World War I: Causes, Crises of 1908-1914 and the Paris Peace Settlement, ISC Class 11

What World War I is about

Weightage: CISCE gives no Class XI unit weightage for ISC History. World War I is topic 7 of the Class XI syllabus (World History) and can be asked anywhere in the 80-mark Paper I (Theory, 3 hours). Class XI is examined by the school, so your school sets the paper and decides how many marks each topic carries.Source: CISCE ISC History (851) syllabus, examination year 2028, Class XI

Key concepts

The alliance system

Formation
1. Dual Alliance (1879): Germany and Austria-Hungary, built by Bismarck to isolate France after 1871.
2. Triple Alliance (1882): Italy joined Germany and Austria-Hungary.
3. Franco-Russian Alliance (1894): France ended its isolation after Germany let its treaty with Russia lapse.
4. Britain left 'splendid isolation': Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902), Entente Cordiale with France (1904), which settled colonial disputes, and the Anglo-Russian Entente (1907). Together these made the Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia).

How alliances led to war

• Europe split into two armed camps; each side feared encirclement or attack.
• A local quarrel could draw in all the great powers through their promises of support.
• They encouraged risk-taking: Austria-Hungary acted against Serbia in 1914 because Germany promised full support (the 'blank cheque').
• Military plans were tied to alliance commitments, so mobilisation by one power triggered others.

Caution: alliances were defensive on paper; Italy did not join its partners in 1914 and later entered on the Entente side (1915). Alliances turned a war into a world war rather than causing it alone.

Worked example

[4] How did the alliance system contribute to the outbreak of World War I? (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Divided Europe into two hostile camps: Triple Alliance and Triple Entente - 1 mark.
2. Created fear and suspicion; Germany felt encircled - 1 mark.
3. Encouraged risk: Germany's 'blank cheque' to Austria-Hungary in July 1914 - 1 mark.
4. Turned a local Austro-Serbian quarrel into a general war through chain reactions - 1 mark.

Answer: By 1907 Europe was divided into the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, which bred fear and suspicion and made Germany feel encircled. Alliances encouraged risk-taking, as when Germany's 'blank cheque' allowed Austria-Hungary to confront Serbia in July 1914, and their commitments meant that a local Austro-Serbian quarrel quickly drew in Russia, Germany, France and Britain.

Imperialism, militarism and nationalism

Imperialism

• Rivalry for colonies, markets and raw materials in Africa and Asia; Germany, a late-comer, demanded its 'place in the sun' (Weltpolitik under Kaiser Wilhelm II).
• Moroccan crises (1905-06 and 1911): Germany challenged French influence in Morocco but each time Britain backed France, strengthening the Entente.
• Germany's Berlin-Baghdad railway project alarmed Britain and Russia.

Militarism (arms race)

• Naval race: Germany's Navy Laws (from 1898) challenged British sea power; Britain launched HMS Dreadnought (1906), and both sides raced to build dreadnought battleships.
• Huge conscript armies on the continent; military expenditure rose sharply.
• War plans such as Germany's Schlieffen Plan (to defeat France quickly through Belgium before turning on Russia) reduced the time for diplomacy.
• Generals gained influence; many believed war was inevitable and would be short.

Nationalism

• Pan-Slavism: Russia saw itself as protector of the Slav peoples of the Balkans.
• Serbian nationalism: the dream of a greater Serbia or a South Slav (Yugoslav) state threatened multinational Austria-Hungary, which ruled many Slavs.
• French revanche: France wanted to recover Alsace-Lorraine, lost to Germany in 1871.
• Aggressive patriotism in the press and schools made compromise look like weakness.

Worked example

[4] Explain how militarism made a general war more likely by 1914. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Anglo-German naval race after the German Navy Laws; Dreadnought (1906) - 1 mark.
2. Large conscript armies and rising military spending - 1 mark.
3. Rigid war plans (Schlieffen Plan) needing rapid mobilisation - 1 mark.
4. Influence of generals; belief that war was inevitable and short - 1 mark.

Answer: Germany's Navy Laws set off a naval race with Britain, intensified by the Dreadnought (1906); continental powers built huge conscript armies and spent ever more on arms; rigid war plans such as the Schlieffen Plan demanded rapid mobilisation, leaving little time for diplomacy; and generals, confident that a war would be short, gained influence over governments.

Short-term causes: crises from 1908 to 1914

1. Bosnian crisis (1908-09): Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina (October 1908), which it had administered since 1878. Serbia, which wanted the region's Slavs, was furious; Russia protested but backed down when Germany supported Austria. Russia felt humiliated and resolved not to retreat again; Serbia's hatred of Austria grew.
2. Agadir crisis (1911): Germany sent the gunboat Panther to Agadir in Morocco to challenge France. Britain warned Germany firmly; Germany accepted part of the French Congo in return for recognising French control of Morocco. The Entente drew closer and Germany felt humiliated.
3. First Balkan War (1912-13): the Balkan League (Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro) drove Turkey out of most of its European lands. At Austria's insistence the new state of Albania was created, blocking Serbia's access to the sea.
4. Second Balkan War (1913): Bulgaria fought its former allies over the spoils and lost. Serbia emerged much larger and more confident, which alarmed Austria-Hungary.
5. Sarajevo (28 June 1914): Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife were shot by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb linked to the Serbian secret society, the Black Hand.
6. The July Crisis: Germany promised Austria unconditional support (5-6 July); Austria sent Serbia a harsh ultimatum (23 July) and declared war on 28 July although Serbia accepted most terms; Russia mobilised; Germany declared war on Russia (1 August) and France (3 August) and invaded Belgium; Britain, which had guaranteed Belgian neutrality by the Treaty of London (1839), declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914.

Worked example

[4] Explain the significance of the Bosnian crisis of 1908-09 as a cause of World War I. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina (1908) - 1 mark.
2. Serbia was enraged, as it wanted the Slavs of Bosnia - 1 mark.
3. Russia backed down under German pressure and was humiliated - 1 mark.
4. Russia resolved never to retreat again; Austro-Serbian hostility deepened, leading to Sarajevo - 1 mark.

Answer: When Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, Serbia, which wanted to unite the region's Slavs with itself, was enraged. Russia, Serbia's protector, had to back down when Germany stood by Austria, and this humiliation made Russia determined not to retreat in any future crisis. Austro-Serbian hostility deepened, and Bosnia became the scene of the Sarajevo assassination in 1914.

The Paris Peace Settlement and changes in the map of Europe

The conference (from January 1919) was dominated by the 'Big Three': Woodrow Wilson (USA), David Lloyd George (Britain) and Georges Clemenceau (France); Italy's Orlando also took part. The defeated powers were not allowed to negotiate. Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) had promised self-determination and a League of Nations.

The five treaties
1. Versailles (28 June 1919) with Germany.
2. St Germain (1919) with Austria.
3. Neuilly (1919) with Bulgaria.
4. Trianon (1920) with Hungary.
5. Sevres (1920) with Turkey.

Changes in the map of Europe

• Austria-Hungary was broken up: Austria and Hungary became small separate states; Czechoslovakia was created; Yugoslavia (the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) joined Serbia with South Slav lands; Italy gained South Tyrol, Trentino and Trieste; Romania gained Transylvania from Hungary.
• Poland was re-created from German, Austrian and Russian lands, with a 'corridor' to the Baltic Sea; Danzig became a Free City under the League.
• Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France, small areas to Belgium (Eupen and Malmedy) and Denmark (North Schleswig, after a plebiscite), and West Prussia and Posen to Poland; the Saar was placed under the League for fifteen years.
• Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became independent of Russia.
• Bulgaria lost its Aegean coastline to Greece.
• Union (Anschluss) of Germany and Austria was forbidden.
• Outside Europe, German colonies and Arab lands of the Ottoman empire became mandates under Britain and France.

Worked example

[4] Explain four changes in the map of Europe made by the Paris Peace Settlement. (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Austria-Hungary broken up; Austria and Hungary small separate states - 1 mark.
2. New states: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia - 1 mark.
3. Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France and the Polish Corridor to Poland - 1 mark.
4. Baltic states and Finland independent; Romania and Italy gained territory - 1 mark.

Answer: Austria-Hungary was dismembered into small separate states of Austria and Hungary; new states, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, were created; Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France and a corridor of land to Poland; and Finland and the Baltic states became independent of Russia, while Romania gained Transylvania and Italy gained South Tyrol and Trieste.

The Treaty of Versailles: terms and critical evaluation

Main terms
1. War guilt (Article 231): Germany accepted responsibility for the loss and damage caused by the war.
2. Reparations: fixed in 1921 at 6,600 million pounds.
3. Territorial losses: Alsace-Lorraine, the Polish Corridor, other border areas and all colonies (as mandates).
4. Disarmament: army limited to 100,000 men, no conscription, no tanks, no military aircraft, no submarines, a small navy; the Rhineland demilitarised and occupied by Allied troops for fifteen years.
5. Saar coalfields to France for fifteen years; Anschluss forbidden.
6. The Covenant of the League of Nations formed part of the treaty; Germany was not at first allowed to join.

Criticisms

• A 'dictated peace' (Diktat): Germany was not allowed to negotiate.
• War guilt and reparations humiliated Germans and were economically damaging (J. M. Keynes argued this in 1919).
• Self-determination was applied selectively: Germans were placed in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and Anschluss was banned.
• Disarmament was one-sided; other powers did not disarm.
• It left grievances that Hitler exploited; some historians see it as a cause of World War II.
• The USA did not ratify it, so its main author did not stand behind it.

Defence

• It was milder than the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that Germany imposed on Russia (1918).
• Germany remained united, the largest state in central Europe, and its industry was largely intact.
• The peacemakers had to balance French security, British interests and Wilson's ideals, and public opinion demanded that Germany pay.
• Many problems after 1919 came from failures to enforce or revise the treaty, not from the treaty alone.

Worked example

[4] Give four criticisms of the Treaty of Versailles. (Evaluate)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Dictated peace; Germany excluded from negotiations - 1 mark.
2. War guilt clause and heavy reparations humiliated and burdened Germany - 1 mark.
3. Self-determination denied to Germans (Polish Corridor, Anschluss ban) - 1 mark.
4. One-sided disarmament; grievances exploited by Hitler; USA did not ratify - 1 mark.

Answer: Germany was not allowed to negotiate, so the treaty was seen as a Diktat; the war guilt clause and huge reparations humiliated Germans and strained their economy; the principle of self-determination was denied to Germans placed in Poland and forbidden to unite with Austria; and disarmament applied only to Germany, leaving grievances that Hitler later exploited, while the USA itself refused to ratify the treaty.

World War I in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Causes of World War I: Alliances, Crises and Sarajevo
• The Paris Peace Settlement and the Treaty of Versailles

World War I: key facts

Alliances

Dual Alliance 1879; Triple Alliance 1882; Franco-Russian 1894; Entente Cordiale 1904; Anglo-Russian 1907

Triple Entente completed 1907.

Arms race

German Navy Laws from 1898; HMS Dreadnought 1906

Schlieffen Plan.

Crises

Tangier 1905-06; Bosnia 1908-09; Agadir 1911; Balkan Wars 1912-13

Albania created 1913.

Outbreak

Sarajevo 28 June 1914; Austria declares war 28 July; Germany on Russia 1 August; Britain 4 August

Gavrilo Princip; blank cheque; Belgium.

Peace treaties

Versailles 28 June 1919; St Germain 1919; Neuilly 1919; Trianon 1920; Sevres 1920

Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey.

Versailles key terms

Article 231; reparations 6,600 million pounds (1921); army 100,000

Rhineland demilitarised; Saar to League 15 years.

How the school exam asks World War I

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember World War I

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Long-term causes: 'MAIN'

  Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism.

  Use it when: All four long-term causes.

• Crises: 'Bosnia - Agadir - Balkans - Bullet'

  1908, 1911, 1912-13, 1914.

  Use it when: Short-term causes in order.

• Treaties: 'Very Sad Nations Take Sorrow'

  Versailles, St Germain, Neuilly, Trianon, Sevres.

  Use it when: Five treaties with Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey.

World War I: exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section D style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In a school exam set on the board pattern this is a 8-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in World War I

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Listing MAIN without explaining how each raised tension

  A name is not an explanation.

  ✓Do this: For each cause: what it was, an example, and how it made war likelier.

  Usually costs: 2-4 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong treaty-country pairs

  Five similar foreign names.

  Wrong working

  Treaty of Trianon with Bulgaria.

  Right working

  Trianon - Hungary; Neuilly - Bulgaria.

  ✓Do this: 'Very Sad Nations Take Sorrow' in order G-A-B-H-T.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Writing only terms when 'critical evaluation' is asked

  Evaluation needs arguments and a judgement.

  ✓Do this: Terms briefly; criticisms; defence; verdict.

  Usually costs: 3-4 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Starting short-term causes in 1914

  The syllabus defines short-term causes as events from 1908 to 1914.

  ✓Do this: Begin with Bosnia (1908).

  Usually costs: 2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Saying Italy fought with Germany

  Italy was in the Triple Alliance but stayed neutral in 1914 and joined the Allies in 1915.

  ✓Do this: Mention the switch when discussing alliances.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

Practice questions on World War I

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo?

   Hint

   A Bosnian Serb.

   Answer

   Gavrilo Princip (28 June 1914).

2. Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Which powers formed the Triple Alliance of 1882?

   Hint

   Three central European powers.

   Answer

   Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   Which article of the Treaty of Versailles is called the war guilt clause?
   (a) Article 10
   (b) Article 16
   (c) Article 231
   (d) Article 300

   Hint

   A three-digit number.

   Answer

   (c) Article 231.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Very short answerHarder exam level

   Which German gunboat was sent to Agadir in 1911?

   Hint

   An animal.

   Answer

   The Panther.

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Explain why Britain gave up 'splendid isolation' and joined the Entente.

   Hint

   Navy, empire, Germany.

   Answer

   (1) Germany's naval building threatened British supremacy at sea. (2) German Weltpolitik and the Berlin-Baghdad railway threatened British imperial interests. (3) Britain settled colonial disputes with France (1904) and Russia (1907) to remove old rivalries. (4) Isolation seemed dangerous once Europe was divided into armed blocs; the Japanese alliance (1902) secured the Far East.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Trace the steps by which the Sarajevo assassination led to a general war.

   Hint

   Blank cheque to Belgium.

   Answer

   (1) Germany gave Austria the blank cheque (early July 1914). (2) Austria sent an ultimatum (23 July) and declared war on Serbia (28 July). (3) Russia mobilised in support of Serbia; Germany declared war on Russia (1 August) and France (3 August). (4) Germany invaded Belgium under the Schlieffen Plan, and Britain declared war (4 August).

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] How did the Paris Peace Settlement apply, and fail to apply, self-determination?

   Hint

   New states; minorities.

   Answer

   (1) Applied: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the Baltic states were created for their nationalities. (2) Plebiscites were held in some areas (Schleswig, Upper Silesia). (3) Not applied: Germans in the Sudetenland and the Polish Corridor came under foreign rule, and Anschluss was banned. (4) New states had large minorities (Germans and Hungarians in Czechoslovakia), creating future disputes.

8. Q8 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] Why did Italy feel cheated by the peace settlement?

   Hint

   Promises of 1915.

   Answer

   (1) Italy had joined the Allies in 1915 on promises of territory. (2) It gained South Tyrol, Trentino and Trieste. (3) But it did not get Dalmatia or Fiume, or a share of German colonies. (4) Nationalists called it a 'mutilated victory', and this resentment helped Mussolini's rise.

9. Q9 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] 'The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh to conciliate and too weak to restrain Germany.' Discuss.

   Hint

   Humiliation yet survival.

   Answer

   (1) Too harsh: war guilt, reparations and territorial losses humiliated Germans and created a lasting desire for revenge. (2) Too weak: Germany remained united, populous and industrially strong. (3) Enforcement depended on France and Britain, who disagreed, and the USA withdrew. (4) So it angered Germany without permanently weakening it, which proved the worst combination.

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHarder exam level

    [8] (a) Explain the events from 1908 to 1913 that increased tension in Europe. [4]
    (b) Describe the changes in the map of Europe made by the peace treaties of 1919-20. [4]

    Hint

    (a) Bosnia, Agadir, two Balkan Wars; (b) four changes.

    Answer

    (a) (1) Bosnian crisis (1908-09): annexation by Austria; Russia humiliated; Serbia angered. (2) Agadir crisis (1911): Britain backed France; Entente strengthened; Germany humiliated. (3) First Balkan War (1912-13): Turkey expelled; Albania created to block Serbia. (4) Second Balkan War (1913): Serbia enlarged; Austria alarmed. (b) (1) Austria-Hungary broken into Austria and Hungary. (2) Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia created. (3) Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine, the Polish Corridor and border areas; Danzig a Free City. (4) Finland and the Baltic states independent; Romania and Italy gained land.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.When was the Entente Cordiale signed?Show answer

   1904 (Britain and France).

2. 2.What was the Schlieffen Plan?Show answer

   Germany's plan to defeat France quickly through Belgium before turning on Russia.

3. 3.Which state was created in 1913 to block Serbia's access to the sea?Show answer

   Albania.

4. 4.Who were the Big Three at Paris?Show answer

   Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau.

5. 5.What was the limit on the German army?Show answer

   100,000 men, with no conscription.

6. 6.What happened to Danzig?Show answer

   It became a Free City under the League of Nations.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Alliances: 1879, 1882, 1894, 1904, 1907; two armed camps.
• ☐Imperialism: Weltpolitik; Moroccan crises 1905-06 and 1911; Berlin-Baghdad railway.
• ☐Militarism: Navy Laws, Dreadnought 1906, conscription, Schlieffen Plan.
• ☐Nationalism: Pan-Slavism, Serbia, Alsace-Lorraine, jingoism.
• ☐1908 Bosnia; 1911 Agadir; 1912-13 Balkan Wars; 28 June 1914 Sarajevo; 4 August Britain at war.
• ☐Treaties: Versailles, St Germain, Neuilly, Trianon, Sevres; new states Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia.
• ☐Versailles: Article 231, reparations, territory, 100,000 army, Rhineland; criticisms and defence.

World War I: frequently asked questions