National Approach

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National Approach

An example of how the causes and outbreak of World War One are covered in a popular UK history magazine

 



Tasks (students' view):

1

The first three pages of the article tells the story of a group of young students who killed an Austrian Archduke and his wife on a visit to Bosnia.
In not more than 150 words, summarise the story of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife at Sarajevo in 1914. (In history, it is an important skill to be able to make a précis [short summary] of a longer text). The first 50 words (approximately), should explain who the victims of the assassination were (why were they important people), and who the students (or ‘terrorists’) were. The remaining text should give a condensed (shortened) explanation of how the assassination took place.


2

In not more than 150 words, explain why the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to the outbreak of World War One. (The black text box at the top of page 23 should help you with this question).

3

On page 22 of the article, the author claims that there are some similarities between the situation in Europe in 1914, before the outbreak of World War One, and the situation in the world today. What are these similarities?

4

What key point is the author trying to make in column 2 of page 23 of the article?

5

 

Articles in popular history magazines are sometimes based on recent historical research. This article is based on research which Christopher Clark has done about the causes of World War One.
The book has been reviewed by other historians and journalists in newspapers in the UK and USA. The reviews give some indication of how good the book and the research are, from other members of the ‘community of professional practice’ of historians and journalists.
Read the following reviews of Clark’s book. How ‘respectable’ or high quality is the book according to the reviewers. And what do the reviews tell us about Clark’s views about responsibility for the war?

 

The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark – review
Should Germany really be blamed for the first world war, or did European nations simply sleepwalk into it?
Ian Pindar
The Guardian, Friday 19 July 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/19/sleepwalkers-christopher-clark-review

 

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
Strategy, bellicosity, blunder? A.W. Purdue weighs a fresh look at the Great War's deadly genesis
Times Higher Education Supplement, 27 September 2012
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/421230.article

 

Book review: The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark
Christopher Hirst
The Independent, Friday 16 August 2013
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-review-the-sleepwalkers-by-christopher-clark-8771140.html

 

On the Brink: ‘The Sleepwalkers’ and ‘July 1914’
Harold Evans
New York Times, May 12 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/books/review/the-sleepwalkers-and-july-1914.html?_r=0





 

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Tasks (teachers' view):

1

The first three pages of the article tells the story of a group of young students who killed an Austrian Archduke and his wife on a visit to Bosnia.
In not more than 150 words, summarise the story of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife at Sarajevo in 1914. (In history, it is an important skill to be able to make a précis [short summary] of a longer text). The first 50 words (approximately), should explain who the victims of the assassination were (why were they important people), and who the students (or ‘terrorists’) were. The remaining text should give a condensed (shortened) explanation of how the assassination took place.

There is quite a lot of general description (‘picturesque views’, ‘hillsides dotted with villas and houses’, ‘glowing dots of white marble’), but the key points are that the victims were the heir to the throne of Austria and his wife, and of the seven terrorists, six were from Serbia, a country that was Austria’s enemy. The terrorists had links with the Serbian government and carried weapons which were made in Serbia (page 23 of the article).
In terms of the events of the assassination, the seven terrorists were waiting along the route of the state visit, one threw a bomb which did little harm, but Franz Ferdinand decided to carry on with the visit. The car got lost and was slowly reversing when by coincidence, one of the terrorists, Gavrilo Princip was standing nearby. Princip shot the Archduke and his wife, killing them both.

2

In not more than 150 words, explain why the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to the outbreak of World War One. (The black text box at the top of page 23 should help you with this question).

Austria was determined to get revenge on Serbia, who they blamed for the assassination, and who they wanted to crush as they saw them as a threat to the survival of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The idea was that they would send an ultimatum (set of demands) to Serbia that would be so harsh that it would be impossible for the Serbs to accept without being humiliated, and then invade and crush Serbia. Austria was aware that Russia might support Serbia as they were on good terms and were both ‘Slav’ nations (Austria and Russia had been at odds in the Balkans for years), so asked for German’s support in case Russia threatened to protect Serbia. Germany gave her support (sometimes called ‘the blank cheque’), France was pledged to support Russia in the event of an attack by Germany, and Great Britain, although not pledged to definitely give military support to France in the event of a war between France and Germany decided that it was in her best interests to do so, especially when the German invasion of France went through Belgium, whose neutrality Great Britain was pledged to support.

3

On page 22 of the article, the author claims that there are some similarities between the situation in Europe in 1914, before the outbreak of World War One, and the situation in the world today. What are these similarities?

Similarities between pre-World War One Europe and today included the existence of extra-terrorist groups ‘without a clear geographical or political location’, with ‘squads of suicide bombers’, and ‘a cult of sacrifice, death and revenge’. Also, since the fall of communism, more global instability with declining and unstable areas of the world prone to volatility and crisis (Clark gives the example of the wars in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but one could also add the situation in the middle east with crises and wars in Iraq and Syria, and tension between Israel and Iran).

4

What key point is the author trying to make in column 2 of page 23 of the article?

The key point that Clark is trying to make is that the situation in the Balkans was at the heart of the problems leading to the outbreak of war, and that the rulers of Austria were not in a position to just ignore the assassination. Like the 9/11 attack on the twin towers in new York in 2001, it was a symbolic attack of considerable importance which was difficult to just ignore and do nothing about.

5

Articles in popular history magazines are sometimes based on recent historical research. This article is based on research which Christopher Clark has done about the causes of World War One.
The book has been reviewed by other historians and journalists in newspapers in the UK and USA. The reviews give some indication of how good the book and the research are, from other members of the ‘community of professional practice’ of historians and journalists.
Read the following reviews of Clark’s book. How ‘respectable’ or high quality is the book according to the reviewers. And what do the reviews tell us about Clark’s views about responsibility for the war?

The reviews of Clark’s book, both in the UK and the one in the New York Times are extremely positive and describe it as a very convincing and insightful explanation of the outbreak of war. The fact that other eminent historians find Clark’s book to be a very plausible explanation for the outbreak of war adds to the authority of Clark’s writing and research.
Clark argues that Germany and Austria bear some responsibility for the outbreak of war, but that it is too simplistic to just blame these two countries, in different ways, the actions of Russia, France,and Great Britain also contributed to the outbreak of war.

 

 

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