Paper 1 Section B/A: Conflict and tension: the First World War,

paperTitle: Paper 1 Section B/A: Conflict and tension:

Q1: Source A supports the Franco–Russian Alliance. How do you know?

Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. Study Sources B and C in the Sources Booklet.

Answer:

features of the source. For example, Russia and France had made an alliance agreeing to help each other if either was attacked by Germany. France wanted protection after the For example, the leaders are side by side, looking like close friends admiring the troops and warships.

Q2: How useful are Sources B and C to an historian studying Ludendorff’s German

Spring Offensive? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge.

Answer:

In analysing and evaluating sources, students will draw on their contextual example, the context of the time in which source was created, place, author’s evaluate the relationship between the sources based on analysis of For example, the sources show how the progress of the Ludendorff Spring Offensive changed so rapidly during 1918. Source B refers to the early success, but Source C shows how German fortunes changed. For example, Source B is useful because it is a German account from after the war. Despite the initial success, the Ludendorff Offensive failed and so there was no point in the author exaggerating his account because the truth was widely known. Therefore, an historian can be confident that this is an accurate account. The reason for the German success was the use of elite stormtroopers who were fast moving because they were only lightly equipped. Source C is laughing at the Germans who had advanced a long way into France during the Spring Offensive but then slowed down. It was too difficult to keep the German army supply lines of food and weapons operating once they were so far into France. For example, Source C is useful to show how a British newspaper was making fun of Germany by showing them as a skinny little dog that can’t get what it wants. It shows an historian that by June 1918 people in Britain were feeling more confident of a victory over Germany. This was because the Allies came under a sole commander and American troops had arrived to help with a counter-attack against the rapid German advance described in Source B. For example, Source B says that the Germans had some success at the start of 1918 as they got past the British front line. Thousands of British soldiers were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner in the Ludendorff Spring Offensive. For example, Source C is laughing at the Germans who had advanced a long way into France during the Spring Offensive but then slowed down. It was too difficult to keep the German army supply lines of food and weapons operating once they were so far into France. to the enquiry point, for example, Source B says the German army thought they would achieve victory in 1918. Source C shows that the German dog cannot reach Paris.

Q3: Write an account of how the war at sea affected the First World War.

Answer:

with complex sequencing and reasoning supported by a range of accurate and example, to an analysis of how/why tension increased at different stages and /or showing understanding about how much each part of the sequence increased tension and led to a crisis. For example, the inconclusive result of the Battle of Jutland affected the First World War because it damaged the German navy they did not leave their ports again for the rest of the war. This had the effect of leaving the British blockade in place and it continued to weaken Germany’s war efforts until the end of the war. It also meant that Germany developed the use of its U-boat fleet rather than its surface fleet. developed sequencing and reasoning supported by a range of accurate factual analysis of how/why tension increased at one stage in the process. For example, the First World War was affected when British ships cut off the supply route of the North Sea in an attempt to force Germany into surrender. This affected German industry and agriculture because it prevented the importing of coal, oil and fertilisers. For example, Germany used U-boats to sink all ships sailing in British waters. This included American ships and led to demands in America to declare war on Germany. The U-boat campaign was so successful that by April 1917, Britain’s food supply was critically low. used unrestricted submarine warfare in the war at sea. should demonstrate their ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning which is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured.

Q4: ‘The failure of the Schlieffen Plan was the main reason why the fighting on the

Western Front lasted so long.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [SPaG 4 marks] and AQA will be happy to rectify any omissions of acknowledgements. If you have any queries please contact the Copyright Team.

Answer:

explanation of the relationship between causes supported by detailed factual For example, the failure of the Schlieffen Plan was the early reason the fighting lasted so long. However, the main reason for continued stalemate on the Western Front was that both sides had the technology to defend their front line but lacked the technology to break through their enemy’s trenches. Therefore, the outcome of subsequent key battles was the reason fighting lasted until For example, the failure of the Schlieffen Plan meant that the fighting went on for so long because the Germans were not able to knock France quickly out of the war within 6 weeks and found themselves in a two-front war. Russia mobilised more quickly than the Germans had expected and so soldiers had to leave the Western Front and go to the Eastern Front. With fewer soldiers, the German advance into France was slowed down. When the German army dug trenches to defend the territory they had gained, the war of movement was over, and a stalemate began. For example, another reason why the fighting lasted so long was because new tactics and technology in the First Word War made trenches easier to defend than to breach. Large guns were used to fire shells at the enemy trenches before an assault. The objective was to make holes in the barbed wire so that attackers could run through. However, the shellfire just made the wire more tangled and slowed the attackers down which made a breakthrough less likely. Key battles such as the Somme were planned to coordinate a British and French attack to but did not achieve a decisive breakthrough. For example, the fighting lasted so long because of the race to the sea in 1914. Both sides tried to get around the enemy trenches by heading north towards the sea. The armies dug trenches as they advanced towards the English Channel. Neither side could move forwards. Schlieffen Plan went wrong because the German army was slowed down by Belgium and did not capture Paris as planned. sides dug trenches to defend themselves and their positions did not change throughout the whole war. • The learner’s achievement in SPaG does not reach the threshold