Lesson Y9-U02-L04

Y9-U02-L04 The July Crisis One Murder to World War Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 15

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U02-L04, The July Crisis One Murder to World War: 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. On what date did Germany give Austria-Hungary its 'blank cheque'?

    • 5 July 1914
    • 28 June 1914
    • 23 July 1914
    • 30 July 1914

  2. On what date did Austria-Hungary send Serbia its harsh ultimatum?

    • 1 August 1914
    • 25 July 1914
    • 23 July 1914
    • 5 July 1914

  3. Why was Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia designed to be refused?

    • It offered Serbia a share of the Ottoman lands
    • It asked Germany to pay Serbia's debts to Britain
    • It asked Serbia to hand over its entire army to Russia
    • It gave Austria-Hungary an excuse to attack Serbia

  4. What did the ultimatum demand from Serbia?

    • That Serbia give Bosnia to Russia as a gift to the Tsar
    • That Serbia join the Triple Alliance with Germany in 1914
    • That Austrian officials be allowed inside Serbia
    • That Serbia pay a fine to every family of the Archduke's staff

  5. How did Serbia respond to the ultimatum on 25 July?

    • It asked Britain to decide the dispute on its behalf
    • It refused every term and declared war on Austria-Hungary
    • It accepted most of the terms but not all of them
    • It accepted every term and disbanded its entire army

  6. What did Austria-Hungary do on 28 July 1914?

    • It surrendered Bosnia to Serbian control
    • It asked Italy to mediate a peace settlement
    • It signed a treaty with Britain and France
    • It declared war on Serbia

  7. What did Russia do on 30 July 1914?

    • It withdrew its support for Serbia and left the alliance
    • It declared war on Britain over its navy
    • It fully mobilised its army to defend Serbia
    • It handed Serbia to Austria-Hungary as part of a peace deal

  8. Which war plan did Germany launch after declaring war on Russia on 1 August?

    • The Ottoman Plan
    • The Schlieffen Plan
    • The Dreadnought Plan
    • The Balkan Plan

  9. Why did Germany invade Belgium in August 1914?

    • To stop Belgium from joining the Triple Entente
    • To win control of the Belgian colonies in Africa
    • To capture the port of Antwerp for the Russian navy
    • To reach France quickly by moving through Belgium

  10. What made Britain declare war on Germany in August 1914?

    • Germany's seizure of the British colony of Kenya in the same year
    • Germany's refusal to sign the Triple Alliance treaty in full
    • Germany's decision to block all British trade with the Balkans and the Mediterranean
    • Germany's invasion of Belgium

  11. Which step is most often defended as the 'point of no return' in the July Crisis?

    • Russia's full mobilisation on 30 July
    • The blank cheque given on 5 July
    • The Serbian reply to the ultimatum on 25 July
    • The Archduke's visit to Sarajevo in June

  12. Why could Russia not mobilise 'by halves' in July 1914?

    • Its rigid military plans made partial mobilisation hard
    • Its alliance with Britain forbade any partial mobilisation of its forces
    • Its army had no soldiers left after the war against Japan in the East
    • Its Tsar had ordered the army to stay in barracks for a whole year

  13. Which historian is associated with the 'sleepwalkers' view that leaders blundered into war?

    • Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary in 1914
    • Christopher Clark, author of The Sleepwalkers
    • Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke whose murder began the crisis
    • Fritz Fischer, historian of German war aims

  14. Which historian argued that Germany deliberately encouraged a war to dominate Europe?

    • Edward Grey
    • Christopher Clark
    • Kaiser Wilhelm II
    • Fritz Fischer

  15. Which evidence supports the 'sleepwalkers' interpretation?

    • Rigid mobilisation timetables with little time to negotiate
    • The blank cheque given by Germany on 5 July to its ally
    • The Serbian reply to the ultimatum on 25 July, which accepted most terms
    • The Schlieffen Plan that was drawn up years in advance by the German army

  16. What does Source A suggest about Germany's willingness to risk a wider war?

    • Germany was unwilling to fight Russia under any circumstances at all
    • Germany would back Austria-Hungary even if it led to war with Russia
    • Germany wanted peace with Russia and never intended to support its ally
    • Germany wanted to leave Austria-Hungary to deal with Serbia alone

  17. Why must historians treat Sir Edward Grey's 1925 words in Source B with care?

    • He wrote the words in a newspaper that paid him to exaggerate the danger of war
    • He had never been present at any of the key meetings in July 1914 in London
    • He wrote years later, so hindsight may shape his account
    • He was a German spy who had been sent to London to mislead the British government

  18. Which factor most directly turned a LOCAL war into a EUROPEAN one?

    • The alliance system and mobilisation
    • The arms race before 1914
    • Nationalism in the Balkans
    • The assassination of Franz Ferdinand

  19. After Serbia's partial acceptance of the ultimatum, why did the crisis still escalate?

    • Russia had already declared war on Austria-Hungary by then
    • Germany had ordered Serbia to surrender its capital to Vienna
    • Serbia had secretly refused to accept any of the terms at all
    • Austria-Hungary was not satisfied and wanted to crush Serbia

  20. What does 'escalation' mean in the July Crisis?

    • A plan to shrink an army to a smaller size after a long and costly war
    • A conflict growing bigger and harder to stop, step by step
    • A peace treaty that reduces tension between rival powers and their large armies
    • A demand for money paid by one country to another after a defeat in war

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