S4 History Practice Paper: Causes And Impact Of The First World War (12 Questions, 100 Marks, 75 Minutes)

S4 History Practice Paper: Causes and Impact of the First World War (12 questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes)

2026-11-09

HKDSE History: Causes and Impact of the First World War

12 questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes on the causes of the First World War, the July Crisis, trench warfare, US entry, the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.

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Instructions: This paper has three sections, A, B and C. Answer all questions. Total marks: 100. Time allowed: 75 minutes.

Show all working. Answers without working earn no method marks. Write down a formula before substituting numbers.

Give numerical answers to three significant figures unless stated otherwise, and state the correct units.

Spend about 30 minutes on Section A, then use the remaining time for the source comparison in Section B and the treaty evaluation in Section C.

Section A　Causes of the War

Section A: Read each question and write concise, accurate answers.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	(a) Name the three main alliance groupings in Europe before the war and their leading members. (b) Explain how the two-bloc alliance system turned a local conflict into a general war. (c) Explain the effect of the naval arms race on international relations.	(a) Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; Triple Entente: Britain, France and Russia (3 marks). (b) Each crisis became a test of prestige between two blocs; treaty obligations pulled members into mobilisation, so a local conflict escalated into a European war (3 marks). (c) The Anglo-German naval race deepened mutual distrust, and military strength became the backing for diplomacy, making compromise harder (3 marks).
2	(a) State two reasons why the Balkans were called the powder keg of Europe. (b) Outline the Sarajevo incident of 1914 and its immediate consequences. (c) Explain the role of the German blank cheque to Austria-Hungary in the July Crisis.	(a) Several peoples under Habsburg and Ottoman rule sought independence, and the great powers competed for influence there, so any local clash involved the whole continent (3 marks). (b) On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist; Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum on 23 July and declared war on Serbia on 28 July (3 marks). (c) Germany gave unconditional support, so Austria-Hungary believed a limited war was safe; Russian mobilisation and German declarations then made escalation unavoidable (3 marks).
3	Source 1: the war began on 28 July 1914 and an armistice took effect on 11 November 1918. (a) Calculate the number of days the war lasted and express it in years to one decimal place. (b) Calculate how many days passed between the armistice and the signing of the peace treaty on 28 June 1919. (c) Give two reasons why the treaty was not signed until 1919.	(a) From 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 is 1567 days, about 4.3 years (3 marks). (b) From the armistice to 28 June 1919 is 229 days (3 marks). (c) The Allies first had to settle reparations, frontiers and the German constitution, and Wilson’s Fourteen Points conflicted with European claims, so negotiations dragged on (2 marks).
4	(a) Distinguish between long-term and short-term causes of a historical event. (b) Give one specific pre-1914 example each of nationalism, imperialism and militarism. (c) Explain why a single assassination cannot explain the outbreak of the war.	(a) Long-term causes are slow structural factors that raise the risk of conflict; short-term causes are triggering events that set its timing (3 marks). (b) Nationalism: Balkan independence movements and Pan-Slavism; imperialism: colonial rivalry and the Moroccan crises; militarism: arms build-up and rigid mobilisation timetables (1 mark each, 3 marks). (c) Without alliance commitments, arms races and mobilisation plans, a single assassination would not have drawn the whole continent into war (3 marks).

Section B　Nature and Impact of the War

Section B: Refer to the sources given, and show working for any calculation.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	(a) Describe two features of trench warfare on the Western Front. (b) Explain why trench warfare caused heavy casualties with little movement of the front line. (c) Describe two new weapons first used on a large scale in the war and their effects.	(a) Both sides held lines of trenches, wire and machine guns; fighting consisted of bombardment and frontal assaults, with ground changing hands repeatedly but the line hardly moving (3 marks). (b) Defensive firepower was far stronger than attack: assaulting troops were exposed to machine-gun and artillery fire, and mud and supply problems prevented exploitation of any breakthrough (3 marks). (c) Poison gas caused mass indirect casualties and forced the development of protective equipment; tanks suppressed machine guns and crossed trenches, gradually changing offensive tactics (2 marks).
6	Source 2: Country A mobilised 8 million men, of whom 2 million became casualties; Country B mobilised 5 million men, of whom 1.25 million became casualties. (a) Calculate the casualty rate of each country. (b) Compare the two rates. (c) State one limitation of comparing the two countries’ sacrifice by casualty figures alone.	(a) Country A: 2 divided by 8 equals 0.25, that is 25 per cent; Country B: 1.25 divided by 5 equals 0.25, that is 25 per cent (3 marks). (b) The rates are identical at 25 per cent, although the absolute numbers of dead and wounded differ, with Country A much higher (2 marks). (c) Limitation: the rate does not separate killed, wounded and missing, ignores civilian deaths, population size and capacity for recovery, so sacrifice cannot be judged by the rate alone (3 marks).
7	(a) Explain two features of total war. (b) Explain why the role of women changed during the war. (c) Explain two effects of the war on the European economy.	(a) The state mobilised manpower and industry, controlled the economy and the press, and the front extended to civilians through blockade (3 marks). (b) Mass enlistment created labour shortages, so women took jobs in factories, hospitals and transport, changing their social role (3 marks). (c) European states were left heavily indebted with severe inflation, and damaged industry and agriculture forced a reorganisation of post-war trade (2 marks).
8	(a) State two reasons for the entry of the United States into the war in 1917. (b) Explain how American entry changed the course of the war. (c) Explain the effect of Russia’s withdrawal in 1917 on the Eastern Front.	(a) Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking American ships and killing Americans; the Zimmermann Telegram showed Germany courting Mexico against the United States (3 marks). (b) American manpower, industrial output and finance allowed the Allies to counter-attack in 1918, shifting the balance of strength decisively (3 marks). (c) Russia’s withdrawal let Germany move troops to the Western Front and gain temporary advantage, but the new territory and resources drained its strength (3 marks).

Section C　Peace Conference, Treaty and Post-war Order

Section C: Consider both the treaty terms and the international situation of the time, and answer in full sentences.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	(a) Name the three leading countries at the Paris Peace Conference and their chief representatives. (b) Explain two points of Wilson’s Fourteen Points. (c) Explain why Germany called the Treaty of Versailles a dictated peace.	(a) The United States (Wilson), Britain (Lloyd George) and France (Clemenceau) (3 marks). (b) Open diplomacy and freedom of the seas; national self-determination and a league to keep the peace (3 marks). (c) Germany took no part in the negotiations and the terms were imposed unilaterally, combining territorial losses, disarmament and reparations, so Germans called it a dictated peace (2 marks).
10	Source 3: the Treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay reparations, limited its army to 100,000 men and its navy to 6 capital ships. (a) State two territorial terms. (b) Explain how the disarmament terms weakened Germany’s international position. (c) Explain two effects of the reparations terms on Germany’s economy and politics.	(a) Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France; Germany lost all its colonies and had to recognise Polish independence, ceding the Polish Corridor (3 marks). (b) An army of 100,000 and a navy of 6 capital ships ended Germany’s great-power status, and exclusion from the League lowered its standing in negotiation (2 marks). (c) Reparations burdened the budget and fuelled hyperinflation, while the reparations and war-guilt terms gave the right a rallying cry that undermined the Weimar Republic (3 marks).
11	(a) Explain the aims of the League of Nations. (b) Identify two failures of the League in the 1930s. (c) Explain two structural reasons for its failure.	(a) Aims: replace secret alliances with collective security, settle disputes by arbitration and sanctions, and improve labour and colonial conditions (3 marks). (b) Japan’s seizure of north-east China in 1931 was not reversed, and sanctions against Italy over Abyssinia in 1935 were too weak to work (2 marks). (c) The League had no forces of its own and relied on members to enforce sanctions; key powers were absent or withdrew, and unanimity made decisions hard to reach (3 marks).
12	(a) State the content of the war-guilt clause and Germany’s position on it. (b) Identify two links between the Treaty of Versailles and the outbreak of war again in 1939. (c) Explain one reason why historians differ over how harsh the treaty was.	(a) Article 231 made Germany accept responsibility for starting the war; Germany regarded it as a one-sided judgement by the victors and denied sole guilt (3 marks). (b) Territorial and reparations terms created lasting grievance that fed extremist parties, and disarmament plus exclusion from the League let Germany break free and rearm in the 1930s (2 marks). (c) Some historians stress that the treaty was mild compared with other peace settlements, while others emphasise harsh enforcement; the difference reflects judgements about Germany’s post-war condition and the European order (3 marks).

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