Lesson Y9-U02-L01

Y9-U02-L01 Europe in 1900 Two Armed Camps Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 15

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U02-L01, Europe in 1900 Two Armed Camps: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 15: Year 9: WW1 Causes, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which two alliances split Europe into two armed camps by 1907?

    • The Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente
    • The Triple Alliance and the Holy Roman Empire
    • The League of Nations and the Dual Monarchy
    • The Triple Entente and the Congress of Vienna

  2. Which three countries made up the Triple Alliance formed in 1882?

    • Britain, France and Russia
    • Germany, France and Russia
    • Austria-Hungary, Britain and Italy
    • Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

  3. Which three countries made up the Triple Entente formed in 1907?

    • Britain, France and Russia
    • Britain, Germany and Russia
    • France, Italy and Austria-Hungary
    • Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

  4. How did an entente differ from an alliance?

    • A formal treaty that bound countries to share one army and one navy together
    • A promise by two countries to stay neutral in any war fought in Europe
    • A looser, friendly understanding rather than a binding promise
    • A trade agreement that ended all colonial competition between the powers

  5. What does 'militarism' mean?

    • A plan for dividing an empire among its senior military commanders after a war
    • A system of government ruled by a single general or admiral in the capital city
    • The belief in building a strong army and navy and being ready to use them
    • A policy of sending soldiers to help poor countries build schools and roads abroad

  6. Which of these was NOT one of the six great powers of Europe in 1900?

    • Austria-Hungary
    • Russia
    • Spain
    • Britain

  7. In what year did Germany become a united country?

    • 1871
    • 1848
    • 1882
    • 1907

  8. Why did France want revenge on Germany?

    • Germany had won control of the French colonies in Africa after a short war
    • Germany had sent its navy to bombard the French coast and seize its ports in 1900
    • Germany had taken the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine from France in 1871
    • Germany had refused to trade with France for twenty years after its defeat

  9. Which country had the largest empire in history by 1900?

    • Russia
    • France
    • Britain
    • Germany

  10. Why did Germany feel cheated in the race for empire?

    • It had lost a war against France and was then barred from all overseas trade
    • It had been forced to give all of its colonies to Britain in 1871 after its defeat
    • It had been refused any colonies because its navy was too small to sail the seas
    • It united late, so most colonies had already been taken by others

  11. Why did a growing German navy threaten Britain?

    • Germany planned to invade Britain across the Channel by land and by sea
    • Britain relied on its navy to protect its empire and trade
    • Germany had secretly promised to sell its entire navy to France for gold
    • Germany wanted to seize Britain's armies and send them off to fight in Africa

  12. What did Kaiser Wilhelm II mean by 'a place in the sun' in Source A?

    • Germany wanted to build solar power plants across the whole of Europe
    • Germany wanted an overseas empire and a strong navy
    • Germany wanted peace with all of its neighbours and an end to all colonies
    • Germany wanted to move its capital to a warmer region in the far south

  13. What does the British editorial in Source B suggest about Britain's view of German naval building?

    • Britain wanted to sell its own warships to the German navy at a profit
    • Britain was happy to let Germany build as many battleships as it liked
    • Britain feared a stronger German fleet threatened its empire
    • Britain believed the naval race had already ended in 1871, when peace was signed

  14. Why is Source B's usefulness limited for a historian?

    • It was printed in a country that had no interest in the naval race at all
    • It was written by a historian who had never visited the navy's ships
    • It is a newspaper editorial that may exaggerate the danger
    • It was written after the First World War had already finished in 1918

  15. Why did two armed camps make a big war more likely?

    • A quarrel between two countries could drag in all six great powers
    • The camps stopped all trade, so there was no reason left at all to go to war
    • Each camp had sworn to disband its armies once the alliances were signed in 1907
    • Countries in the camps agreed never to fight each other in any circumstances at all

  16. What did historians mean by calling Europe a 'powder keg' by 1907?

    • It was heavily armed and tense, so any spark could set off a huge war
    • It was a place where the great powers had gone to war against each other
    • It was a region where all countries had agreed to disarm together
    • It was a continent where gunpowder was banned by every government

  17. Which of these was a cause of rising tension in Europe in the years before 1914?

    • A joint Franco-German alliance formed to share all colonies in Africa
    • An Anglo-German naval race that made both countries feel threatened
    • A shared decision by all six great powers to abolish their armies
    • A treaty that gave Britain control of the whole of Europe

  18. What promise did members of an alliance make to each other?

    • To share all their colonies equally with one another
    • To defend each other if attacked by another great power
    • To stay neutral in every war fought anywhere in the world
    • To reduce their armies to a single division each

  19. What was the 'empire race' of the late 1800s?

    • Competition among great powers to grab colonies overseas
    • A sporting contest between the great powers held every four years in Europe
    • A competition to see which country could expand its navy the fastest of all
    • A race to build the largest railway network across the whole European continent

  20. Which rivalry crossed the divide between the two armed camps?

    • The naval race between Britain and Germany
    • The shared empire of Russia and France in Asia
    • The trade treaty between Italy and Austria-Hungary
    • The joint defence pact of Italy and Britain in the Balkans

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