history paper 1 - ww1

• Britain was an industrial superpower with a large empire of 400 million people
• Britain had a relatively small army of 710,000
• Britain produced 300 million tonnes of coal rivaling France
• Russia was in a poor state with around 85% in poverty and poor harvests as a result of harsh conditions
• Russia was threatened by the rising power of Japan as they lost the Russo-Japanese War
• France had the second largest empire with colonies in Asia, Africa etc.
• France was falling behind on becoming industrial powers with 40% of their population being farmers, and losing the coal, glass and steel production areas in Alsace and Lorraine to Germany
• France only produced 40 million tonnes of coal per year
• Germany had a relatively small empire in comparison to France and Britain with only 2.5 million living in it and only an army of 2.2 million
• The working-class in Germany was extremely unhappy with their wages and working conditions, threatening rebellion against Kaiser Wilhelm
• Germany's coal production in 1910 quadrupled to producing 274 million tonnes of coal per year
• Austria-Hungary was by far the least powerful country with an extremely small army of 8,100
• Austria-Hungary had many social issues such as the Serbs in the south wanting independence
• Serbia was gaining power and was an ally of Russia
• Splendid Isolation


  A policy followed by the British where the country was independently wealthy and prosperous along with the empire
• Germany had begun plans to grow their empire (Weltpolitik), threatening Britain
• Dual Alliance signed between Germany and Austria Hungary in 1879, became Triple Alliance due to the addition of Italy in 1882
• In response to the alliances, Britain signed the Entente Cordial in 1904 with France who signed the Franco-Russian alliance in 1882
• Together, they became the Triple Entente in 1907 and Britain was no longer isolated
• The creation of alliances increased tension between countries greatly and this led to two disagreements forming over the African country of Morocco
• France wanted to colonise Morocco and Britain supported them due to the 1904 deal between them and Spain and Italy also had no objections
• Kaiser Wilhelm made a direct challenge to France's ambitions by supporting Morocco
• In 1905, the Kaiser visits Tangier and promises to support the Sultan
• The Algeciras Conference was held in 1906 to settle the disagreement over Morocco
• The conference decided that France had special rights to Morocco and the whole ordeal ended up humiliating Germany as only Austria-Hungary supported them
• France did not colonise Morocco and instead gained power in the country by gaining control of the Moroccan Police
• In 1911, French forces occupy Fez. Coincidentally, a rebellion breaks out against the Sultan, and he asks the French for help and they in turn send 20,000 soldiers to fight the rebels
• The Kaiser responds by accusing the French of invading Morocco and send a warship called the 'Panther' to the port of Agadir as a show of strength
• This warship worried the British as they had a naval base near Gibraltar, and it seemed that the Germans may be creating a naval base in Gibraltar so the British prepared for war
• As a result, many politicians had meetings. Britain and France were entirely against the Germans but now Italy as well as other countries opposed the country (the Triple Alliance was weakened so Austria-Hungary is Germany's main ally)
• The Kaiser was forced to back down and leave Agadir completely humiliated
• This meant that Germany was unlikely to back down in the future and now most of Germany, out of nationalism, supported the Kaiser and therefore war
• Due to all of this, Britain was entirely convinced that Germany was a threat to European Peace and so they began expanding their military, becoming closer to France who they had an agreement with to secretly patrol the Mediterranean Sea while the former patrolled the French coast
• Meanwhile, the Russians wanted to gain land in the Balkans for not only easier trade but also in preparation for war (so that Russian warships could get into the Mediterranean Sea)
• There was a rebellion in Turkey which Austria Hungary took advantage of, seizing control of Bosnia
• This angered Serbia, a Slav country, who had been invaded and asked for Russian support
• Russia had strong links to Serbia and called for an international conference as a result
• Even though Germany and Austria-Hungary were close allies, Kaiser did not appreciate these tactics despite their pledged support
• Russia did not want to risk war due to Germany's increasing military power
• The Balkan Crisis was significant as most Bosnians resented Austria-Hungarian rule and wanted to join Serbia, several secret societies formed in Serbia and Bosnia, aiming to rid Austria-Hungary in the Balkans and were willing to use violence