Inquiry and Examination Questions

Content-based

  1. How did the changing balance of power and imperial rivalries impact European diplomacy before 1914?
  2. How did domestic conditions impact on German foreign policy?
  3. What was the impact / influence of German Foreign policy on other countries, including Britain, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary?
  4. What were the long and short-term causes of the First World War?
  5. What are the historians perspectives on the causes of the First World War? How have these changed over time (historiography)?
  6. What were the factors leading to the defeat of Germany and the other Central Powers?

Debatable

  1. To what extent was Germany foreign policy responsible for the outbreak of war in August 1914?
  2. What was the impact of the First World War on civilian populations of two countries from the region between 1914 and 1918?
  3. What could have been done to avoid war in 1914? How could this apply to present-day? Transfer Goal – can you give a contemporary example?

Skills-based

  1. Are the causes of the First World War similar to any contemporary conflicts? Transfer Goal – Think of political, economic or social.
  2. How has the study of causes of the First World War changed since 1918? Historiography

Enduring Understanding

  1. To what extent is fear a driving force in war?
  2. War is the continuation of politics by other means. Are the agendas of the governments the same throughout the war?

Transfer Goals

Between Units

1. Compare and contrast the causes of the First and Second World Wars. 

2. The Allies won because of their resources and innovation. We can link this to the Spanish Civil War and Second World War.

Between Subjects

1. The Geography of Food and Health – which foods do you require in wartime? How are you able to acquire them? How does this affect your strategic thinking?

2. Introduction to Economics – Scarcity of resources, Opportunity Cost.

3. Introduction to Psychology – Intuition, what makes the soldier fight?

4. TOK – what knowledge are people using to decide about war? What influences this knowledge? Are you fighting today’s war or yesterday’s?

1. Using the case studies of Taiwan/China and Iran/Saudi (both potential flashpoints) how could they follow the same path as the First World War? And, how can war be avoided?

2. If war began, who would be to blame? If Taiwan became an ally of South Korea, or Saudi with Israel, who would be to blame for the escalation of tensions?

3. Why does it matter who is to blame?