S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.

1
Ch.1 First World War (1914-18)
A. What were the major historical developments before the First World War? (Not for exam)
1. Continuous political, socio-economic progress in Europe
In S1-2, you have studied the development of western civilization up to the 18th century. Recall the
main characteristics of different periods by completing the following matching exercise.
Period Main characteristics China

1. Ancient Greece   Empire building and rule of 1 Zhou, Warring

law period, Qin

2. Ancient Rome   Humanism, democracy, 2 Han

development of sports and
culture

3. Medieval Europe   Freedom, rationalism, 3 Sui, Tang, Song,

industrialism, globalization Yuan

4. Early Modern period   Christianity and Crusade; 4 Ming, Qing

(Renaissance, Age of growth of trade, cities and
Discovery, Industrial universities; plague
Revolution, Enlightenment)

2. Pursuit for individual and national rights (i.e. liberalism and nationalism)
Inspired by the Enlightenment thinkers, the Americans and then the French carried out revolutions to
set up a democratic government. Find out the characteristics of the two revolutions by completing the
following table.
Aim Slogan National flag Significance
American Revolution (1775-
83)
French Revolution (1789-99)

1 3 5 7
Overthrow the No taxation It made the country ‘the land of the free’ and
absolute Bourbon without inspired other peoples to fight for freedom.
dynasty and set up representatio
a republic. n
2 4 6 8
Overthrow the Liberty, It gave rise to Napoleon, who set up a big
British colonial Equality, empire in Europe and inspired other people to
rule and set up a Fraternity fight for national independence and glory.
federation. * This eventually caused World War I.
* ( ) Stars and ( ) stripes on the USA flag stand for:
Stars - _______________________________________________________________________________
Stripes - _____________________________________________________________________________
The last place to join the United States: __________________
Class discussion: Do you know why France gave the Statue of Liberty to the USA in 1886?

Further reading: The American Revolution [930] // The French Revolution [994]
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.2

Pre-lesson study
Questions:
- Causes: Which country should be mainly responsible for causing the First World War?
- Course: What were the major issues during the First World War?
- Consequences: Did the First World War bring about more good than harm?
Further reading
- History of War [909]
- The Great War: Sources and Evidence [940.3]
- Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) [A00877]
- The Road to War [A01330]

B. Which countries joined the First World War?

Referring to the map on p.28, attempt the following questions.

1. Fill in the name of the countries.

1. 6.
2. 7. Serbia
3. 8. Bulgaria
4. 9.
5. 10.

2. Referring to the 10 countries above, colour the Central Powers in RED and the Allied Powers in
YELLOW.

Class discussion: Which camp – Allied Powers or Central Powers – do you think would win the
war? Explain your answer.
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.3
C. Why did these countries join the First World War?

1. Underlying causes
In the period 1870-1914, the major European countries, Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Germany
and Italy had many conflicts, paving the way for the outbreak of the First World War.

a. Extreme nationalism (p.15-16, 20-23): Different peoples wanted to fight for independence and
believe that they were better than others. So they tried to strengthen their own nation by the
use of military force.
Countries National interest Their
enemies
France France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and lost the
(French places called_______________________. It wanted to get back the
Revenge territory and revive its national glory.
Movement)
Russia Russia wanted to unite all the Slavs in the Balkans under its
and leadership. This idea was called __________________. It therefore
Serbia supported Serbia to become stronger and to have Greater Serbia
Movement. This led to direct conflict with the idea
called_______________, because the two German speaking
countries also wanted to expand into the Balkans.
So, Pan Slav Movement clashed with Pan German Movement.

b. Colonial rivalries (p.10-11, 20): Different European powers fought for colonies in Asia and
________ because they wanted [1] to get raw materials and market for economic benefit;
and [2] to show their status and power in the name of national glory.
Country Places it wanted to get Enemies
France Morocco Germany
Tunisia

c. Alliance system (p.9-10): The European powers also tried to find allies in order to increase their
influence at international meetings or in case of wars. So when one country from one side joined
a war, all other countries in the camp would help it. A local conflict would become a general war.
Triple Alliance 1882 Triple Entente 1907 Example of their conflicts
Britain supported France to get
Morocco, so Germany was angry.
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.4
d. Armament race (p.17-19): Different countries tried to enhance their military strengths and
became stronger than others in order to get glory and colonies. All of them began to increase
their military expenditure to make their army and navy stronger than others. The arms races
increased the international tension and the powers were less likely to settle their conflicts by
_____________ means (force).
Countries Response to the challenge from their enemies Enemies
France, Military race:
Russia To increase the number of soldiers & weapons e.g.
machine guns, fighter aircrafts
Britain Naval race:
To increase the number of warships esp. dreadnoughts

The powers had made an attempt to reduce their tension by holding 2 Hague Disarmament
Conferences on the eve of WWI. Referring to the cartoon below, do you think the powers could
have disarmament successfully? Explain your answer.

THE TUG OF PEACE

The powers said to one another: After you, Sir.
************************************************************************************
What were international relations of the powers on the eve of the First World War? (Study the
cartoon on your book p.9,10,14 [Source B])
Relations Explanations with clues
p.9

p.10

p.14 Poor It is a British cartoon. Britain thought Germany was very aggressive and
relation wanted to control Europe. The man representing the German Kaiser won’t
between be happy till he gets the soap named Europe. So, Britain was upset about the
Britain and aggressive behavior of Germany.
Germany
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.5
2. Immediate cause, outbreak of World War I, Russia’s withdrawal and US’s entry
All the deep-rooted conflicts between the European powers finally led to the outbreak of the First
World War. Study p.23-35 and complete the following matching exercise to find out how the War
happened.
Event Link to World War I

1. Sarajevo   Before attacking Serbia, Austria got unconditional support

Assassination in (blank cheque) from Germany. Russia mobilized its army and
1914 declared that it would help Serbia in case of war. Germany
asked Russia to demobilize and asked France to remain
neutral, but they both refused. So Germany declared war on
them, and attacked France through Belgium. To keep its
promise to uphold the neutrality of Belgium, Britain declared
war on Germany. So the First World War broke out.

2. Outbreak of   Austria controlled Bosnia in 1908. In 1914, Archduke

World War I in Ferdinand of Austria visited Sarajevo, the capital city of
1914 Bosnia. He was assassinated by a member of the Black Hand,
a Serbian nationalist society. Austria accused Serbia of
planning the assassination and planned to attack it.

3. Italy joining the   Germany (1) started unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915,
Allies 1915 1917 and could attack American ships; (2) sank the British
liner Lusitania and killed some Americans in 1915
and (3) proposed to form an alliance with Mexico against the
US in 1917. So the US joined the war to protect itself.

4. Russia’s   The Allied Powers promised to give it land after defeating the
withdrew from Central Powers. With its support, the Allies could attack the
World War I in Central Powers on three fronts.
1917

5. US’s entry into   Russia was repeatedly defeated by Germany and people’s life
World War I in was very poor. They supported the communist revolution, set
1917 up a new government and then signed a peace treaty with
Germany.
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.6
Country

A:

B:

C:

D:

E: France

A threatening situation /The Chain of F: Britain

Friendship

Which underlying cause of WWI is the

cartoon most showing?
__________________________
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.7
3. Exercise 1 (Answer it on foolscap paper)
Source A Source B
The following is a British cartoon published in The following cartoon shows the situation of
March 1909. Europe in July 1914.

Copyright Expires
German sailor: We don’t want to fight, but, if we
do, we’ve got the ships, we’ve got THE POWER BEHIND
the men, we’ve got the money
too. Austria (at the ultimatum stage) “I don’t quite like
British sailor: I say, that’s my old song. his attitude. Somebody must be backing him.”
German sailor: Well, it’s mine now.

(a) Referring to Source A, what was the view of the cartoonist about Germany? Explain your answer
with reference to one clue from Source A. (3 marks)
(b) What was the relationship between Austria and Serbia as shown in Source B? Explain your answer
with reference to Source B. (3 marks)
(c) What are the merits and demerits of Sources A and B in explaining why the First World War broke
out in 1914? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A and B and using your knowledge.
(6 marks)
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.8
D. What were the major issues about the First World War?
1. Total war [Study p.95-98]
For the first time in history, World War I involved the whole country and its people in the war. The
scope of the war expanded to land, sea and air under advanced science and technology. Both
battlefields and home fronts became the military targets. The powers put in all resources in the war in
the hope of winning it. Men were enlisted (join the army) and women worked in the arms factories
and became nurses taking care of the wounded soldiers. Meanwhile, everyone had to be ready for air
raid and to contribute to the war by e.g. saving ______ and buying government bonds.

2. Why did the Allied Powers win and the Central Powers lose the war?
 A valid comparison needs: (i) common measurement used (ii) use of comparative adjectives
The Allies won because … The Central Powers lost because …
Resources
(more vs fewer)
Morale ( vs )
Military strength
(stronger vs )

1 They only consisted of 4 countries which meant they had limited resources available for
fighting in WWI.
2 They consisted of more than 20 countries which enabled them to have more resources to
win the war. The entry of the US in 1917 added them more manpower and resources to
sustain the war effort.
3 The invasion of Belgium and the use of unrestricted submarine warfare strengthened anti-
German feeling. They fought to defend freedom and international justice.
4 The members were mostly small countries. When one was defeated and surrendered, the
others were frightened and quickly followed suit.
5 British enjoyed naval supremacy. This enabled her to protect their territory while
blockading and weakening its enemies.
6 The Schlieffen Plan failed as Belgium put up strong resistance and Russia had fast
mobilization. They had to face a two-front war from the Eastern and the Western fronts
and their military force was diverted.

E. What were the results and impacts of the First World War?
1. Results of the War
The Central Powers were defeated in 1918. Study p.35-38 to find out about the post-war peace
arrangement in 1919.
Name of the conference:
‘Big Three’ for making all
decisions:
Principles for punishing the (1)
defeated countries:
(2)

(3)

(4) (for Germany only)

 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.9

2. Impacts of the War

Read the following essay and
( Mark in the essay: ‘introduction’ and ‘conclusion’
1
)
( Highlight the main point(s) of each paragraph
2
)

The First World War broke out in 1914. It ended with the victory of the Allied Powers over the
Central Powers in 1918. The war had more negative than positive impacts on the world in different
aspects.

The first positive impact was politically the rise of _______________. After the war, there was the
collapse of European Empires. The people formerly controlled by the empires could form their own
new states. For example, Austria-Hungary collapsed and was divided into different new nation
states including Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia. This satisfied the European nationalism [bk p.44
map].

Socially, during the war, social status of women was ____________. Since most men were away
fighting the war, women began to take up jobs traditionally reserved for men. For example, they
worked as factory workers and nurses. So, women became more independent and had more job
opportunities and political power after the war.

Diplomatically, since the First World War was destructive, an international peacekeeping
organization, ______________________, was formed after the war. The aim of the organization
was to help settle international disputes in the future so as to prevent the outbreak of another war.
This helped to promote international cooperation.

The First World War, however, also had negative impacts on the world.

Socio-economically, during the war, many powerful weapons such as tanks and airplane were used.
Many people were killed and the countries which had most ________________ were Russia and
Germany. The use of powerful weapons also caused physical destruction such as bridges and
factories. This led to the poor living and economic difficulties.

Militarily, a new warfare called the ______________ began. The long period of war and the use of
powerful weapons made everyone get involved in the war. Some joined the war as soldiers, and
some worked in factories and farms to produce military supplies, or even were attacked at home by
air raids. All of them suffered due to a lack of daily necessities and the threat of air raid.

Diplomatically, there was the change in the ___________________. During the war, Britain and
France became weaker, but the US and Japan extended their trade. This led to the decline of Europe
and the rise of the US and Japan after WWI, thus weakening the role of Europe in keeping peace.
Yet, the worst impact on the international relationship was the hostility created after the War. At the
Paris Peace Conference in 1919, France forced Germany to sign the Treaty of ________________
[bk p.47,48]. Examples of the harsh terms are war-guilt clause and disarmament. Germany found
the treaty very harsh and humiliating, and was determined to revive her national glory by revenge
[bk p.37-39] and expansion. This led to outbreak of the ___________________________.

To conclude, the First World War had some positive impacts politically, socio-economically and
diplomatically. Yet, the people suffered a lot and it finally led to the outbreak of the Second World
War, so there were more negative than positive impacts.
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.10
3. Exercise 2
Study Sources A, B and C on p.47-48 and answer the following questions.
(a) ‘The Treaty of Versailles was a harsh treaty to Germany.’ Do you agree? Explain your
answer with reference to Sources A and B. (2+2 marks)
(b) What are the strengths and weaknesses of Sources A, B and C in helping you understand
the impacts of the First World War? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A, B
and C and using your own knowledge. (Sources: 4 marks; Own knowledge: 2 marks)
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.11
Exercise 1
(a) Referring to Source A, what was the view of the cartoonist about Germany? Explain your answer
with reference to one clue from Source A. (3 marks)
(b) What was the relationship between Austria and Serbia as shown in Source B? Explain your answer
with reference to Source B. (3 marks)
(c) What are the merits and demerits of Sources A and B in explaining why the First World War broke
out in 1914? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A and B and using your knowledge.
(6 marks)

Ans:
a 1+1+1 View: The cartoonist thought Britain was bad / aggressive.
Clues: e.g. German sailor is dancing arrogantly in front of the British sailor// the caption,
“Copyright Expires” which means Britain had lost the advantage // German sailor proudly
says Germany was very strong by owning ships, men and money, even surpassing the
Britain
Explain: Germany was challenging the naval supremacy of Britain.
b 1+1+1 -Poor relationship
-Clues + Explain: The eagle is opening its wings and going to attack the cock / Caption: I
don’t quite like his attitude
-Explain: Austria dislikes Serbia
b 2+2+2  If no immediate cause, Sarajevo Assassination showing the outbreak of the War in
1914 [max 5]

A: poor relations because of naval race between Germany and Britain (the 2 men are
sailors)  tensions increased and it paved the way for the outbreak of WWI
B: Austria attacked Serbia in 1914 and Russia (bear) would support Serbia. It was a war
involving 3 countries
Own K: Immediate cause - After the Sarajevo Assassination 1914, Germany supported
Austria unconditionally and Austria got the gust to declare war on Serbia. Germany
declared war on Russia and France after they rejected German demand to demobilize and
remain neutral respectively. After German attack on France through Belgium, Britain
declared war on Germany out of violation of Belgian neutrality. Then, WWI broke out.
 S3 Hist (2022-23) Ch.1 WWI p.12
Exercise 2
Study Sources A, B and C on p.47-48 and answer the following questions.
(a) ‘The Treaty of Versailles was a harsh treaty to Germany.’ Do you agree? Explain your answer
with reference to Sources A and B. (2+2 marks)
(b) What are the strengths and weaknesses of Sources A, B and C in helping you understand the
impacts of the First World War? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A, B and C and
using your own knowledge. (Sources: 4 marks; Own knowledge: 2 marks)

Ans:
a 4  A clear stance
 One reason from EACH Source
 Treaty of Versailles was for punishing Germany ONLY
 Able to discuss the cause-and-effect relationship of Sources A, B and C

Agree: harsh Disagree: not harsh and Germany deserved it

A -Article 45 & 119: loss of mining right -Article 45, 119, 231: To weaken Germany
of the Saar and overseas colonies economically by taking away the Saar and its
overseas colonies and imposing huge
would handicap the economic and compensation, so Germany would not be strong
industrial development of Germany. enough to start another war and threaten the
-Article 159, 181, 198: reduction of others again
army size, naval power and air force -Article 159, 181, 198: Germany would not
would threaten German national defense. start another war again by weakening its
-Article 231: the acceptance of all war military powers by reducing its army, naval
responsibility (war-guilt clause) was power and air force
unfair and Germany should not be the -Article 231: To impose war-guilt clause…,
only one causing the War as the other because Germany was the first country to start
countries also played a role in it, e.g. the attack in 1914 … declare war on France
Russia: Plan Slavism clashed with Pan and Russia and attacked neutral Belgium
Germanism // Huge reparations (6.6
billion British pounds) would damage
Germany’s national economy and
decrease people’s living standard.
B -Loss of Alsace Lorraine which was an -Alsace Lorraine was originally the French
industrial city, would cause economic territory, it was reasonable for France to get it
hardship of Germany. back.
-Territorial loss to Denmark and Poland -The demilitarization of the Rhineland was
caused Germany the loss of human necessary to protect France in the future as
resources, natural resources and markets. Germany attacked France first in 1914.
It would affect German economy. -The ceding of German territories could
-The demilitarization of the Rhineland weaken Germany to prevent it from waging a
violated Germany’s sovereignty as war again.
Germany was not allowed to station
troops in its own territory.
-Germany was split into 2 by giving its
territory to Poland. Germany was
disunified.

b 4+2  A clear TS needed e.g. … shows the negative social impact …

 No positive impacts shown [max 5 marks]

Strengths(Sources): negative impacts

-The harsh Treaty of Versailles (e.g. huge reparation, loss of territories and colonies) and the
unacceptable war-guilt clause in Sources A and B caused the discontent of Germany in Source C
by saying the Treaty of 1919 was disgraceful and calling the Germans to have vengeance. It led to
the revenge of Germany which started WWII for reviving its national glory. (Own K)

Weaknesses(Own K): any 1

-Positive: rise of new nation states, increasing social status of women, creation of the League …