Routledge

Chapter Resources

Chapter 1: Great Power Rivalry and the World War, 1900–1917

Debates

Debating the origins of the First World War

Maps

Europe in 1914

Discussion Questions

  1. Why did European politics become so crisis-laden in the first decade of the twentieth century?
  2. What was a ‘Great Power’?
  3. Was the pre-1914 arms race a cause of the First World War or merely a symptom of much deeper causes?
  4. Was any one Great Power more responsible than the others for the coming of war in 1914?
  5. Why did the First World War last as long as it did?

Weblinks

World War I Archive
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/index.html
This site developed by contributors to the World War I Military History List (WWI-L). The aim of the site is to assemble primary material available on the internet about the First World War in one location. The site provides a valuable collection of primary source documents for anyone with an interest in the First World War. These documents included letters, treaties, conventions, official correspondence, photographs, drawings, posters etc. The site is easy to browse with documents placed into the following categories: Conventions, Treaties and Official Papers, Documents by Year, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences, WWI Biographical Dictionary, WWI Image Archive, Special Topics and Commentaries, The Maritime War and The Medical Front. As well as being able to browse the site easily a search engine is provided. As well as providing links to primary sources the site also has bibliographies, links to relevant sites, a section on resources which have recently been added to the site and details of a WWI mailing list. The site is well maintained and is updated regularly.

Avalon Project at Yale Law School
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
The Avalon Project aims to provide access to documents relating to law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government over the World Wide Web. The Avalon Project aims to provide access to documents relating to law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government over the World Wide Web. The Avalon Project website has a clear structure to it making it straightforward to search. It is possible to search by keyword or to search the site by category. The categories available for browsing include by date (pre-eighteenth century, eighteenth century, nineteenth century, twentieth century), authors, major document collections, subject, titles, bibliography of sources and common names of diplomatic documents. The source of each document is clearly stated. The project aims to include links internally within the documents, and also to other sources, in order to aid navigation and facilitate study. A huge range of documents are available from this site and they are easy to locate making it a valuable resource for primary sources.

Photos of the Great War
http://www.gwpda.org/photos/greatwar.htm
The Photos of the Great War site, which is part of World War I document archive from the University of Kansas, currently provides access to 1,844 photographs relating to the First World War. The photographs have been divided into categories to aid browsing. The current categories are: war albums, aviation, troops, commanders, death and destruction, heads of state, individuals, locations, weapons and equipment, miscellaneous, war at sea, animals at war, auxiliaries, special exhibits and refugees. An index to the entire collection can be downloaded from the site. The site also maintains a list of links to other WWI sites.