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IGCSE HISTORY

0470

Digitized Notes

TERM 1
WEEK 1 and 2 NOTES:

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR 1

1. Murder at Sarajevo

Franz Ferdinand, aged 51, was heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was married to Sophie Chotek
von Chotvoka and had three children. Franz Ferdinand was, however, very unpopular because he had
made it clear that once he became Emperor he would make changes.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire by 1914, consisted of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary all controlled by
Austria. Austria had annexed (taken by force) Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, a move that was not
popular with the Bosnian people.

Franz Ferdinand decided to visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to make an inspection
of the Austro-Hungarian troops there. The inspection was scheduled for 28th June 1914. It was planned
that Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie would be met at the station and taken by car to the City Hall
where they would have lunch before going to inspect the troops.

A Serbian terrorist group, called The Black Hand, had decided that the Archduke should be assassinated
and the planned visit provided the ideal opportunity. Seven young men who had been trained in bomb
throwing and marksmanship were stationed along the route that Franz Ferdinand's car would follow
from the City Hall to the inspection.

The first two terrorists were unable to throw their grenades because the streets were too crowded and
the car was travelling quite fast. The third terrorist, a young man called Cabrinovic, threw a grenade
which exploded under the car following that of the Archduke. Although the Archduke and his wife were
unhurt, some of his attendants were injured and had to be taken to hospital.
Gavrilo

After lunch at the City Hall, Franz Ferdinand insisted on visiting the injured attendants in hospital.
However, on the way to the hospital the driver took a wrong turn. Realizing his mistake he stopped the
car and began to reverse. Another terrorist, named Gavrilo Princip, stepped forward and fired two shots.
The first hit the pregnant Sophia in the stomach, she died almost instantly. The second shot hit the
Archduke in the neck. He died a short while later. Gavrilo Princip was not executed because he was
under 20 years, but was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He died of TB in 1918.

Photo of Gavrilo Princip.

2. Alliances.

An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed.
When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been
signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that
some countries had no option but to declare war if one of their allies declared war first.
 3. Imperialism

Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule.
By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of
Africa.

The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered
the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of Africa.

France had recently been given Morocco by the British. Morocco’s bid for independence was supported
by Germany
 4. Militarism

Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high profile by the government. The
growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both
France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition
between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an
effective battleship, in 1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. The
German, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved attacking France through Belgium if
Russia made an attack on Germany.

5. Nationalism

Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's country. The Congress of
Vienna, held after the Napoleonic wars left both Germany and Italy as divided states. It was nationalism
the re-unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871. France was angry because the settlement at the
end of the Franco-Prussian war had given Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. Large areas of both Austria-
Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the
states in which they lived.
 6. Crises

The Moroccan Crisis

In 1904 Morocco had been given to France by Britain, but the Moroccans wanted independence and
were supported by Germany. War was avoided, but in 1911, the Germans were again protesting against
French possession of Morocco. Britain supported France and Germany was persuaded to back down for
part of French Congo.

The Bosnian Crisis

In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia. This angered Serbians who felt the province should be theirs.
Serbia threatened Austria-Hungary with war, Russia, allied to Serbia, mobilised its forces. Germany,
allied to Austria-Hungary mobilised its forces and prepared to threaten Russia. War was avoided when
Russia backed down. In 1911 and 1912 there was war in the Balkans when the Balkan states drove
Turkey out of the area. The states then fought each other over which area should belong to which state.
Austria-Hungary intervened and forced Serbia to give up land. Tension between Serbia and Austria-
Hungary was high.

Lesson objectives:

By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to;

• Identify countries that were involved in the Great War at the beginning.

• Watch a video of Germany at war

• Identify impacts of war on Germany

• Identify three socialist groups that were formed in Germany after the war, their aims and
methods they intended to use to achieve their aims.
The above picture shows countries that went out for war at the beginning: Serbia, Austria-Hungary,
Russia, Germany, France, Belgium and Great Britain.

On 28th July 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. Two days later Russia began the mobilization of its
armed forces despite warnings from Germany. On 1st August Germany declared war on Russia and on 3rd
August on France. The following day the Schlieffen plan was put into operation with Germany invading
Belgium. This action brought Britain into conflict with Germany.

The First World War, between two rival groups of countries, had started although tensions in Europe
had been increasing throughout the early years of the new century. As far back as 1905 General Count
Alfred Von Schlieffen had created a military plan for Germany. The war dragged on for longer than
expected and it drained most countries, mainly Germany suffered the most.
Impacts of the War on Germany

1. Lack of food- British blockade restricting entry of food into Germany.

2. Lack of gas and electricity- Coal was overused in the war.

3. A killer virus (Spanish influenza)- killed so many people.

4. Anti-war demonstrations were getting bigger.

5. Mutinies as the war took longer than expected.

6. People started feeding on turnips during winter

7. As the war continued, newspapers were not printed and people did not know what was
happening.

8. Women started taking up responsibilities of taking care of families since their men were out for
war.

• The war drained Germany of everything including the lives of their soldiers, many of them died
of Hunger, bombs. And with the joining of the United States in the war in February 1917 though
they had maintained the policy of isolation, since nineteenth century, this meant that fresh
energy was added into the Allies. President Wilson of America had unsuccessfully spent 1915
and 1917 trying to broker peace between the two sides (Triple Entente and Triple Alliance).

• Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. They sank a ship resulting into killing of
American residents and this drew America into the war. Wilson gave Kaiser Wilhelm II
conditions in order to end the war: To make Germany democratic and to create a parliament
where the president will share power with parliament. Kaiser Wilhelm II was not ready to accept
the conditions and with the mutinies going around the ports, he did not have much power so on
10th November 1918, he abdicated to Holland leaving the country in a state of confusion. On 11th
1918, Friedrich Ebert, a socialist took the position of a leader of Germany and signed/called for
an Armistice bringing the war to an end.
Socialist Groups that were formed in Germany

Many Germans were delighted that the war was over. The following three socialist groups helped to
start a revolution in 1918.

NAME OF GROUP LEADER AIM METHOD

The Social Democratic Friedrich Ebert -To improve workers’ -To support the
Party conditions government and try to
make reforms by acts of
-To give democratic
parliament.
rights to all Germans e.g
the right to vote

The Independent Hugo Hasse -To improve workers’ To oppose the

Socialists conditions government and force
it to make reforms by
-To give democratic
organizing strikes.
rights to all Germans e.g
the right to vote

The Spartacists Rosa Luxemburg and -To improve workers’ To overthrow the
Karl Liebknetcht. conditions government in a
revolution. Councils of
-To give democratic
workers or soviets
rights to all Germans
would then make
[Link] right to vote
reforms.