage. When you come across a passage which deals with a cause of World War 1, copy it to the appropriate section of Table 1 below. When you come across a passage that relates to a certain country, copy it to the appropriate section of Table 2.
Task: Read the following passage. When you come across a passage which deals with a cause of World War 1, copy it to the appropriate section of Table 1 below. When you come across a passage that relates to a certain country, copy it to the appropriate section of Table 2.
In 1900 the countries of Europe, together with the United States and Japan, dominated the world.
The great powers were suspicious of each other, and made alliances with each other for safety. Germany was a fairly new country; it had only existed since 1870, and its neighbours were worried that if it continued to grow it would become the greatest power in the world. The powers settled in to two groups. The Triple Alliance linked Germany, the Austrian Empire and Italy; the Triple Entente brought together Britain, France and Russia. The terms of these agreements were secret. One side could not know exactly what countries on the other side would do to support each other.
In western Europe, France had lost land (Alsace Lorraine) to Germany after a war in 1870; most Frenchmen wanted it back. In eastern Europe, the Turkish empire was falling apart. The people who lived in the Balkans (those countries of eastern Europe which had been ruled by the Turks) wanted to be independent. Russia and Austria, however, both wanted to gain power in the Balkans (and to stop the other doing so). Britain and Germany added to the tension by having a ‘naval race’. They both spent vast sums building the new superweapon, battleships called Dreadnoughts. This naval race was linked to quarrels that the powers had about their colonies – eg. Disputes over the future of Morocco led to the first and second Moroccan crisis. Germany started late in the race to gain colonies, but was trying hard to catch up.
