Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, today. Back in 1908, Austria-Hungary and Germany claimed that by uniting smaller states into larger ones, and harmonising them with the West’s superior industrial and cultural progress, they could bring peace and prosperity even to the divided Muslim and Christian communities of the old Ottoman Empire. Six years later, Germany and Austria-Hungary were waging war on everyone else.
Introduction
In 1871, Otto von Bismarck hammered Prussia and other small princedoms of the region into a new united Germany. The new Union greedily coveted British industrial progress and colonial expansion, but as John Buchan wrote, ‘she began too late in the day, and could succeed only at the expense of her neighbours’.
FROM the 1890s onwards Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, envious of Britain’s industrial and colonial success and exhilarated by German unification, began pouring resources into battleships, weapons and manufacturing. Britain and other European nations, sensing danger, nervously followed suit.
Amidst rising tensions Austria-Hungary announced on 8th October, 1908, a formal claim on Bosnia. They had occupied it ever since helping the Russians to eject the Ottoman Turks in 1878, and now undertook to Westernise it, for its own good. Slav nationalists were outraged, and on June 28th, 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo.
In the ‘July Crisis’ that followed, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Bosnia’s neighbour, Serbia, backed by Germany, but Tsar Nicholas II of Russia bitterly disappointed cousin Wilhelm by taking Serbia’s side. When France also defied him, Wilhelm ordered his troops to cross neutral Belgium and teach the French a lesson, leaving Britain no alternative but to enter the war on 4th August, 1914.
Précis
German industrial and military build-up had created such unbearable tension in Europe that when Austria-Hungary picked a fight with Serbia over Bosnia, and Germany backed the Austro-Hungarians, all Europe was dragged into the conflict. Britain, initially a spectator, came to the aid of Belgium and France on 8th August, 1914. (50 / 60 words)
German industrial and military build-up had created such unbearable tension in Europe that when Austria-Hungary picked a fight with Serbia over Bosnia, and Germany backed the Austro-Hungarians, all Europe was dragged into the conflict. Britain, initially a spectator, came to the aid of Belgium and France on 8th August, 1914.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 45 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, just, must, or, otherwise, since, unless.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Czar. Exhilarate. Weapon.
2 Begin. Manufacture. Rise.
3 He. Help. Neutral.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
x
0
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