Study Material
Class – X
Topic: - First World War
Part - I
: Is a twentieth century event
: A deadly combat in which major countries of the world were
involved.
: The war had spanned for four years from 1914 to 1918.
: The two warring groups were the Allied powers and the
Central powers.
: Allied powers had countries like Britain, France, Russia and
USA.
: Central powers mainly included Germany, Austria Hungary
and Turkey.
: Immediate Cause: -
: War, had started with the Sarajevo crisis.
: Archduke Francis Ferdinand, prince of Austria Hungary, on
a visit to Sarajevo, was killed by Gavrilo Princep, a member of
Black Hand.
: Austria held Serbia, responsible, made 11 demands.
: Serbia accepted all demands apart from those that affected
its sovereignty.
: Not satisfied, Austria attacked Serbia, which led to the start
of the war.
: Long Term Causes: -
: Aggressive Nationalism
: Aggressive nationalism meant love for one's own country
and hatred for others.
: Under its influence, countries of Europe, only wanted the
best.
: They were looking for colonies and overseas territories,
economic power and global status.
: All wanted imperialism.
: All, wanted, an increase in military powers.
: This in turn caused mutual hatred, suspicions and tensions
and led to world War one.
: Example, Germany hoped to dominate the world.
: France, wanted the return of Alsace and Lorraine.
: Serbia, wanted to create a Pan slavic empire in the Balkan
region.
: Finally, there was the unsatisfied nationalist spirit of the
Poles, Bulgarians and Austria Hungary in the Balkan region.
: Imperialism: -
: Colonies, provided raw materials, as well, as ready markets.
: To, the industrialised countries of Europe, they were very
essential.
: So, countries, followed imperialism.
: Those, with less colonies, were unhappy with those, with
more colonies.
: Example, newly industrialised countries, like Germany,
Italy and Japan, resented the large-scale colonial possessions
of Britain and France.
: Dispute over colonies, was a major cause of the war.
: Militarism: -
: Search, for economic power and global status, and
imperialism had made countries militant.
: It had started, a race of arms, so to say and the peculiar
feature of this race was that the moment, one country
increased its arms, others also felt the need to do so.
: Example, peace and balance of power was threatened by the
arms race of Britain and Germany.
: Each tried to outdo the other by building deadly battleships,
dreadnoughts or as was the case of Germany, by digging the
kiel canal.
: The arms race, was therefore an important cause of the
war.
: Alliances: -
: On the eve of the war, major countries of Europe, were a
part of some alliance or the other.
: Two such major alliances were the Triple Alliance (Germany,
Austria Hungary and Italy) and the Triple Entente (Britain,
France, Russia).
: Tension and disputes between the partners in each group,
was a major cause of the war.
: Example, Dispute between Germany and France over Alsace
Lorraine.
: Naval dispute between Germany and Britain.
Kindly go through the following links, for further reference: -
https://youtu.be/24i4ncHuf6A
https://youtu.be/JEGVcSpfM9k
Practice Questions:
: Name the five big powers of world War one.
: What was the immediate cause of the war?
: How was militant nationalism responsible for world war
one?
: How was militarism a cause of the war?
: In what ways did imperialistic tensions fuel global discord?
: What role, did alliances play, in igniting global dissent?
First World War
Part – II
: The war was brought to a close in 1918, with the defeat of
the Central Powers.
: Russia had pulled out a year before, by the treaty of Brest
Litovsk.
: USA, had joined in, after the passenger liner, Lusitania, was
sunk by a German u boat.
: Peace treaties were imposed on the defeated nations.
: One such treaty, was the treaty of Versailles.
: Treaty of Versailles: -
: Was imposed on Germany.
: Terms and conditions were decided by the victorious
powers or the big four as in Woodrow Wilson of USA,
Clemenceau of France, V. Orlando of Italy and Lloyd George
of Britain.
: Germany was held responsible for the war, and forced to
pay 33 billion dollars as reparations.
: Areas captured were returned back to the respective
countries on the basis of national self-determination.
: For example, Alsace Lorraine was given to France, N.
Schleswig to Denmark, Eupen Malmedy to Belgium.
: Huge chunk of territories was taken away, example Saar
basin was handed over to France, for the next fifteen years.
: A portion of Silesia, was given to Poland.
: The port of Danzig became a free city under the control of
the league of Nations.
: Germany had to supply free coal to France, Italy and
Belgium, for the next ten years.
: Military power was minimised.
: Army was reduced to one lakh.
: Navy to 15000 men and 34 ships.
: Tank, aircraft and submarines were banned.
: W. Rhineland was demilitarised.
: Territorial Rearrangement’s / Changes in the Political
Map of the World: -
: Autocratic monarchies of Germany, Russia and Austria
Hungary collapsed.
: Ottoman rule in Turkey came to an end.
: Austria and Hungary were separated. They became
independent states.
: Germany was forced to cede Alsace Lorraine to France,
Eupen Malmedy to Belgium and industrial areas of Silesia to
Poland.
: New states were created on the basis of nationalism
example Finland, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
: The League of Nations: -
: A peace keeping world organisation called the League of
Nations was set up in 1920.
: Aims and Objectives of the League of Nations: -
: Maintain Peace
: Prevent secret treaties, develop respect for International
Law
: Encourage mutual respect for each other ‘s independence &
peaceful settlement of disputes.
: Encourage disarmament & international co-operation in
social, economic & cultural areas.
: Protection of national minorities.
: Please go through the following links for further reference: -
https://youtu.be/0jycVFL8CNM
https://youtu.be/PkpMEkC1WcI
Practice Questions: -
: Why did USA join the First World War?
: Name the treaty by which Russia withdrew itself from the
war.
: What did France gain from the treaty of Versailles?
: Mention the territorial losses of Germany.
: How was the military power of Germany reduced?
