Educational worksheet explaining the causes of World War One, including alliances, imperialism, militarism, and nationalism.

Let’s go step by step to fill in the blanks using what we know about World War One and the MAIN causes.

The worksheet is asking us to match each cause (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism) with its definition — and then apply those definitions to real examples from Germany before WWI.

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First, let’s look at the “MAIN Causes” box:

- M = Militarism → building up armed forces, being ready for war
- A = Alliances → agreements between countries to help each other
- I = Imperialism → trying to build an empire (take over other lands)
- N = Nationalism → loving your country so much you want to defend it or show pride

Now, let’s use these to fill in the blanks under “Germany”.

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Blank 1:
> Germany wanted to build up her empire. This is known as ________.

Building an empire = taking over other countries or lands → that’s Imperialism

✔ So first blank: Imperialism

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Blank 2:
> Germany also built up her armed forces. This is known as ________.

Building up armed forces = army, navy, weapons → that’s Militarism

✔ Second blank: Militarism

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Blank 3:
> As Britain had the most powerful navy... they started building a huge navy too. This was because of their _________.

They were worried about other countries attacking them → so they built up their military to be safe → again, this is Militarism

Wait — but let’s think deeper. Why did they feel threatened? Because they believed their country needed to be strong to protect itself — which ties into nationalism too? But the key action here is *building up the navy* — that’s militarism.

Actually, looking back at the glossary:
> Militarism = Building up armed forces and getting ready for war

Yes — building a huge navy fits perfectly under Militarism

But wait — maybe there’s another angle. The sentence says: “they were worried about other countries building up their armed forces.” That fear led them to build up theirs — still militarism.

However, sometimes this kind of arms race is driven by nationalism — pride and desire to be strongest. Let’s check the next clue.

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Blank 4:
> European people were very proud of their countries and would defend their country as well as they could. This is called ________.

Proud of country + willing to defend it = classic definition of Nationalism

✔ Fourth blank: Nationalism

So now going back to Blank 3 — if Blank 4 is clearly Nationalism, then Blank 3 must be something else.

Re-read Blank 3:
> As Britain had the most powerful navy... they started building a huge navy too. This was because of their _________.

This is describing an *arms race* — one country builds up, others follow out of fear or competition. In history, this is part of Militarism — especially since it’s about building weapons/navy.

But some might argue it’s due to nationalism — wanting to be #1. However, based on standard curriculum and the glossary given:

Glossary says:
> Militarism = Building up armed forces and getting ready for war

That matches exactly.

Also, note that the third paragraph starts with “As Britain had...” — meaning Germany reacted to Britain’s power by building their own — that’s militaristic behavior.

So yes — Blank 3 = Militarism

Wait — but we already used Militarism for Blank 2. Can we reuse terms?

Looking at the structure — each blank seems to expect one term from MAIN. And there are four blanks and four letters — likely each letter used once.

Hmm… problem!

We have:

Blank 1: Imperialism
Blank 2: Militarism
Blank 3: ???
Blank 4: Nationalism

What’s left? Alliances.

But does Blank 3 fit Alliances? No — alliances are agreements between countries. Here, Germany is acting alone against Britain — no alliance mentioned.

Maybe I made a mistake.

Let me re-express the sentences:

Sentence 1: Build empire → Imperialism ✔️
Sentence 2: Build armed forces → Militarism ✔️
Sentence 3: Build navy because afraid of others → Still Militarism? Or is it Nationalism?

Wait — perhaps Sentence 3 is actually showing Nationalism — because they felt their nation was superior and deserved to have a big navy too. Pride in nation → nationalism.

And Sentence 4 explicitly defines Nationalism — so maybe Sentence 3 is meant to illustrate it indirectly?

But Sentence 4 says: “European people were very proud...” — that’s general nationalism.

Sentence 3 is specific to Germany reacting to Britain — which could be seen as nationalist pride (“we should be just as strong!”)

In many textbooks, the naval arms race between Germany and Britain is cited as an example of militarism, not nationalism.

But let’s look again at the glossary:

> Nationalism = having pride in your country and being ready to defend it

“Ready to defend it” — building a navy to defend against Britain? That could count.

But “pride” is more emotional — while “ready to defend” is action-oriented.

Actually, both militarism and nationalism can overlap.

Given that we have four distinct blanks and four terms, and Sentence 4 is clearly defining Nationalism, perhaps Sentence 3 is intended to be Alliances? But that doesn’t make sense — no alliances are mentioned.

Unless... wait — maybe I misread.

Another thought: Perhaps Blank 3 is referring to why Germany felt threatened — because of existing alliances? Like Triple Entente vs Triple Alliance?

But the text doesn’t say that — it says “as Britain had the most powerful navy... they were worried... so they started building...”

No mention of alliances.

Perhaps the test expects:

Blank 1: Imperialism
Blank 2: Militarism
Blank 3: Nationalism (because they wanted to be equal to Britain — national pride)
Blank 4: Nationalism — but that would repeat.

No — can’t repeat.

Wait — maybe Blank 3 is Alliances? How?

If Germany feared Britain because Britain was allied with France and Russia — then yes, that would be due to alliances.

Historically, that’s true — Britain, France, and Russia formed the Triple Entente, which Germany saw as a threat.

So even though the sentence doesn’t explicitly say “alliance,” the underlying reason Germany felt threatened was because of the alliance system.

Therefore, Blank 3 could be Alliances

Then Blank 4 is clearly Nationalism

Let’s map it:

Blank 1: Build empire → Imperialism
Blank 2: Build armed forces → Militarism
Blank 3: Build navy because worried about others → due to alliance system → Alliances
Blank 4: Proud of country → Nationalism

That uses all four without repetition.

And historically accurate — the alliance system created tension; when one country built up, others felt threatened because of who they were allied with.

So final assignment:

1. Imperialism
2. Militarism
3. Alliances
4. Nationalism

Yes — this makes sense.

Double-checking with common teaching materials:

- Imperialism: competing for colonies/empires
- Militarism: arms races, building armies/navies
- Alliances: countries grouping together, causing chain reactions
- Nationalism: pride, belief in superiority, willingness to fight for country

In this case:

- Germany building empire → Imperialism
- Germany building army → Militarism
- Germany building navy because afraid of Britain (who is part of an alliance) → Alliances (the reason for the fear)
- Europeans proud → Nationalism

Perfect.

Final Answer:
Imperialism, Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism