World War I was a global war that took place between 1914 and 1918. The Allied powers, which included Britain, France, Russia, a
nd the United States, fought the Central powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. The war cost millions of lives and was the deadliest conflict in human history up to that time. People everywhere looked to understand why the war occurred — and which nation was to blame.
Read these four passages about World War I and answer the questions that follow. (10 points)
Passage 1: Kaiser Wilhelm II
At the start of the war in 1914, German Emperor Wilhelm II made a speech from the balcony of the Royal Palace to the German people explaining why their nation was going to war.
A momentous hour has struck for Germany. Envious rivals everywhere force us to legitimate defense. The sword has been forced into our hands. I hope that in the event that my efforts to the very last moment do not succeed in bringing our opponents to reason and in preserving peace, we may use the sword, with the help of God, so that we may sheathe it again with honor. War will demand enormous sacrifices by the German people, but we shall show the enemy what it means to attack Germany. And so I commend you to God. Go forth into the churches, kneel down before God, and implore his help for our brave army.2
Passage 2: Vladimir Lenin
When World War I began, Vladimir Lenin was a Russian revolutionary leader who hoped to overthrow Russia's czarist government and establish a new government. In a newspaper article in 1914, Lenin explained his views on why the war began.
In reality, the object of the struggle of the British and French . . . is to seize the German colonies and to ruin a competing nation which has displayed a more rapid rate of economic development. And, in pursuit of this noble aim, the "advanced" democratic nations are helping the savage [czarist Russian] regime to strangle Poland, the Ukraine, and so on, and to throttle revolution in Russia more thoroughly.3
Passage 3: David Lloyd George
In 1917, after three years of bloody fighting, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George gave a speech responding to critics who argued that Britain had played a major role in starting the war.
There were six countries which entered the war at the beginning. Britain was last, and not the first.
Before she entered the war Britain made every effort to avoid it; begged, supplicated, and entreated that there should be no conflict. . . .
We begged Germany not to attack Belgium, and produced a treaty, signed by [Kaiser Wilhelm II], as well as the King of England, pledging himself to protect Belgium against an invader, and we said, "If you invade Belgium we shall have no alternative but to defend it."
The enemy invaded Belgium, and now they say, "Why, forsooth, you, England, provoked this war."
It is not quite the story of the wolf and the lamb. I will tell you why — because Germany expected to find a lamb and found a lion.4
Passage 4: Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States when it joined the war in 1917 on the side of the Allied powers. Wilson played a key role in the peace talks that ended the war, and he explained his views on the war in a speech in 1919.
The real reason that the war that we have just finished took place was that Germany was afraid her commercial rivals were going to get the better of her, and the reason why some nations went into the war against Germany was that they thought Germany would get the commercial advantage of them. The seed of the jealousy, the seed of the deep-seated hatred was hot, successful commercial and industrial rivalry.5
Questions
a. Describe any bias found in each source. If you feel that a particular source does not contain bias, explain why.
b. Describe the context surrounding each source. If you are unable to determine the context, explain how you would find it.
c. Describe the level of reliability of each source. If you are unsure about a source's reliability, explain how you would determine it.
d. Explain the extent to which each source is corroborated by the other sources. If a source does not seem to be corroborated by the others, explain how you might find a source that would corroborate it.
