Volume 17, Number 1, September 2014
Exam focus
Edexcel: The origins of the First
World War
Robin Bunce
Robin Bunce looks at a sample question related to this topic
Christoph Mick’s article ‘The Origins of the First World War’ in this issue addresses the reasons for the
outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914. This topic is central to Edexcel’s Unit 3 paper From Kaiser
to Führer: Germany, 1900–45.
The structure of the paper
The Unit 3 From Kaiser to Führer exam paper is divided in two. Section A contains two questions, of
which you should complete one. Section A questions can cover the following four topics:

The Second Reich 1900–18

The Weimar Republic 1919–29

The rise of the Nazis 1919–33

Wartime Germany 1939–45
Section B also contains two questions, of which you must answer one. The questions in Section B
relate to the following two controversies:

How far was Germany responsible for the outbreak of a general European war in August
1914?

How popular and efficient was the Nazi regime in the years 1933–39?
Section A tests your ability to write focused, detailed and analytical essays from your own knowledge.
Section B tests your ability to test historical interpretations, integrating different perspectives with your
own knowledge. The Section B question relates to three sources, from the work of historians.
Sample exam question
Use Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge.
To what extent was the decision to implement the Schlieffen Plan responsible for the outbreak
of the First World War?
Explain your answer, using Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge of the issues related
to this controversy.
(40 marks)
Philip Allan Updates © 2012
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Source 1
The First World War was a result of the collective failure of the European political elite. Some
governments are more to blame than others, but the decisions of a handful of men (there were
no women among the 'decision-makers') led to the war. The main 'culprit' was the political and
military leadership of Austria-Hungary, which started everything by declaring war on Serbia.
Germany allowed Austria to do so and Russia mobilised first. Fear made Germany go to war,
and fear made the other great powers join in. Germany aimed to dominate Europe because of
its fear of being dominated, and it wanted to make Weltpolitik because it was afraid that it
would otherwise lose its status as a great power.
(Christoph Mick, ‘The origins of the First World War’, 2014)
Source 2
The Schlieffen Plan provided for a German invasion of France via Belgium and Luxembourg,
and it was this invasion, on 2 August, that gave Britain a legitimate reason to go to war on 4
August. Yet, although timely for the Liberal government, the Belgian issue was neither the only
cause of war, nor simply an excuse for Britain to attack Germany. It involved fundamental
principles, such as resisting aggression, upholding international treaties and preserving the
balance of power, which had formed the backbone of British foreign policy for a century. It
marked a clear violation of the Treaty of London, which guaranteed the independence and
neutrality of Belgium. Moreover, Germany had committed an act of unprovoked aggression
against another country, and if Germany occupied Belgium, that was a clear threat to the
balance of power and to Britain’s interests.
(Mark Rathbone, ‘The Sarajevo Crisis’, 2013)
Source 3
The arms race was important in causing the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, but it
was a symptom of underlying tensions caused by other factors rather than the decisive cause.
Europe had been destabilised for decades by the alliance system, economic competition
between states and the ambition of those states in vulnerable areas of the continent. The
arms race was more a creation of those tensions and thus it is difficult to argue that it caused
the war. It is much more plausible to suggest that the expansionist ambitions of states such as
Russia, Austria and Germany were to blame for war breaking out in July 1914.
(Sarah Ward, ‘Peace and war’, 2011)
Approaching the question
The sources are key to the Section B questions. You must use them correctly if you are to achieve the
highest marks. Essentially, you are required to focus on the interpretations offered by the sources,
rather than simply using the evidence that they provide. The interpretation will be a general claim
about the causes of the First World War, the evidence of the Source will back this up.
For example, Source 1 contains both an interpretation (highlighted in red below) and supporting
evidence (highlighted in blue)
The First World War was a result of the collective failure of the European political elite. Some
governments are more to blame than others, but the decisions of a handful of men (there were
no women among the 'decision-makers') led to the war. The main 'culprit' was the political and
Philip Allan Updates © 2012
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military leadership of Austria-Hungary, which started everything by declaring war on Serbia.
Germany allowed Austria to do so and Russia mobilised first. Fear made Germany go to war,
and fear made the other great powers join in. Germany aimed to dominate Europe because of
its fear of being dominated, and it wanted to make Weltpolitik because it was afraid that it
would otherwise lose its status as a great power.
Source 1’s interpretation is that the First World War was the result of the failure of all European
governments, but the government of Austria-Hungary bore the most blame because it declared war on
Serbia.
You must test this interpretation in your essay. Therefore, you should write a paragraph in which you
use the interpretations and evidence from the other sources, and from your own knowledge, to
evaluate the interpretation.
Activity
1
Having identified the claim in Source 1, draw the following table and complete it from your own
knowledge:
Evidence that supports Source 1
Evidence that challenges Source 1
Now identify the interpretations and the evidence contained in Sources 2 and 3.
2
Having identified the interpretations and evidence contained in Sources 2 and 3 add a new
row to the table, and complete it:
Aspects of Sources 2 and 3 that
support S1
Aspects of Sources 2 and 3 that
Challenge S1
3
Write a conclusion based on your evaluation of the interpretations offered by the three
sources. This should reach a judgement about the extent to which the decision to implement the
Schlieffen Plan was responsible for the outbreak of the First World War. Remember, use all three
sources in your conclusion.
Philip Allan Updates © 2012
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