Causes of World War I (Lower Ability) Worksheet | GCSE Level - Free Printable

Let’s go step by step to solve this worksheet.

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TASK 1: Make sure you know the terms.

We are told to use the glossary at the top right of the sheet to fill in the table.

Looking at the glossary:

- Militarism = building up armed forces, getting ready for war.
- Alliances = agreements or promises to defend and help another country.
- Imperialism = trying to build up an Empire.
- Nationalism = having pride in your country, willing to defend it.

So we copy those definitions into the table.

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Question 2:

> Germany wanted to build up her Empire. Copy and complete:
>
> Germany wished to build up her Empire. This is known as _______________.
>
> Germany also built up her armed forces – known as _______________.

From the glossary:

- Building up an empire → Imperialism
- Building up armed forces → Militarism

So:

First blank: Imperialism
Second blank: Militarism

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Question 3:

> Britain had both the most powerful navy in the world and the largest Empire. Copy and complete:
>
> As Britain had the most powerful navy she was worried about other countries building up their armed forces. We could call this a worry about _______________.
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> Germany, Britain and other countries were keen to have large Empires.

The first sentence talks about being worried about other countries building up armed forces — that’s militarism.

The second sentence says they wanted large empires — that’s imperialism, but the question only asks us to fill in the blank after “worry about”.

So:

Blank: militarism

*(Note: The second sentence doesn’t have a blank — so we don’t need to fill anything there.)*

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Question 4:

> Copy and try to fill in the missing words using your table:
>
> Countries in Europe were very proud of themselves, and would defend their country as well as they could. This is known as _______________.

This matches the definition of nationalism: having pride in your country, willing to defend it.

So:

Blank: nationalism

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Now let’s put all answers together clearly.

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Final Answer:

Table (Task 1, Question 1):

| Term | Definition |
|---------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Militarism | building up armed forces, getting ready for war. |
| Alliances | agreements or promises to defend and help another country. |
| Imperialism | trying to build up an Empire. |
| Nationalism | having pride in your country, willing to defend it. |

Question 2:

Germany wished to build up her Empire. This is known as Imperialism.
Germany also built up her armed forces – known as Militarism.

Question 3:

As Britain had the most powerful navy she was worried about other countries building up their armed forces. We could call this a worry about militarism.

Question 4:

Countries in Europe were very proud of themselves, and would defend their country as well as they could. This is known as nationalism.