World War I: Causes and Peace Settlements
FoundationWorld War I (1914–1918) grew from long-term causes — the alliance system, the arms race, economic imperialism and extreme nationalism — ignited by the Sarajevo assassination; the 1919 Treaty of Versailles punished Germany with war guilt, reparations and land losses, sowing seeds of new conflict.
- Four long-term causes: the alliance system, the arms race, economic imperialism and extreme nationalism
- The Sarajevo incident of 28 June 1914 was the short-term trigger, widened into war by the alliance chain reaction
- The Treaty of Versailles (1919) had four sets of terms: war guilt, reparations, territorial losses and disarmament
文體小知識：歷史敘事說明文——按時序講述第一次世界大戰的長遠成因、薩拉熱窩導火線與戰後和約，訓練以史實支持論點的敘述與分析能力。
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1In the late nineteenth century the European powers sought security through alliances: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance in 1882, while France, Russia and Britain came together as the Triple Entente by 1907. With two rival blocs in place, any local conflict risked escalating into a general war. At the same time the powers competed to expand their armies and navies, and the Anglo-German dreadnought race was especially intense, deepening mutual suspicion and leaving the peace of Europe increasingly fragile.
2Economically, the industrialised powers competed for raw materials, markets and colonies. Unified late, Germany held far fewer colonies than Britain or France and repeatedly challenged the existing order diplomatically, the Moroccan crises being clear examples. Extreme nationalism also spread across Europe: tensions between the peoples of the Balkans and Austria-Hungary were particularly acute, and Serbia's nationalist expansionism was seen in Vienna as a serious threat. These long-term causes interwove to turn Europe into a powder keg.
3On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo — the spark of the war. Backed by Germany, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia and declared war; the members of the two blocs mobilised one after another, and Russia, Germany, France and Britain entered the war in turn. Within weeks a regional crisis had become a European war, showing how the alliance system magnified a local conflict into a general one.
4The war then ran for four years, mainly in Europe. Trench deadlock on the Western Front brought stalemate, and battles such as Verdun and the Somme cost terrible casualties. In 1917 Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare drew the United States into the war, while Russia withdrew after revolution broke out. When Germany signed the armistice in November 1918, some ten million soldiers lay dead; Europe's economic and political order urgently needed rebuilding, and the victors set about arranging the peace.
5At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 the victors imposed the Treaty of Versailles on Germany: Article 231 placed war guilt on Germany and her allies, which had to pay heavy reparations, cede territory, surrender colonies and accept strict disarmament. US President Wilson put forward his Fourteen Points and proposed the League of Nations; the League was founded in 1920, but the US Senate refused to join, weakening its authority. Germans regarded the treaty as a national humiliation, planting the seeds of future conflict.
1Summary 重點摘要
World War I (1914–1918) grew from long-term causes — the alliance system, the arms race, economic imperialism and extreme nationalism — ignited by the Sarajevo assassination; the 1919 Treaty of Versailles punished Germany with war guilt, reparations and land losses, sowing seeds of new conflict.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
The military alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed in 1882, facing the Triple Entente.
The understanding among France, Russia and Britain completed by 1907, opposing the Triple Alliance.
The competition to build up armed forces, typified by the Anglo-German naval race, which deepened mutual suspicion.
The belief that one's own nation stands above all others, fostering confrontation, expansion and warlike sentiment.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on 28 June 1914, the spark of World War I.
The 1919 peace treaty with Germany, imposing war guilt, reparations, territorial losses and disarmament.
Article 231, which placed responsibility for the war on Germany and her allies — the legal basis of reparations, seen by Germany as a national humiliation.
Wilson's peace principles of 1918, including open diplomacy, national self-determination and an international organisation.
The first worldwide peace organisation, founded in 1920 to preserve peace through collective security; the United States never joined.
The huge payments Germany owed the victors under the treaty, fixed in 1921 at 132 billion gold marks.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: The alliance system and its effectsAfter unification in 1871 Germany altered the European balance, and the powers sought safety in alliances: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy concluded the Triple Alliance in 1882, while France and Russia reached military agreements in the 1890s and Britain settled with both, completing the Triple Entente by 1907. For example, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914, Russia mobilised in Serbia's support and Germany at once declared war on Russia and France — alliance clauses turned a quarrel between two states into a bloc war within days. This chain reaction is the most crucial of the long-term causes and should come first in any answer.
- Step 2: The arms race and war plansMutual distrust drove an arms race: Germany expanded its army and built an ocean-going fleet, Britain answered with the 'two-power standard' for its navy, and the dreadnought race pushed military spending ever higher. Each power also drew up rigid mobilisation plans — Germany's Schlieffen Plan, once triggered, could hardly be halted. For example, after Britain launched a new dreadnought in 1906, Germany felt threatened and laid down similar battleships, so the race escalated. The arms race drained national resources and convinced each government that war was inevitable, creating the psychological and material conditions for war.
- Step 3: Economic imperialism and colonial conflictsAfter the Industrial Revolution the powers needed raw materials, markets and investment outlets, and their imperial rivalry bred constant friction. For example, unified late, Germany held far fewer colonies than Britain or France and openly demanded 'a place in the sun'; in the two Moroccan crises its clash with France over North Africa nearly brought war, and only diplomatic compromise defused the danger. Such disputes repeatedly damaged Anglo-German and Franco-German relations, extended the confrontation from Europe to the globe and steadily tightened international tension, accumulating the soil in which war could grow.
- Step 4: Extreme nationalism and the Balkan powder kegExtreme nationalism, which holds one's own nation above all, made publics support brinkmanship and even war. France and Germany nursed old grievances over Alsace-Lorraine; the Balkans, with its complex mix of peoples, grew more volatile after the two Balkan wars, when a strengthened Serbia championed the South Slav cause and Austria-Hungary feared its own nationalities would follow suit and break the empire apart. For example, Bosnian Serb youths formed secret societies demanding union with Serbia, and that very ideology produced the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand — hence the label 'the powder keg of Europe'.
- Step 5: The Sarajevo incident and the outbreak of warOn 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were shot dead in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, by the Serb youth Princip — the spark of the war. Germany first issued Austria-Hungary a 'blank cheque' of unconditional support; in July Austria-Hungary sent Serbia a harsh ultimatum and declared war. For example, Russia then ordered general mobilisation in Serbia's support, Germany used this as grounds to declare war on Russia and France and marched through neutral Belgium, bringing Britain in — within about a month a regional assassination had widened, through the alliance chain reaction, into the general war we call World War I.
- Step 6: The main terms of the Treaty of VersaillesOn 28 June 1919 Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, whose terms fall into four groups. War guilt: Article 231 declared Germany and her allies responsible for the war. Reparations: Germany had to pay a huge indemnity, fixed in 1921 at 132 billion gold marks. Territory: Alsace-Lorraine returned to France and the colonies passed to the victors. Disarmament: the army was capped at 100,000 men, with no air force or submarines, and the Rhineland was demilitarised. For example, the German delegates were excluded from the negotiations and signed under an ultimatum — their nation called it a 'dictated peace'.
- Step 7: Wilson's Fourteen Points and the League of NationsUS President Wilson wanted a just postwar order and in 1918 issued the Fourteen Points — open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, national self-determination and an international organisation. The Paris Conference adopted his idea, and the League of Nations was founded in 1920 to preserve peace through collective security. Yet the US Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the United States never joined; Germany and Soviet Russia were also initially excluded. For example, lacking American economic and military weight, the League's sanctions against aggression proved feeble, sowing the seeds of the crises of the 1930s.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Data analysis: Source 1 lists six items — (1) formation of the Triple Alliance (1882); (2) the Anglo-German naval race; (3) the two Moroccan crises; (4) the Balkan wars (1912–13); (5) the Sarajevo incident (28 June 1914); (6) Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia. Classify the six items into 'long-term causes' and 'short-term trigger' with reasons; Source 2 gives extracts of the Treaty of Versailles — analyse their impact on Germany.
- Set the criteria first: long-term causes are structural factors that built up over decades and hardened the two blocs; the short-term trigger is the immediate event that set off the war — state the criteria before classifying
- Classify the long-term causes: the Triple Alliance (1882), the naval race, the Moroccan crises and the Balkan wars all matured slowly — the alliance fixed the two camps while the other three eroded great-power trust
- Classify the short-term trigger: the Sarajevo incident and the ultimatum were immediate events of summer 1914 which, through the alliance chain reaction, turned crisis into general war
- Analyse the treaty's impact: Article 231 laid moral guilt on Germany; reparations drained her finances; territorial losses and surrendered colonies weakened the state; disarmament destroyed her military standing
- Evaluate: the terms were harsh and imposed without negotiation, so Germans saw the treaty as national humiliation — the desire for revenge later fed the rise of extremist parties
- Answer: The long-term causes were the Triple Alliance of 1882, the Anglo-German naval race, the two Moroccan crises and the Balkan wars: the alliance set the two blocs in opposition, the race deepened suspicion, and the colonial and Balkan conflicts repeatedly undermined great-power trust — all slowly maturing factors. The short-term trigger was the Sarajevo incident followed by Austria-Hungary's ultimatum: within five weeks the crisis had widened into general war through alliance mobilisation, so these were the immediate trigger. As for the Treaty of Versailles, Article 231 provided the legal basis for reparations; Germany had to pay a huge indemnity, return Alsace-Lorraine, surrender all colonies, cap her army at 100,000 and lose her air force and submarines. The four sets of terms weakened Germany morally, financially, territorially and militarily; Germans saw the treaty as a national humiliation, and the thirst for revenge later nourished extremism — the settlement did not remove conflict but sowed the seeds of a new war.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What were the starting and ending years of World War I?
Q2Which states formed the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente?
Q3When did the Sarajevo incident happen, and who was assassinated?
Q4Name the four sets of Versailles terms imposed on Germany.
Q5When was the League of Nations founded, and did the US join?
8Recap Recap
- Four long-term causes: the alliance system, the arms race, economic imperialism and extreme nationalism
- The Sarajevo incident of 28 June 1914 was the short-term trigger, widened into war by the alliance chain reaction
- The Treaty of Versailles (1919) had four sets of terms: war guilt, reparations, territorial losses and disarmament
- Wilson's Fourteen Points led to the League of Nations (1920), but the United States never joined
- The harsh settlement bred German resentment, preparing the interwar crisis