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The Great War: Can you Stop it?
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated while visiting
Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, a member
of the Black Hand society. The Austrian government blamed Serbia for harboring
terrorists and sent the Serbian government an ultimatum with which that country
found it impossible to comply. This set into motion a series of alliances.
During the month of July, European diplomats debated whether to engage in a war to
obtain certain long sought goals, colonies, and justify a huge military buildup.
By the end of July all of Europe was poised on the edge of war.
| TELEGRAM
RECEIVED: 30 JULY, 1914
THE NATIONS OF EUROPE ARE ON THE VERGE OF WAR
WHICH WILL INVOLVE US ALL STOP THIS WAR CAN BE PREVENTED STOP WE URGE
ALL DELEGATIONS TO ATTEND THE PEACE CONFERENCE CONVENING IN BRUSSELS
- STOP
ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE FOR YOUR DELEGATION
TO MEET IN BRUSSELS ON JULY 31, 1914 STOP IN ORDER TO EXPEDITE THIS
CONFERENCE, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU PREPARE THE FOLLOWING
PRESENTATION FOR THE OTHER DELEGATES - STOP
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY
INCLUDING A BRIEF HISTORY AND ALLIANCES - STOP
2. LONG TERM REASONS EXPLAINING WHY YOU MAY FEEL
FORCED INTO WAR - STOP
3. RECENT OR SHORT TERM EVENTS IN THE PAST MONTH
THAT YOU FEEL ARE FORCING YOUR COUNTRY INTO WAR - STOP
4. YOU SHOULD ALSO OUTLINE YOUR PEACE PROPOSAL
WHICH YOU WILL AUGMENT AFTER THE OTHER DELEGATIONS MAKE THEIR
PRESENTATIONS - STOP
- MINISTER OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
- KINGDOM OF BELGUIM
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Task
The date is July 30, 1914 and the situation is critical when
you receive the above telegram. You are a diplomat for one of the countries
involved in the origins of World War I. Austria-Hungary has already declared
war on Serbia after receiving reassurance from Germany of full support.
Because of the alliance system, this war is not destined to remain a small,
regional flare up. Russia and Germany are about to declare war because the
Russian army has been mobilized at the German border. Germany has plans to
attack France through neutral Belgium, and Great Britain has sworn to protect
Belgium's neutrality. Belgium is trying to make one last effort to bring the
interested countries together to avoid war.
The Process
Step1: (Media
Center)
Your team is a diplomatic advisory group
representing one of the following:
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Austria-Hungary
-
Germany
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France
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Great Britain
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Russia,
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Italy
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Serbia
-
Ottoman Empire
Each country's team of diplomats will meet
in neutral Belgium on July 31,1914. In order to prepare for the peace
conference, you and your team must research and make an oral presentation on the following topics
:
 | Background
about your country including:
quick summary about your country including very recent history (keep this
short!!!)
| Long term reasons
explaining why your country is willing
to risk going to war. Events that happened more than a year before
July, 1914 that have left you embittered.
| Short term reasons explaining why your country
is now ready to fight. These are events that have occurred just in the
two or three months prior to July, 1914. |
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Step 2: (2 DAYS IN CLASS)
After your group has made a presentation
representing your country's point of view on these topics and studied the
information given by the other countries, you will draft a
proposal to prevent the war. Take into account all that you have learned from
the presentations of other countries, and try to formulate an agreement that
will prevent the war by presenting a valid compromise. This proposal should
obtain for your country what it really wants and allow you to make concessions to
other countries
Step 3: (2 DAYS IN CLASS)
After your country has presented its peace
proposal, the class will divide up into 4 groups with at least one
representative from each country in each group. In these new peace negotiation
groups, start by voting on the proposals from each country. Because some
countries are more powerful than others, some countries will receive more
votes: Germany (3), Great Britain (3), France (2), Russia (2), Serbia (1),
Ottoman Empire (1), Austria-Hungary (2), Italy (1). Any country may
abstain from voting. Modify the proposal with the most votes until you reach a
consensus. If you do not reach a consensus in 50-60 minutes, you will write out a
declaration of war stating the reasons why you are going to war.
Resources
Read the information that your textbook gives about the
beginning of World War I. You will also need to refer to the following to
uncover specific information relating to your country. I highly recommend
the last site. It has everything you need if you just take the time to
read through it!
1879-1914: The Deadly Alliances
Trenches
on the Web.
WWI
Document Archive
The
First World War.com The War to End all Wars.
THIS
IS THE BEST SITE EVER!!!!!!
American
memory collection
Student
Research Center Gold off of Mrs. Rowland's website!!
Questions to Guide your
Research
Specific Issues for each country to
consider. Below I have given each country some specific questions to
address during your search. I am not looking for you to hand in a paper
with the answers, but the answers will explain the short and long term causes
that you describe during your presentation.
Germany
| Who are your allies?
| Why does Germany support the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
| What are Germany's colonial interests?
| What are Germany's military interests, and how is Germany
building up its military?
| Why is Germany an economic rival of Great Britain?
| How does Germany's competition to build up its navy put
them into an arms race with Great Britain?
| What is the "Blank Check" that Germany gives the
Austro-Hungarian Empire? |
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France
Great Britain
Russia
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Who are Russia's allies?
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Why is access to the Dardanelles from the Black Sea
important to Russia?
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Why is Russia allied with Serbia?
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How did Germany lose Russia as an ally and how does this
affect the German war plans?
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Why is it necessary for Russia to mobilize its army so
much in advance and how does Germany react? |
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Austro-Hungarian Empire
| What countries is the Austro-Hungarian Empire allied
with?
| What problems does the Austro-Hungarian Empire face?
| How is nationalism affecting the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
| What are the Austro-Hungarian Empire's goals in the
Balkans?
| What happened in Sarajevo to bring events to a crisis and
what did the Austro-Hungarian Empire demand of Serbia?
| Would the Austro-Hungarian Empire go to war without the
help of Germany?
| How does the Austro-Hungarian Empire force Serbia into a
war? |
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Serbia
| Who are Serbia's allies?
| Why does Serbia object to the annexation of
Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria?
| What are the goals of the Serbian nationalist
organizations?
| What is Pan-Slavism and what are its goals?
| What is Serbia's response to the ultimatum sent by the
Austro-Hungarian Empire? |
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Italy
| Who are Italy's allies?
| Under what conditions will Italy go to war to aid its
allies? Is the Triple Alliance an offensive or defensive alliance?
| What territorial and colonial interests does Italy have
in Europe, and Africa and how might their decision to declare war be
affected by this?
| In what ways is your ally in the Triple Alliance,
Austria, also your rival? |
| | |
Ottoman Empire
| What is the Ottoman Empire's relationship with Bosnia and other
countries in the Balkans? |
| What strategic strait does the Ottoman Empire control and why is it
strategic? |
| What relationship does the Ottoman Empire have with Great Britain in the
Middle East? |
Grading:
You will be graded according to the following
rubric for each of the three steps. These are individual grades even
though you will be working in a group for a portion of the assignment.
Therefore the total for this assignment will be 150 points.
| Can
You Stop the War? |
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Name______________________________ |
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| CRITERIA |
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POINTS |
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1 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
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| Scope, depth and accuracy of the information |
Inaccurate
or insufficient information |
Information
is satisfactory |
Information
is convincing |
Information
is convincing and insightful |
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| On task, asked questions and researched necessary
info |
Chose
not to work to do other work during class time |
On
task only part of the time |
Did
a good job, but had trouble staying focused for the duration of the
project |
Worked
very well with other group members, consistently on task |
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| Completed
assigned tasks within the group |
Let
others do the work for you |
Gave
minimal effort to your portion of the assignment |
Attempted
to do as much as possible for your given role |
Worked
diligently to complete necessary tasks |
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| Listening to others and using the information
appropriately |
Distracted,
not participating |
Only
gives information when spoken to first |
Volunteers
information, remains open to others' ideas |
Clearly
attentive to others' ideas and responsive |
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| Ability to stay in character and express nation's
point of view |
Refusal
to "play along" |
Gives
information, but not interested in playing the part |
Remains
in character and tries to pretend true negotiations underway |
Makes
you think you are really on the verge of avoiding a war |
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