13: Europe and the First World War
For those of you who have chosen the First World War as a case study for the 20th Century Wars topic for Paper 2, there will be plenty of overlap here and you can access the materials for the First World War in the Paper 2 section of the website through this link: Case study: The First World War.
Videos for the First World War can be found here: First World War: videos and questions and quizzes here: 8. First World War: Quizzes
What does this topic cover?
Specifically you will need to cover the following in the teaching of this unit:
- Changing alliances in Europe after 1871; the impact of imperial expansion in African and Asia on European diplomacy; the Congress of Berlin and the European Alliance System
- The domestic and international factors that influenced the foreign policy of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The reaction of Britain, France, Russian and Austria Hungary to the Kaiser's actions
- The factors that caused tension in Europe before 1914 and the July crisis
- The impact of the war on the civilians of two European countries
- The reasons for the defeat of Germany
1. European diplomacy and the changing balance of power after 1871
The creation of the German Empire in 1871 caused a major shift in the European balance of power. Over the next two decades, Germany's Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, worked hard to consolidate Germany's...
2. Foreign policy of Kaiser Wilhelm II
In 1888, the young and ambitious Wilhelm II came to the throne in Germany, and Bismarck was replaced as Chancellor by Leo von Caprivi in 1890. Kaiser Wilhelm II and Caprivi took German foreign policy...
3. Developments 1905 to 1913
The years 1905 to 1913 saw tensions increasing with a series of 'crises' which helped cement the division of Europe into the two alliances of the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. In addition the...
4. The July Crisis
The crises of 1905–13 had seen a marked deterioration in international relations. There was increasing division between the two alliance systems and an increase in the general armaments race, alongside...
5. Impact of war on civilians
Paper 3 does not require you to study the details of how the First World War was fought. However, you should have an have an understanding of the chronology and key features of the war in order to understand...
6. The Defeat of Germany and the Central Powers
A range of different factors impacted on the outcome of the First World War: internal stability in the Central Powers and the role of the US as well as strategic errors on the part of the Central Powers,...
7. Europe and the First World War: Essay frames and writing exercises
This page contains ATL to improve essay writing for this topic in Paper 3 as well as specific essay frames for Paper 3 style essays.In pairs, discuss and plan the following question:
8. Europe and the First World War: Graded student essays
On this page you will find sample essays on this topic, written by students and graded by examiners. We have also suggested activities that can be done with these essays.‘German foreign policy was responsible...
9. Europe and the First World War: Quizzes
In this section you can find quizzes which can be used as a starters to a lesson or as an end of topic quiz.For the multiple-choice quiz there is also an interactive quiz version here: Interactive quizzes