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SavannahYear 8
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HistoryBritain, Europe and the wider world, 1901–present40 min★★★ difficulty

Lesson 1: Europe goes to war

The assassination at Sarajevo triggered decisions shaped by alliance, empire, militarism and mobilisation.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust
  • Historical enquiry: Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • Historical enquiry: Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust

Key learning points

  • • Long and short causes
  • • A global conflict

This lesson at a glance

  • 40 minutes
  • 17 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

challengesbritaineuropepresentsecond

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 17 · Discover6%
1

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Part 1 of 17

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Lesson 1: Europe goes to war

The alliances, arms race and assassination that dragged Europe into war.

In a nutshell

Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 17

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that European states in 1900 had empires and large armies, and that a trigger is the immediate event that sets off a crisis.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 17

Key words

Words you'll need today

Alliance
An agreement between states to support one another.
Mobilisation
Calling up and moving armed forces ready for war.
Militarism
Valuing military power and preparing for war.
July Crisis
The weeks of decisions in 1914 between the assassination and general war.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 17

Lesson brief

Why did a Balkan crisis become a world war?

By the end, you will be able to

  • • Build an accurate twentieth-century chronology
  • • Connect British, European and global developments
  • • Use official records and testimony ethically and critically

Resources

  • • First World War unit war diary (1914–1918)
  • • Lesson notes and marked knowledge check
4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry
16 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument
12 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context
8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion
5

Learning cycle

Part 5 of 17

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Why war began

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 17

Learn

Long and short causes

Competition and alliance systems created danger, but leaders still made choices during the July Crisis.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 17

Quick check

The immediate trigger was…

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 17

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 17

Quick check

Why was it global?

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 17

Learning cycle 2 of 2

A global conflict

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 17

Learn

A global conflict

European empires drew soldiers, labour and resources from around the world.

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 17

Quick check

Best causal account?

13

Investigate evidence

Part 13 of 17

Evidence 1 of 1

primary

First World War unit war diary

British Army units, 1914–1918

Daily entries record positions, orders, casualties and conditions in the language of military administration.

War diaries are contemporary operational records. They are strong for unit activity but rarely capture every soldier's experience or emotion.

Think like a historian

What can an official diary establish securely, and what would a personal letter add?

Source: The National Archives, First World War 100 resources

View the archive record ↗
14

Common mix-ups

Part 14 of 17

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often say the assassination caused the war. It triggered decisions that leaders still chose to make.
  • People often call it a European war. Empires drew in troops, labour and resources from around the world.
15

Challenge round

Part 15 of 17

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

16

Mastery quiz

Part 16 of 17

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 1: Europe goes to war

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. The immediate trigger of the First World War was…

  2. 2. Alliances mattered because they…

  3. 3. Mobilisation means…

  4. 4. Why was the war global?

  5. 5. Long-term causes include…

  6. 6. The best causal account says leaders…

17

Lesson round-up

Part 17 of 17

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

Source for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

First World War unit war diary

primary

British Army units, 1914–1918

Daily entries record positions, orders, casualties and conditions in the language of military administration.

War diaries are contemporary operational records. They are strong for unit activity but rarely capture every soldier's experience or emotion.

Source: The National Archives, First World War 100 resources

View the original record ↗

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

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How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance

  • Not looked at yet

    Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history

Good Learning Co. — personalised UK curriculum learning, built around what each learner loves.