DSE History | The First World War Lesson-Prep Guide (Tutor Edition) | Four Causes, July 1914 Chain, Casualty Data

2026-11-01

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary History

Students remember the assassination but write it as a cause. This lesson separates four long-term causes from one trigger, then uses the declaration chain to explain why a regional quarrel became a world war.

Objectives — Students can: (1) separate long-term causes from the trigger and give one example of each; (2) order the declarations of July 1914; (3) use data on length and casualties to explain total war.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Dates	1914 to 1918 in years	4 years
Percentages	10 million out of 70 million	about 14%
Map	Where the Balkans are	South-east Europe

02 Lesson flow (60 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-8 min	Timeline	Cards from 1871 to 1914	Students order the cards
8-24 min	Four causes	Nationalism, imperialism, arms race, alliances	One example each
24-36 min	Trigger and chain	Sarajevo to British entry	Write five steps
36-48 min	Nature of the war	Total war, trenches, new weapons	Argue with data
48-56 min	Impact	Treaties, borders, casualties, colonies	Four points in categories
56-60 min	Exit check	Three questions marked on the spot	Independent work

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Four long-term causes: all four are needed

Nationalism: Balkan self-determination and Greater Serbia. Imperialism: two Moroccan crises over colonies. Arms race: the Anglo-German dreadnought race from 1906. Alliances: the Triple Alliance against the Triple Entente, so any member dragged its partners in. Link them: nationalism supplies the spark, the arms race supplies the fuel, alliances turn the spark into a chain explosion.

Ask the student: which cause turns a local quarrel into a continental war (the alliance system).

Scene 2: A trigger is not a cause: the July 1914 chain

28 June, Franz Ferdinand is shot. 23 July, Austria-Hungary sends Serbia an ultimatum. 28 July, it declares war. Russia mobilises. 1 August, Germany declares war on Russia, 3 August on France, and on 4 August German troops enter Belgium, bringing Britain in. Five steps turn a Balkan quarrel into a European war.
Warn: students write the assassination as a cause. It pulled the trigger; the gun had been built for decades.

Ask the student: is the assassination a cause or a trigger (a trigger).

Scene 3: Scale: total war in numbers

From 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 is 1,567 days. About 70,000,000 men were mobilised and about 10,000,000 died, roughly 14.3%, or 6,382 a day. On the first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916, British casualties were 57,470, of whom 19,240 died. Total war means the front, the economy and propaganda all became part of the war effort.

Ask the student: name one way the home front became a battlefield (rationing, conscription, propaganda).

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Causes	Why war broke out in 1914	Four causes, a trigger and the link	Alliances made it chain
Chronology	Order the July 1914 declarations	Ultimatum to British entry	Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany, Britain
Data	Use casualties to show scale	Share and daily average	about 14%, 6,382 a day
Impact	Long-term effects of Versailles	Terms, German reaction, 1930s	Resentment plus economic crisis

Sanity check (teach this): 1,567 days is about four years and three months, which matches 1914 to 1918. A death share near 14% is expected; anything above 50% means mobilised and dead were swapped. First-day casualties at the Somme must exceed those killed.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Days from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918	1,567 days	Leap years counted
Deaths as a share of mobilised men	14.3%	Numerator and denominator the right way
Why alliances widened the war	One mobilisation pulled in partners	Uses the declaration chain

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Trigger written as cause	Only the assassination is given	The shooting pulled the trigger; the gun was built decades earlier.
Chain out of order	Germany declared war first	Austria-Hungary moved against Serbia first, then Russia mobilised.
Data without a ratio	Only 10,000,000 died	Give the share of those mobilised so the scale is clear.
Impact limited to the treaty	Colonies and economy omitted	Write impact in political, economic and social columns.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Secondary History chapter index — All chapters: Cold War, Hong Kong, twentieth century
Secondary lesson-prep overview — All subjects

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Days from 1914 to 1918	1,567 days	All three right: move to Versailles
Two long-term causes with examples	Arms race, alliances	One wrong: reteach the four causes
Trigger versus cause	Pulling the trigger versus building the gun	Two or more wrong: return to act two

09 Tutor FAQ

How many treaties must be known?

Three are enough for DSE: Versailles, Saint-Germain and Trianon.

How precise must the casualty figures be?

Rough figures are fine (about 70 million mobilised, 10 million dead); the ratio matters.

Can nationalism alone answer a causes question?

No, name which nationalism and which event.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.