• In all industrializing nations, both people and social institutions must adjust to changes, to new relationships and to new conditions. Because no single approach to coping with these conditions and problems will be acceptable to everyone in the society, conflicts, clashes and violence are likely to arise between different factions.

• The monarchies of this era made intense efforts to preserve the traditional stature, authority and power of the monarchy and to resist those who insisted on greater participation and control by the people.

• In an environment of rapid, often uncontrolled and unpredictable change, governments tend to use force to preserve law and order, sometimes sacrificing law to maintain order.

• Members of ethnic, racial and other special interest groups use a variety of tactics--both violent and nonviolent--to draw attention to their demands and to achieve their goals.

• The policies, decisions and actions made by the leaders of the major nations of Europe (and eventually the U.S.) in the period just prior to the war were in line with each leader's personality traits, beliefs, temperaments and long-standing ambitions for his nation.

• Once mobilization had been ordered, the majority of people--in both democratic and autocratic nations--supported this war enthusiastically.

• No single person or group can be assigned responsibility for causing this war or for continuing it once it had begun.

EXPLOSION discusses some of the important conditions, issues and moods of the period prior to August 4, 1914, as well as ways that individuals tried to adjust to the tremendous changes going on about them, changes in every area of their lives.

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to do the following:

1. Define "instability" and describe at least five conditions or events that reflected the instability in Europe prior to the war.

2. Give at least four examples to illustrate the prewar tension between tradition and maintaining the status quo, on one hand, and the demands for changes and reform, on the other hand.

3. Define "balance of power" and describe the role that Germany needed to play in the international scene to ensure that the balance of power was in its favor.

4. Identify at least five areas in which there was an imbalance during the prewar era between the "haves" and the "have nots," both within the nations of Europe and the U. S. and among the nations.

5. Describe specific ways that the activities and demands of the British suffragettes and German laborers challenged the status quo and traditions in their respective nations.

6. Explain the issues surrounding the problems in the Balkan States, especially Serbia, and the reasons these states were important to the Austro-Hungarian leaders.

7. Describe the personality, interests and capabilities of monarchs such as Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II and how these factors may have affected their abilities to rule and to accept reforms.

8. Describe how the increase in wealth and power of the people of Germany may have made it easier for them to accept (if not want) war in the summer of 1914.

9. Describe how the works and words of the German artist Ludwig Meidner represented his vision of the future of Europe.

10. Describe the ways that individuals, including the Serb Gavrilo Princip, sought to assert their personal identities in the prewar environment of change, preservation of traditions, expansion and instability.

11. Define "alliance obligations" and de-scribe how the European nations fulfilled these obligations in the six weeks following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

12. Describe the public reactions to the decisions to mobilize for war; identify what these reactions reveal about the mood of the people and about why war was an acceptable course of action in August 1914.

13. Identify the important events and attitudes that led Europe to explode into war in August 1914.

14. Identify at least three reasons the leaders of each of the five major nations sent their armies to war in August 1914.

In the four decades prior to August 1914, the western world and the countries in its sphere of influence were undergoing unprecedented changes in every area of society. Industrial expansion and wealth, both personal and national, had a profound impact on economic conditions, political power and government policies. These changes led to conflicts, jealousies and differences that were not easily reconcilable. Industrialization and expanded economic activity led to clashes between tradition and the need for changes, especially since there was little agreement on what changes were needed. Monarchies and democracies alike sought to cope with the changes and to protect their authority, while pressures from the people erupted in civil unrest, both in Europe and in the U.S. Meanwhile, as the major European nations sought to expand their wealth and territories, they also looked for partners they could turn to in case of war.

Because of the increased productivity of the factories, the new inventions and the continuing expansion of European economies, the majority of Europeans were optimistic about the future in early June 1914. A small number of people, however, sensed a coming apocalypse. The Great War did not begin like World War II, with the leaders of one or two great nations preparing over a period of years to invade other nations in order to expand their territories and gain access to needed resources. While all had plans in the event of a war, none had deliberately prepared to initiate a war.

In the weeks after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne), none of the critical leaders had the power or will to slow down the decisions, actions, reactions and attitude shifts of key government and military leaders. By August, millions of Europeans--especially the military and diplomatic leaders of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia--saw war as the way to save their honor, as well as to solve the internal and international problems that needed to be resolved. Three monarchs who could have averted the war--Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II and Emperor Franz Joseph--either made decisions to go to war, felt helpless in the face of pressure from the generals, or did not have the strength and determination to prevent their military's mobilization. The leaders of France, Great Britain and Belgium responded to Germany's mobilization by mobilizing their own armies and preparing to protect their nations and fulfill their treaty obligations.

Why did this war begin? What kept this war going? Who was to blame? There are no easy answers to these questions. No one event or person caused the Great War. Rather, the events that led up to the fighting took place in rapid succession and with the widespread support, even celebration, of the people in the major combatant countries. Many factors contributed to the decisions that led to mobilization and to declarations of war. Within a five-week period beginning June 28, 1914, the pressures to go to war "exploded" onto the European scene as the Great War.

1. Write the Concepts and Themes words on the board or overhead. Ask students to define each. Ask them to explain how changes in economics, political power, industry and work opportunities might lead to (a) instability, (b) challenges to traditions, (c) clashes within and between nations, (d) the mobilization of the armed forces of a nation and (e) "explosive" situations at home and between nations. Unless students consider these concepts immediately before, during and immediately following this video, they will miss many details. Also, the Concepts and Themes will help them see the video segments as related, complementing one another to describe the moods, events and contexts of the period.

2. Using an overhead or handout, ask students to consider the Key Generalizations and Ideas for this module. Ask them to paraphrase the ones that you want to emphasize. Ask them to watch the video with these points in mind, looking for relevant information.

3. Distribute Student Handout 1-A, Questions. You may want them to pay particular attention to specific questions, stopping the video after a segment to give them time to make notes.

4. Distribute Student Handout 1-B , Context and Overview of the Great War. Ask them to read this summary and answer the questions before watching the video. You might supplement this reading with textbooks, other readings or a lecture.

5. Distribute Student Handout 1-C, Map of Europe in 1914. In addition to the questions at the bottom of the handout, ask the students why nations would want to become "entangled" with one another through alliances and treaties. Ask them to consider the ramifications for a nation that decides not to join an alliance or a treaty of protection, especially in terms of its security.

NOTE: Following the map on 1-C is a second map, 1-C2 which includes a key of the names of the nations.

6. Ask the students to consider the title of the module, EXPLOSION, and ask them to watch for the personalities, events, attitudes, emotions and decisions that contributed to the European nations' exploding into war.

7. Ask students to reflect on one quote from Student Handout 1-D, Noteworthy Quotes. Ask them to interpret the quotation in the context of the person speaking and the situation in which the statement was made. You might want to ask them to interpret these both before they watch the video and afterward, and then to compare the differences in their interpretations. Students might also offer their personal reactions to particular quotes.

1. Ask students to read about a key leader of this period and write a short biography, including personality traits and life events that might have affected the leader's decisions in the summer of 1914.

2. Ask students to investigate one of the reform movements, ethnic groups or special interest groups of the 1910s: What were their goals? What activities did they use to achieve those goals? How successful were their activities?

3. Ask students to investigate the "apocalyptic" art and writing of the decade prior to the war. Ask them to interpret what the artworks might have meant to their creators and how they might have reflected the moods and themes of that era.

In addition to the questions on the student handouts and in the section on Student Learning Expectations, the following questions may be asked:

1. Give at least four examples to illustrate the prewar tension between tradition and maintaining the status quo, on one hand, and the demands for changes and reform, on the other hand.

2. Explain the issues surrounding the problems in the Balkan States, especially Serbia. Why were these states important to the Austro-Hungarian leaders?

3. Describe the personality, interests and capabilities of monarchs such as Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II. How may these factors have affected their abilities to rule and to accept reforms?

4. Describe how the increase in wealth and power of the people of Germany may have made it easier for them to accept (if not want) war in the summer of 1914.

5. Describe how the works and words of the German artist Ludwig Meidner represented his vision of the future of Europe.

6. Describe the ways that individuals, including the Serb Gavrilo Princip, sought to assert their own personal identities in the prewar environment of change, preservation of traditions, expansion and instability.

1- A. Questions. This resource provides a set of questions to focus students' attention on the important content in each segment of the video.

1- B. Context and Overview of the Great War. This resource provides background details of the period just before the war to help the students understand the dominant conditions and moods of the time. It includes questions to be answered before seeing the video, questions that you may ask them to reconsider after the viewing.

1- C. Map of Europe in 1914. This resource provides a map and a set of questions to help students visualize the relationship of the nations to one another and to consider the geographic factors that might have played (and might still play) a role in the decisions and actions of these nations.

1- D. Noteworthy Quotes. This resource provides a number of quotes from individuals whose words express the thoughts and feelings of the period prior to the outbreak of the war.