Question
“Diplomatic crises in the period from 1905 to 1913 were the main cause of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914”. Discuss.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are required to offer a considered and balanced review of the suggestion that, collectively, the various international and diplomatic crises during the period from 1905 to 1913 were the key factor in the outbreak of war in 1914 as opposed to the alliance system or militarism. The July Crisis of 1914 is deliberately excluded from the statement as the question seeks to understand how far it was the case that the crises between 1905 and 1913 led to war.
Indicative content
• Diplomatic crises could include: the First and Second Moroccan Crises, (1905–1906 and 1911), the Bosnian Crisis (1908–1909), the Italo-Ottoman War (1911) and the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912–1913 and 1913).
• It may be argued that Russia felt humiliated after the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1908–1909), believing that it had let its ally, Serbia, down. This meant that Russia would not back down in the July 1914 crisis and mobilized in support of Serbia.
• Other ways in which candidates may agree with the statement could include the way in which the First and Second Moroccan Crises strengthened the ties between Britain and France as they worked together against Germany.
• Some candidates may dispute the statement, instead arguing that factors other than the crises of the period led to war. Example arguments could point to long-term stresses in Europe that existed prior to 1905.
• The alliance system was already largely in place before 1905, Anglo-German naval rivalry was entrenched and there was had been a lengthy period of antagonism between France and Germany.
• Although the focus of the question must be the period from 1905 to 1913, candidates may argue for the primacy of events in July 1914 and suggest that it was crucial misjudgements in this period that caused the outbreak of war.
Question
Evaluate the reasons for Allied victory in the First World War.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are required to appraise a range of factors that led to Allied victory in 1918. Responses are likely to balance the advantages that the Allies had and which facilitated victory with the problems experienced by the Central Powers that led to their request for an armistice in 1918. However, there is no prescribed response.
Indicative content
• Long-term factors, such as Allied naval power, which protected the convoys maintaining supplies and implemented the Naval Blockade that undermined the German war effort could be mentioned.
• Support from the US in terms of food, merchant ships and war loans is also a valid factor for discussion.
• Short-term factors may also be discussed. These could include the entry of the US—with their vast resources of men and materiel—into the war on the Allied side, or the effective political leadership from Lloyd George and Clemenceau.
• In terms of the weakness of the Central powers there are further long- and short-term factors. Over the long term, the initial failure of the Schlieffen Plan, which led to a two-front war for Germany, is significant as was poor political leadership. Note, for example, the decision to implement unrestricted submarine warfare, which brought the US into the war.
• Weak allies could be deemed another long-term factor as German resources were used to assist both Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria.
• In the short-term, the failure of the Ludendorff Offensive in the spring of 1918 meant that the German army retreated behind the Hindenburg Line. Very high casualties were experienced with limited reserves and this contributed to low morale. By this time Ludendorff and Hindenburg were concerned to avoid the invasion of Germany.
• In the autumn of 1918, Bulgaria (September) and Austria-Hungary and Turkey (October) were defeated.
• Political instability in Germany as a consequence of the impact of the war could also be referenced, note the food shortages in 1917 (known as the Turnip Winter), and the constant labour unrest that made revolution seem a real possibility.
• Candidates may argue that at the beginning of 1918 the war was a stalemate and that it was the short-term developments that led to Allied victory.
Question
To what extent did the Alliance System contribute to the outbreak of the First World War?
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are expected to consider how far the Alliance system was responsible for the outbreak of the First World War. Other factors may also be considered as causes of the war, be they of less, equal or more significance; however, the main focus of responses will be on the role of the Alliance System.
Indicative content
- The Alliance System should be well known to candidates: the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy of 1882, the Franco-Russian alliance of 1891 to 1894, the AngloFrench Entente Cordiale of 1904 and the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907.
- For balance, candidates could challenge the claim of the question and instead they could stress that there were other factors that were more important in the outbreak of war.
- Some candidates could argue for the importance of events in July 1914; some historians claim that this was a crisis that slipped out of control after the murder of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Candidates could point to the successful resolution of other crises, for example, Morocco in 1905 to 1906 and 1911, Bosnia in 1908 to 1909, the Balkan Wars of 1912 to 1913, which all took place after the onset of the arms race and with the alliance system already largely in place. So, perhaps it was miscalculations in July 1914 that led to war rather than the alliance system.
- Another possible line of argument would be to underline the importance of events in the Balkans; the weakening of Ottoman power, especially the Ottoman’s defeat in the First Balkan War of 1912 that led to an unstable region with competing local nationalisms.
- Candidates may also argue that it was the aggressive nature of individual countries’ foreign policies, especially those of Germany, which caused the war.
- Candidates may claim that colonial rivalries increased tension among European powers and this contributed to the outbreak of war. Consideration could also be given to the contribution of the arms race, with reference to Anglo-German Naval rivalry and the land based arms race between European powers such as Germany and Russia.
- Some candidates could, perhaps, argue that it was the interplay of different factors that led to the outbreak of war. Perhaps the Alliance System sharpened and amplified the implications of crises in the Balkans.
Question
“Economic factors determined the outcome of the First World War.” Discuss.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates must give a considered and balanced review of the argument that it was economic factors that determined the outcome of the First World War. Other factors in determining the outcome of the war, including military and diplomatic issues, could also be discussed.
Indicative content
- Economic factors may include a range of issues: governments’ creation of state agencies to control and organize the production of key raw materials and armaments, as well as the organization of labour and transport. Governments also created special taxes/war bonds or took out loans from abroad.
- In support of the statement, candidates could argue that as the war dragged on, the greater economic resources of Britain and France and their empires were bound to wear down their enemies. With the entry of the US into the war in April 1917 this disparity in economic resources grew.
- Some might argue that the economic organization of the Home Front was more successful in Britain than in Germany. For Germany, candidates could point to economic problems: growing inflation and the limited success of the War Raw Materials Office under Rathenau. Ultimately, the Hindenburg Programme was introduced in 1916; but its diversion of yet more resources into war production led to catastrophic food shortages that in turn led to growing domestic discontent by early 1917 (the Turnip Winter).
- As a balancing argument one could highlight the economic failures of Britain in the war, for example, the Shell Crisis of 1915. Nevertheless, Britain was one of the victorious powers.
- In addition, candidates could argue that it was other factors that determined the outcome of the war: Germany’s weak allies; the successful naval blockade of Germany and Austria-Hungary; Allied military victories in 1918; and German diplomatic blunders, such as the sinking of US ships and the Zimmermann Telegram.
- Candidates may argue that some factors are both economic and military in nature, for example, the naval blockades and the German U-boat campaign.