There were many factors contributing to the outbreak of war in 1914.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2023). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1-4] (a) e.g. 'It was set up in 1912.'
2. '(a) It was an alliance between Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro.'
3. '(a) It was victorious in the First Balkan War.'
4. '(a) It went to war against the Ottoman Empire.'
5. '(a) It broke up in 1913 when Bulgaria went to war against Serbia and Greece.'
6. '(a) It was formed to limit Austrian power in the Balkans.'
7. '(a) It was set up to expel the Turks from the Balkans.'
8. [4-5] (b) The Kaiser wanted to transform Germany into a world power. His foreign policy was called Weltpolitik and its aim was to make Germany great. Part of this was to have colonies. Germany had started to build an empire later than other European countries and so had to catch up quickly. This led to aggressive colonial policies by Germany in the 1890s leading to South-west Africa, the Cameroons and Togoland being colonised.
9. [2-3] (b) e.g. 'There was much pressure from the German public for governments to do this.'
10. '(b) It would make Germany one of the Great Powers.'
11. '(b) Other European powers were doing this and Germany did not want to be left behind/jealous of the empires of Britain and France.'
12. '(b) The Kaiser was keen on developing a German empire/the Kaiser wanted a place in the sun.'
13. '(b) It would be good for trade and help Germany's economy.'
14. '(b) It would lead to an increase in resources for Germany.'
15. '(b) The German policy of Weltpolitik.'
16. [4-6] (c) 'I agree with this. It was the Tsar's fault. Russia was mainly responsible for the crisis ending in war. If Serbia had not known that it had Russia behind it, Serbia might not have acted as it did. It would not have got involved in the assassination and it might have reacted to Austria's ultimatum more carefully. Russia mobilised its army first and Germany regarded this as a declaration of war. This caused Germany to mobilise and then declare war. So, it was the Tsar's fault.'
17. OR
18. '(c) I disagree with this statement. It was Germany's fault. It was Germany that gave Austria the blank cheque. This gave Austria the opportunity to declare war on Serbia and this set the war off because Russia was bound to support Serbia and Germany was going to support Austria. Other countries like France and Britain would then follow. Without the blank cheque Austria would not have acted so quickly because it knew that it could not act without German support.'
19. [2-3] (c) e.g. 'Russia encouraged Serbia to stand up to Austria.'
20. '(c) Russia mobilised early and this helped bring war closer.'
21. '(c) Germany gave Austria the blank cheque.'
22. '(c) Germany had the Schlieffen Plan and so was clearly planning for war.'
23. '(c) Germany supported Austria and encouraged it to go to war with Serbia.'
24. '(c) Austria was keen to teach Serbia a lesson and provoked a war with it.'
25. '(c) Germany did not think Britain would go to war.'
26. '(c) The system of alliances could provoke war.'
27. '(c) The arms race made war more likely.'