- Define and explain Causes of the First World War in your own words
- Use key terms such as Alliance accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
The twentieth century opened with the deadliest wars in history and closed with the fall of the Berlin Wall. This chapter tackles the big GCSE questions: why did the First World War break out, why did peace fail, and how did ordinary people experience total war?
This lesson focuses on Causes of the First World War: alliances, arms races and the assassination that lit the fuse in 1914.
Alliances, arms races and the assassination that lit the fuse in 1914.
Key ideas
The First World War had long and short causes
Long-term causes — alliances, militarism, imperial rivalry and nationalism — built the tension over decades. The short-term trigger was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914. GCSE answers must connect the trigger to the deeper causes rather than blaming one event alone.
The peace of 1919 sowed future conflict
The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany with the 'war guilt' clause, reparations and lost territory. Many Germans felt humiliated, and economic collapse in the Depression years helped extremists like Hitler win support. Historians debate how directly Versailles caused the Second World War — but few deny it mattered.
Key term — Alliance: An agreement between countries to support each other. Rival alliance systems helped turn a Balkan crisis into a world war.
Name two long-term causes of the First World War.
Rival alliance systems and the naval arms race (also: militarism, imperial rivalry, nationalism).
Answer: Rival alliance systems and the naval arms race (also: militarism, imperial rivalry, nationalism).
- Blaming the First World War on one country or person The war had multiple interacting causes. Even the assassination only led to war because alliances and war plans turned a local crisis into a continental one.
- Listing causes without linking them GCSE examiners reward explanation: show how one cause led to another, for example how reparations plus the Depression destroyed faith in democracy in Germany.
Practice
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.
The war guilt clause blaming Germany, reparations payments, or territorial losses (any one).
Giving in to Hitler's demands, e.g. at Munich, to avoid war.
Mass unemployment discredited the Weimar government, and voters turned to extremists promising action.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "Alliance"?
What does 'total war' mean? Give one example.
- Causes of the First World War: alliances, arms races and the assassination that lit the fuse in 1914.
- The First World War had long and short causes: Long-term causes — alliances, militarism, imperial rivalry and nationalism — built the tension over decades.
- Total war: A war involving a country's whole society and economy, not just its armies — as in both world wars.
- Watch out for: blaming the First World War on one country or person