CAUSES OF WORLD WAR ONE: the 5 empires
THE TASK PART A: RESEARCH
There were five great Empires of old Europe, break into five groups and investigate one each.
First, your teacher will assign each group an Empire to investigate:
1. GREAT BRITAIN 2. GERMANY 3. RUSSIA 4. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 5. FRANCE
Now, you must read the information provided, examine the images and answer the following questions:
1. Who was the leader? Would people in that country have pride in their leader? Why/ why not?
2. How big was their empire? What does that tell you about its wealth and power?
3. What problems were they facing in 1914?
4. When you complete the task you must switch into EXPERT GROUPS and complete the tasks at the bottom of this page.
There were five great Empires of old Europe, break into five groups and investigate one each.
First, your teacher will assign each group an Empire to investigate:
1. GREAT BRITAIN 2. GERMANY 3. RUSSIA 4. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 5. FRANCE
Now, you must read the information provided, examine the images and answer the following questions:
1. Who was the leader? Would people in that country have pride in their leader? Why/ why not?
2. How big was their empire? What does that tell you about its wealth and power?
3. What problems were they facing in 1914?
4. When you complete the task you must switch into EXPERT GROUPS and complete the tasks at the bottom of this page.
GREAT BRITAIN - THE ISLAND EMPIRE
BACKGROUND:
Great Britain (England or United Kingdom) was just a small country at the start of the 1900's, but it was also the greatest of all the great Empires. Under the previous Queen Victoria (1837-1901) it had become the richest and and most powerful nation on earth. Through trade and conquest, England had been able to build more wealth and the world's largest Naval force. Which meant they could spread their influence (sometimes by force) all over the world. They owned colonies in Asia, Africa, North America the Middle East and Australia. |
GREAT BRITAIN'S RULER - KING GEORGE 5th
For a man who ruled most of the earth's surface, George was a shy and quiet King. He spent 15 years in the British Navy before becoming King in 1910. He was a devoted family man who was so unremarkable that one historian could only find that "his trousers were creased at the sides" rather than at the front like everyone else. Unlike most of the Kings of Europe, George had little power over his own county. Who;e he was the King, most major laws and decisions were made by the British Government. However, he ruled over an empire that took up over one quarter of the world's land surface and one quarter of its population! Despite his lack of power at home, he had huge influence over the globe. |
PROBLEMS: Britain may have called itself the 'Land of hope and Glory' however it had a number of problems at home. Unemployment was rising and ordinary workers were protesting and rioting in the streets. However the biggest problem England faced was its closest neighbour: Ireland. Most Irish people were tying break away from the British Empire and by 1914, it looked as if war was ready to erupt.
GERMANY - THE NEW EMPIRE
BACKGROUND
In 1914 Germany, as a country, was less than fifty years old. Before 1870, no such country existed as it was a collection of small states with individual rulers. However, the state of Prussia joined all of them together to make one strong and powerful country. Germany. Their new neighbour France wanted to stop this and in 1871 fought a bitter war with the new country. However Germany were victorious and even took some French land for their new nation.
In 1914 Germany, as a country, was less than fifty years old. Before 1870, no such country existed as it was a collection of small states with individual rulers. However, the state of Prussia joined all of them together to make one strong and powerful country. Germany. Their new neighbour France wanted to stop this and in 1871 fought a bitter war with the new country. However Germany were victorious and even took some French land for their new nation.
GERMANY'S RULER - KAISER WILHEM 2nd Bizarrely, Wilhelm and King George were cousins, but that was where the similarities stopped. Wihelm was strong, energetic and had a powerful personality. Despite being born with a withered and weak left arm, he could ride a horse, shoot, swim and hunt. He was naturally, very popular with his people. While he was known to be charming and friendly, in private he was often known to also become impatient.
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PROBLEMS Kaiser Wilhelm was jealous of the mighty British Empire. He decided that Germany needed to have a 'place in the sun' and should become a world superpower too. Like Britain, Germany had many problems of its own. Workers were unhappy as wages were low and food was expensive. Some anti-government groups were suggesting they rise up and overthrow Wilhelm in a revolution. He had little interest in working with these groups.
RUSSIA - THE GIANT EMPIRE
BACKGROUND
Russia was the largest country in the world, but in 1900, it was also one of the poorest. Russia had many minerals like oil, coal, steel and gold, but they did not have the technology to properly take it from the ground. It had a huge population but most of the people lived in the western half of the country, with the eastern half almost empty. Most of the land in Russia was often too cold to successfully farm food. In addition to this, most the coastline was frozen for half of the year, so sea transport was often impossible. Made up of many languages and cultural groups, Russia was a difficult place to govern, making it a very 'weak giant'. Russia was capable of huge achievements. They built the Trans Siberian Railway, linking the whole country by rail, a distance of over 10,000km. RUSSIA'S RULER - TSAR NICHOLAS 2nd Nicholas was a weak man and not very clever. He was a terrible judge of characters and made most of his decisions based on the advice of other people. The worst of these advisors was a mysterious monk named Rasputin, who was said to have mysterious powers that could heal the Tsar's sick son. Nicholas' greatest weakness was that he tried to rule Russia, a complicated and vast land, as an autocrat. This meant that he attempted to rule the whole nation by himself and rarely listened to what the people wanted. He believed that God had chosen him to rule in this way. Over time, he became very unpopular with his people and there were groups, forming in secret that were planning to overthrow his rule and install a new system of government in Russia. PROBLEMS Russia had no overseas colonies and had recently been defeated by Japan in a embarrassing attempt to extend its borders. At home, most Russians lived and worked in shocking conditions and most ordinary Russians had little reason to support Nicholas. Eight out of ten Russian peasants lived by farming a very small piece of land and if the weather or harvests were poor, many starved to death. Russia was ripe for revolution. |
AUSTRIA - HUNGARY - THE PATCHWORK EMPIRE
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As the name suggests, Austria-Hungary was a combination of two Empires. Inside a much smaller space than Russia, it had a much more diverse collection of cultural groups, languages and traditions than their neighbours. Like Russia, this made it and extremely difficult place to govern as many of the groups inside Austria-Hungary wanted independence for their people and to rule themselves. The 'patchwork' was falling apart in the 1900's.
AUSTRIA HUNGARY'S RULER EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH At 84 years old, Franz Joseph was one of the oldest rulers in Europe. A was a quiet, serious, religious man who was devoted to his job. However, his life had been a very sad one. His brother, Maximillion, the ruler of Mexico had been killed by rebel, his son had committed suicide and his own wife had been stabbed to death by an assassin. All was not well in Joseph's kingdom. While he was loved by many Austrians, his popularity with other groups within his borders - Czechs, Croatians, Romanians and in particular, Bosnians - was decreasing. PROBLEMS Like Russia, Austria-Hungary had no overseas colonies. They already had an empire that included 11 different nationalities. It was already too complicated. Most of these nationalities were beginning to hate Franz Joseph openly as he had made it illegal for these groups to speak their own languages. They were all forced to speak German, the language of Austria. Added to this was an ongoing problem with their neighbour Serbia, who were attempting to build an empire of their own and were looking for a fight. |
FRANCE - A REPUBLIC
France was different to the other four empires in that it had no king, or a royal family. They had killed them in a revolution some years earlier and replaced them with a democracy. France was twice the size of Britain and the same size as Germany. The land was the best in Europe for producing food and its people worked hard. France had an excellent system of roads and they owned many colonies around the world. However, despite all of this, France had always lagged behind Britain in wealth and its population was actually shrinking. Despite a long history of success in wars, they had suffered a very recent humiliation at the hands of their long time nemesis: Germany. In the 'Franco-Prussian' war of 1870, France had lost two valuable provinces (areas of land). The knowledge that Alsace and Lorraine were in the hands of the hated Germans infuriated the French people.
France was famous for its cultural life and it was known as the art and fashion capital of the world. People the world over admired and copied the trends of the French. FRANCE'S LEADER- RAYMOND POINCARE Poincare was a clever man, he needed to be in order to be chosen by the people of France to lead it. He was honest and outspoken and most of all, anti-German. He had grown up in the province of Lorraine. He was known to be quite short tempered and while the French respected his leadership, they grew to dislike him personally. PROBLEMS Up until that 1870 war with Germany, France was one of the most powerful in Europe and this war had damaged that reputation. While they could never have colonies or wealth that could match the English, the new German Empire had made a huge dent in their national pride. The French people had a strong desire for revenge. |
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THE TASK PART B: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Once you have collected all of the necessary information and all answered all of your questions, you must form into EXPERT GROUPS where each group has an expert on each Empire.
STEP ONE: Take turns in reading your findings to each other and note down a summary of the leader, the size and wealth and problems facing each Empire.
STEP TWO: Download this map of the world below and use a different colour to shade in the colonies, or land owned, by each empire. Be sure to include a key, indicating which country corresponds to which colour.
STEP ONE: Take turns in reading your findings to each other and note down a summary of the leader, the size and wealth and problems facing each Empire.
STEP TWO: Download this map of the world below and use a different colour to shade in the colonies, or land owned, by each empire. Be sure to include a key, indicating which country corresponds to which colour.
world_map.docx | |
File Size: | 90 kb |
File Type: | docx |
STEP THREE: As a group, examine the map and the research gathered on each empire, and answer the following questions in your exercise book
1. Who do you believe was the most popular leader, with their own people? Why?
2. Who was the most likely to be attacked or 'overthrown' by their own people? Why?
3. In the event of war, which nations do you think would work together and form 'alliances?'
4. What nation or group of nations would be the most likely to succeed in this war? Why?
1. Who do you believe was the most popular leader, with their own people? Why?
2. Who was the most likely to be attacked or 'overthrown' by their own people? Why?
3. In the event of war, which nations do you think would work together and form 'alliances?'
4. What nation or group of nations would be the most likely to succeed in this war? Why?
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