WW1 – Countries & Borders L.O: To explain who was a great power in WW1 & why. Starter: Think about a country you were in for the break What factors made that country great.

The next two weeks we will be looking at: The Great Powers of WW1 What happened on the Western Front The Home Fronts Disarmament Borders & change

The Great Powers in the early 20th Century Learning Intentions Success Criteria By the end of this lesson you should be able to: Name the great powers of Europe Explain why they were considered to be Great Powers A properly labelled map of Europe from 1914 Take part in class discussion Complete the questions

Map of Europe Today

Great Powers of Europe The Great Powers of Europe were: Task One: Great Britain Germany France Russia Austria-Hungry Task One: Using the pervious map, label the Great Powers on your own blank map and stick it into your exercise books. Task Two: With a partner, decide what you think makes a country a great power. Write down two reasons in your books and be prepared to discuss them! You have 3 mins!

How did a country become ‘Great’? Large army and navy Strong ruler Had to control an Empire Empire building was a big thing in the 19th Century know as Jingoism It had to have strong industries at home Large Empire Did a country need all these things to become a ‘Great Power’?

Great Britain At the beginning of the 20th Century, Britain was the greatest power in the world She was very rich and was a powerful industrialised country Britain had the largest and most powerful navy She had the largest overseas empire The British Empire covered over a quarter of the world’s surface

Empire: Land outside the border of a nation which is controlled by that nation. These are called colonies and a group of colonies make up an empire. The British Empire

Great Britain But soon Germany began to compete against Britain for this title Germany had a larger population that Britain Many of her industries were more advanced in comparison to Britain She had more natural resources Germany was expanding her trade throughout the world: by 1913 she was selling more goods in Europe than Britain Germany’s Army was on the increase This began to worry Britain

Germany Germany only became a country in 1871: before this it was only a collection of smaller states Prussia was the largest and it wanted to unite all the States But France didn’t allow this So they went to war! Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) France lost the war and Prussia took land from France: Alsace and Lorraine Prussia was now able to unite all the states: this became known as the German Empire

Germany The most important man in Germany was Bismarck (Chancellor) He knew France wanted revenge for their defeat Tried to keep on good terms with Britain and Russia In 1890, he was sacked by Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II Wilhelm wanted Germany to be the most important country in the world: he described it as ‘seeking a place in the sun’ Began to build an overseas empire in Africa He began to increase the size of the navy

Germany The German Overseas Empire

France France had been one of the most important countries in Europe until 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War: France was defeated and had to hand over Alsace and Lorraine France was not as industrialised as Germany or Britain as she produced less She had a large empire and army France wanted revenge for 1870-71

The French Empire

Russia At this time Russia was the largest country in the world! It had a population of 159 million She didn’t need an overseas empire Her empire was on her doorstep and consisted of many different peoples and languages Russia had a large army but wasn’t as industrialised as the other Great Powers Russia wanted to increase her influence in the Balkans The people of the Balkans were very similar to the Russians, they were Slavs But Russia wasn’t the only Great Power interested in the Balkans

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary was a large empire in the centre of Europe and consisted of many different people groups – some of whom did not get on Many of these groups had their own language, customs and way of life: this made the Empire difficult to rule Many of these groups wanted to be independent from Austria-Hungary – this was known as nationalism Austria-Hungary was also interested in the Balkans Nationalism: a feeling of pride in one’s country. A belief that there is something special about the people who live there, their language and customs

So why did this system contribute to the war? The fact that there were so many ‘Great Powers’ all on each other’s doorsteps was bound to cause trouble at some point – the Franco-Prussian War is evidence of that All it would take was for one ‘Great Power’ to do something that wasn’t deemed acceptable by the other for issues to arise If such a situation did appear, all it would need is a spark to set everything alight!

Task Using the table on the following slide: Write down which country was best and give two facts to support this Write down the combined population, army & navy of Russia & France then Germany & Austria-Hungary Explain why Russia exported so little coal and steel if they had so many resources.

Population of colonies 390 million 15 million 58 million Country Britain Germany Russia Austria- Hungary France Population 40.8 million 65 million 159 million 50 million 39.6 million Number of Colonies 56 10 / 29 Population of colonies 390 million 15 million 58 million Size of army 700,000 4,200,000 1,200,000 800,000 3,700,000 Size of navy 388 281 166 67 207 Coal output each year (million tonnes) 292 277 36.2 47 40 Steel output each year (million tonnes) 11 14 3.6 5 4.6