ICSE-X-HistCivics
Previous Year Paper year:2017
- #9The 1914 and 1939 Wars that engulfed almost the entire world were known as World Wars
due to its unprecedented impact and dimension. In this context, answer the following: (a) Explain the immediate cause of the First World War. (b) Explain the consequence of the Second World War with reference to the Cold War. (c) Mention any four terms of the treaty of Versailles which affected Germany after
World War I.Ans : (a) The immediate cause of the First World War was the assassination of Archduke
Francis Ferdinand who was the heir to the throne of Austria and Hungary. He was
assassinated at the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The assassination
was planned by a secret society named ‘Black Hand’ which aimed at uniting all
Serbians into a single Serbian state. After his assassination, Austria served an
ultimatum to Serbia making eleven demands. Serbia accepted most demands but
refused some. As a result, Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. Russia
supported Serbia and started making preparations for war. On 1 August 1914,
Germany declared war on Russia. On 4 August, Britain declared war on Germany.
Soon after many countries joined the war. (b) USA and Soviet Union had fought together during the Second World War. But by the
end of the war, ideological differences began to appear between both nations. While
USA was following the capitalist model of economy, Soviet Union was following
communism. This resulted in ideological differences between them. Although both
countries did not engage in an actual fight with each other, there was uneasy
political tension between the two. Both countries followed policies to strengthen
themselves and to weaken the other. This period of uneasy tension and political
instability is known as the Cold War. Both countries formed alliances and began
piling up nuclear weapons. There were economic warfare, propagandas and proxy
wars between the two countries. Although USA and the Soviet Union never fought a
war with each other, they were extremely hostile to the other. (c) Four terms of the treaty of Versailles which affected Germany after World War I
were:
(i) Germany was held guilty of aggression. She was required to pay a huge war
reparations of 33 billion dollars for the losses of the victorious nations.
(ii) The Rhine Valley in Germany was to be demilitarised, and German territory
to the west of Rhine was to be occupied by the Allied troops for 15 years.
(iii) Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France and Schleswig to Denmark and coal
mines in Saar, Germany, were given to France for 15 years.
(iv) The size of the German army and navy was restricted, and its air force and
submarines were banned.
- #9-a [3]Explain the immediate cause of the First World War.Ans : The immediate cause of the First World War was the assassination of Archduke
Francis Ferdinand who was the heir to the throne of Austria and Hungary. He was
assassinated at the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The assassination
was planned by a secret society named ‘Black Hand’ which aimed at uniting all
Serbians into a single Serbian state. After his assassination, Austria served an
ultimatum to Serbia making eleven demands. Serbia accepted most demands but
refused some. As a result, Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. Russia
supported Serbia and started making preparations for war. On 1 August 1914,
Germany declared war on Russia. On 4 August, Britain declared war on Germany.
Soon after many countries joined the war.
- #9-b [3]Explain the consequence of the Second World War with reference to the Cold War.Ans : USA and Soviet Union had fought together during the Second World War. But by the
end of the war, ideological differences began to appear between both nations. While
USA was following the capitalist model of economy, Soviet Union was following
communism. This resulted in ideological differences between them. Although both
countries did not engage in an actual fight with each other, there was uneasy
political tension between the two. Both countries followed policies to strengthen
themselves and to weaken the other. This period of uneasy tension and political
instability is known as the Cold War. Both countries formed alliances and began
piling up nuclear weapons. There were economic warfare, propagandas and proxy
wars between the two countries. Although USA and the Soviet Union never fought a
war with each other, they were extremely hostile to the other.
- #9-c [4]Mention any four terms of the treaty of Versailles which affected Germany after
World War I.Ans : Four terms of the treaty of Versailles which affected Germany after World War I
were:
(i) Germany was held guilty of aggression. She was required to pay a huge war
reparations of 33 billion dollars for the losses of the victorious nations.
(ii) The Rhine Valley in Germany was to be demilitarised, and German territory
to the west of Rhine was to be occupied by the Allied troops for 15 years.
(iii) Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France and Schleswig to Denmark and coal
mines in Saar, Germany, were given to France for 15 years.
(iv) The size of the German army and navy was restricted, and its air force and
submarines were banned.