Year 8 History Knowledge Organiser

ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW

Date: $8th$ May, Period $5$
Duration: $40$ minutes
Topics: British Empire, Slavery, $WW1$ Causes, Propaganda, Technology, and the Battle of the Somme

THE BRITISH EMPIRE — ORIGIN AND COLLAPSE

Definition: A group of countries ruled by Britain ("mother country"); the territories are called colonies.
Scale by $1914$ : Covered $\frac{1}{4}$ of the world's land and ruled $400$ million people.
Motives: Trade (East India Company, $1599$ ), resources (gold, diamonds, cotton), settlement (convicts to Australia, $1787$ ), religion (missionaries like Livingstone), and military power.
Key Dates: - $1607$ : Jamestown, Virginia — first permanent colony - $1783$ : American colonies won independence - $1876$ : Victoria declared Empress of India - $1881$ - $1919$ : Scramble for Africa
Pros and Cons: Built infrastructure (roads, bridges, hospitals) and education, but resulted in land theft and population decline (e.g., Australian Aborigines declined by $90\%$ ).
Collapse: Following $WW1$ and $WW2$ , colonies demanded independence; transformed into the voluntary Commonwealth.

THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

Triangular Trade: - Leg $1$ : Britain to West Africa (manufactured goods, guns, gunpowder, alcohol). - Leg $2$ : Middle Passage (Africa to Americas); $6$ - $12$ weeks; horrifying conditions ( $16$ inches of space); $20\%$ death rate. - Leg $3$ : Americas to Britain (raw materials: sugar, tobacco, cotton, rum).
Abolition in Britain: Society for Abolition of Slave Trade established in $1787$ . Key figures: William Wilberforce (campaigned in Parliament), Thomas Clarkson (collected evidence), and Olaudah Equiano (autobiography). Slave trade abolished in $1807$ , and slavery in British colonies in $1833$ .
Abolition in USA: Conflict between industrial North and agricultural South (American Civil War); slavery abolished via the $13th$ Amendment in $1865$ .

CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

$MAIN$ Causes: - $M$ ilitarism: Armed build-up and the Britain-Germany Dreadnought race. - $A$ lliances: Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia) vs. Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy). - $I$ mperialism: Global competition for land (e.g., Morocco cases in $1905$ and $1911$ ). - $N$ ationalism: Serbian pride and the goal of Slavic unity.
Trigger: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip (Black Hand) on $28$ June $1914$ in Sarajevo.
July Crisis: Rapid escalation from Germany's "blank cheque" to Austria-Hungary, mobilization, and the invasion of neutral Belgium on $3$ August $1914$ . Britain declared war the next day.

PROPAGANDA, RECRUITMENT, AND WARFARE

Recruitment: Lord Kitchener led a massive campaign using patriotism (Kitchener poster), guilt, fear, and duty to attract $750,000$ volunteers in the first $8$ weeks. Conscription introduced in $1916$ .
Technology: - Trenches: $400$ miles of static defense on the Western Front. - Machine guns: $450$ - $600$ bullets per minute; main cause of stalemate. - Artillery: Heavy bombardments (e.g., $1.5$ million shells in $7$ days at the Somme). - Poison gas: Choked and blinded soldiers (Ypres, $1915$ ). - Tanks: Designed to cross trenches; first used in $1916$ (Somme) and breakthrough at Cambrai in $1917$ .
Battle of the Somme: $1$ July $18$ Nov $1916$ . First day was the worst in British history with $19,240$ killed and $57,470$ total casualties. $141$ days resulted in $1$ million+ casualties for $10\,km$ of gain.

QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION (REVISION CHECKLIST)

British Empire: What was the British Empire? Why did it expand (name $3$ reasons)? Was the Empire good or evil? Why did it collapse?
Slavery: What was the Triangular Trade? What were life and conditions like for enslaved people? Who were Wilberforce, Clarkson, and Equiano? When was slavery abolished in Britain and the USA?
Causes of $WW1$ : What does $MAIN$ stand for? Who was assassinated on $28$ June $1914$ and by whom? How did alliances lead to a European war?
Recruitment: Why were volunteers needed in $1914$ ? Name the $4$ propaganda techniques. When was conscription introduced?
WW1 Technology: Why did the war become a stalemate? What happened on the first day of the Battle of the Somme? Was the Somme a success or a failure?

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THE BRITISH EMPIRE — ORIGIN AND COLLAPSE

Definition: A group of countries ruled by Britain ("mother country"); the territories are called colonies.
Scale by 1914: Covered ( \frac{1}{4} ) of the world's land and ruled 400 million people.
Motives:
  - Trade (East India Company, 1599)
  - Resources (gold, diamonds, cotton)
  - Settlement (convicts to Australia, 1787)
  - Religion (missionaries like Livingstone)
  - Military power.
Key Dates:
  - 1607: Jamestown, Virginia — first permanent colony
  - 1783: American colonies won independence
  - 1876: Victoria declared Empress of India
  - 1881-1919: Scramble for Africa
Pros and Cons:
- Built infrastructure (roads, bridges, hospitals) and education,
- Resulted in land theft and population decline (e.g., Australian Aborigines declined by 90%).
Collapse: Following WW1 and WW2, colonies demanded independence; transformed into the voluntary Commonwealth.

THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

Triangular Trade:
  - Leg 1: Britain to West Africa (manufactured goods, guns, gunpowder, alcohol).
  - Leg 2: Middle Passage (Africa to Americas); 6-12 weeks; horrifying conditions (16 inches of space); 20% death rate.
  - Leg 3: Americas to Britain (raw materials: sugar, tobacco, cotton, rum).
Abolition in Britain:
  - Society for Abolition of Slave Trade established in 1787.
  - Key figures: William Wilberforce (campaigned in Parliament), Thomas Clarkson (collected evidence), and Olaudah Equiano (autobiography).
  - Slave trade abolished in 1807, and slavery in British colonies in 1833.
Abolition in the USA:
- Conflict between industrial North and agricultural South (American Civil War);
- Slavery abolished via the 13th Amendment in 1865.

CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

MAIN Causes:
  - Militarism: Armed build-up and the Britain-Germany Dreadnought race.
  - Alliances: Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia) vs. Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy).
  - Imperialism: Global competition for land (e.g., Morocco cases in 1905 and 1911).
  - Nationalism: Serbian pride and the goal of Slavic unity.
Trigger: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip (Black Hand) on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo.
July Crisis: Rapid escalation from Germany's "blank cheque" to Austria-Hungary, mobilization, and invasion of neutral Belgium on 3 August 1914. Britain declared war the next day.

REASONS PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Patriotism: A strong sense of national pride led many to enlist.
Propaganda: Government campaigns that portrayed joining the army as a duty and honor.
Peer Pressure: Social expectations encouraged enlistment.
Adventure: Many saw it as an opportunity for adventure and a break from everyday life.
Economic Factors: Opportunities for stable income and support for families during tough economic times.

HOW THE FIRST WORLD WAR CHANGED WARFARE

Trench Warfare: Introduction of vast networks of trenches leading to a static front and heavy casualties.
New Weapons: Development and use of machine guns, tanks, poison gas, and airplanes changed combat dynamics.
Artillery Advances: Heavy bombardments allowed for greater destruction and changed tactics.
Total War: The concept of total war emerged, involving entire societies and economies in the war effort, not just the military.
Psychological Impact: The scale of the war and its technologies changed the mental fabric of soldiers and civilians alike, leading to lasting psychological trauma.