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Part one: The causes of the First World War

• The Alliance System: the Triple Alliance; Franco-Russian Alliance; relations between the

‘Entente’ powers; the crises in Morocco (1905 and 1911) and the Balkans (1908–1909), and

their effects on international relations.

• Anglo-German rivalry: Britain and challenges to Splendid Isolation; Kaiser Wilhelm’s aims in

foreign policy, including Weltpolitik; colonial tensions; European rearmament, including the

Anglo-German naval race.

• Outbreak of war: Slav nationalism and relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary; the

assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and its consequences; the July

Crisis; the Schlieffen Plan and Belgium; reasons for the outbreak of hostilities and the

escalation of the conflict.

Part two: The First World War: stalemate

• The Schlieffen Plan: the reasons for the plan, its failure, including the Battle of Marne and its

contribution to the stalemate.

• The Western Front: military tactics and technology, including trench warfare; the war of

attrition; key battles, including Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele, the reasons for, the

events and significance of these battles.

• The wider war: the war on other fronts; Gallipoli and its failure; the events and significance of

the war at sea, including Jutland, the U-Boat campaign and convoys.

Part three: Ending the war

• Changes in the Allied Forces: consequences of the Bolshevik Revolution and the withdrawal

of Russia on Germany strategy; the reasons for and impact of the entry of the USA into the

war.

• Military developments in 1918 and their contribution to Germany’s defeat: the evolution of

tactics and technology; Ludendorff the German Spring Offensive; the Allied advance during

The Hundred Days.

• Germany surrenders: impact of the blockade; abdication of the Kaiser; armistice; the

contribution of Haig and Foch to Germany’s defeat