You practice testing claims a lot in this course. You make claims as well, often within the context of writing assignments. This activity gives you the opportunity to focus squarely on making claims … and counterclaims. Not only will this help you assess your ability to make strong, evidence-backed claims, but will also give you an idea of how well you understand the causes of World War I.

This is a quick activity where you’re asked to make two claims and one counterclaim about the origins of World War I.

Take out the Making Claims – World War I worksheet and come up with two claims about why World War I began. Using course materials, find two pieces of evidence that support each of your claims. Once you’ve written your two claims and provided supporting evidence, write one counterclaim that relates to one of claims. You should also find two pieces of evidence to back up your counterclaim.

Be prepared to share your claims at the end of class. Note that your claims are most likely what we refer to as causal claims. Historical claims often relate to historical thinking practices such as causation, CCOT, and comparison. You should consider the types of historical claims you want to make when responding to a particular type of historical question.

World War I was a total war, and it was the most devastating conflict the world had yet seen. Total war involves four things: large-scale mobilization for war, blurred lines between citizens and soldiers, a rejection of compromise, and the total control of society for the war effort. In much of the participant nations, citizens willingly contributed to the war effort. But the scale and devastation of the war left many soldiers and civilians disillusioned.

Now that you’ve explored the many explanations of what caused the First World War, this article provides you an overview of the effects of a total war. As a total war, World War I affected all aspects of life for people around the world. The article is intended to provide you with evidence to respond to the Unit Problem and evaluate how the war shifted power balances around the globe.

Think about the following question as you read the article: Using evidence from the text, what were the political, social, economic, and environmental effects of the war? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What does the author say are the four characteristics of total war?
2. How does the author argue that World War I was different from previous wars?
3. How did the war cause the spread of disease?
4. The nineteenth and early twentieth century saw attempts, such as the Hague Conventions, to put restrictions on warfare. What were some ways that these rules were violated in the First World War?
5. Other than wartime casualties, what were some ways that non-European societies were affected by the war?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. Using evidence from the text, what were the political, social, economic, and environmental effects of the war?
2. The author provides the four characteristics of total war, but asserts that no war has perfectly met all these criteria. In what ways does the author seem to think World War I was a total war, even though it did not fully meet those criteria?
3. The author argues that “total control of society” is an element of total war. What does she mean? Who did the controlling and who was controlled?

Helen Fairchild (1885–1918) was one of 21,000 American women who served as volunteer nurses during the First World War. She died in Europe, probably from poisoning due to her work on soldiers who were casualties of mustard gas. She represents the millions of men—and women—who volunteered to serve their countries in this conflict.

In this unit we see the First World War not only as a result of great global trends, but also an experience shared by millions, if not always in precisely the same way. As we ask why people willingly went to war, or in fewer cases, refused to support their nation’s participation, it is important to explore the stories of some individuals. Fairchild’s story is one such piece of evidence for you to consider.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why did Nelle Rote’s classmate tell her that her aunt’s service in WWI didn’t count?
2. What did Helen Fairchild do in the war?
3. How did Helen Fairchild die?
4. How is Fairchild honored today in the United States?
5. Look at the arrangement of the four main panels in the center of the article. Now look at the “gutters”—the space between them. What shape does it make? Why do you think the artist chose that design?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. Use evidence from this article to explain the causes and consequences of WWI.
2. How does this biography of Helen Fairchild support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about how people thought and felt about the First World War?
3. Compare and contrast Helen Fairchild’s decision to volunteer as a nurse to Rosa Luxemburg’s opposition to the war. With whose decision are you more sympathetic? Why?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

While the causes and motivations for the war are debatable, most people agree that the financial burden and economic impacts were tremendous. In the leadup to war, many prominent businesspeople and business publications were publicly against the war, worrying that it might disrupt financial stability. But these same businesses made a lot of money providing weapons and goods to the fighters during the war. After the war, some nations like Germany were proof that war destabilizes markets. Other countries like the United States, emerged from the war richer and more powerful than when it started.

This article is intended to provide another frame through which to view the causes and impacts of World War I. Focusing on economic systems, this article examines the debate surrounding whether capitalists wanted war and provides new evidence to help you respond to the Unit Problem as you assess the impact of the war in world history.

Think about the following question as you read the article: Using evidence from this article, explain the causes and consequences of World War I. Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are some economic arguments made against the war?
2. What are some reasons that capitalists might have wanted a war?
3. This war cost more than any war in history. What measures did governments take to help cover the cost of the war?
4. Who was the economic “winner” of the war? Why did they win?
5. What countries suffered as a result of the war?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. Using evidence from this article, explain the causes and consequences of World War I.
2. You have now read several articles and watched several videos about the causes of the First World War. Make a list of all the causes you can remember and then rank them in order from most significant to least.
3. Capitalism and industrialization weren’t new in 1914. Why do you think it took almost 150 years from the start of the Industrial Revolution for there to be this kind of war?

During World War I, propaganda posters were used throughout the world to influence people during this time of great conflict. You will analyze examples of these posters to gain a better sense of why governments were trying to influence people, and how this could have impacted citizens of different countries. While the focus is World War I, the lessons learned here can help you decipher the messages you encounter today as part of modern political campaigns and advertisements, and on social media. The development of these skills can help you decide what to believe—not only historically, but in your everyday life.

Sourcing, comparison
Each of the posters used in this activity is considered a primary source, and analysis of these sources pushes you to think about the historical context, audience, purpose, point of view, and significance of each of poster. This process expands your sourcing skills beyond those used to analyze text-based primary sources. Additionally, you will be comparing posters within particular categories, engaging in the practice of historical comparison using images. After comparing the posters, you’ll answer questions and make assertions, and you’ll use your claim testing skills to support your answers.

In this activity, you will examine a variety of posters from World War I as a way of trying to develop an understanding of propaganda, nationalism, total war, and gender and social class during World War I.

Take out the World War I Poster Analysis worksheet and pick two posters from each category and compare them. The categories are:

• Total war
• Women, minorities, and colonial subjects
• Nationalism

Answer the questions provided for each set of posters as best you can. You might not always have precise answers for each poster, but you should examine the images and try to infer meaning from them.

Once you’re done, be prepared to share your impressions with your class as well as discuss the following questions: How were different groups of people valued during this time period? How might these posters have encouraged people to support and participate in the war effort? What types of tactics did governments use to encourage citizens’ support of the war? Note that for this particular exercise, there are not necessarily “right” answers—however, you should use your claim-testing skills to provide evidence to support any claims you make.

To wrap up, think about the kinds of messages that governments from around the world have put out in more recent history. Do the more current messages qualify as propaganda or are they generally more informational? How do we as citizens of a country determine which is which? Remember that claim testing and sourcing are both great ways to try to discern the intent of different types of government-produced documents.

For centuries, the Ottoman Empire had operated with many different ethnicities within its borders. These different ethnicities, or “millets”, had some autonomy and maintained their own religions and languages. During the First World War, a new government in Istanbul carried out attacks on Armenian communities, claiming that they were a threat to national security. The Ottomans forced Armenians to flee their homes and into labor camps, and systematically massacred their communities. The atrocities provoked international outrage. From 1915 to 1917, over one million Armenians died.

This article examines one of the most tragic consequences of the First World War. It will help you to evaluate both the impact of the war and its role within the causes of the Armenian Genocide.

Think about the following question as you watch the video: To what extent does this video explain the various causes and consequences of mass atrocities in the period from 1900 to the present? You will be asked to respond to this question again at the end of the video.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. How does this video define genocide?
2. What were millets?
3. Why did the Ottoman rulers begin to view Armenians as a threat?
4. Why did tension between Armenians and the state increase with the establishment of the new Young Turk government?
5. How did the international community respond to the genocide?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. To what extent does this video explain the various causes and consequences of mass atrocities in the period from 1900 to the present?
2. To what extent did World War I cause the Armenian Genocide? What evidence would you need to answer this question?
3. Could any of the transformations you encountered in the previous units have led to these atrocities, even without the war?

3x5 note cards or cut up paper

This sourcing collection, along with the Quick-Sourcing Tool, gives you an opportunity to practice a quicker kind of sourcing than you do in the sourcing practice progression. The tool and the process for using it—specifically designed for unpacking document collections—will help you be successful on both the SAQ and DBQ portions of the AP^® World History: Modern exam.

If you are unfamiliar with the Quick-Sourcing Tool or the process for using it, we recommend reviewing the Quick-Sourcing Introduction activity in Lesson 1.4.

The Quick-Sourcing Tool can be used any time you encounter a set of sources and are trying to respond to a prompt or question, as opposed to the deeper analysis you do when using the HAPPY tool that is part of the sourcing progression.

First, take out or download the sourcing collection and review the guiding question that appears on the first page. Then, take out or download the Quick-Sourcing Tool and review the directions. For Part 1, you’ll write a quick summary of each source in terms of how it relates to the guiding question (we recommend using one note card or scrap of paper for each source).

For Part 2, which uses the first four letters of the acronym from the HAPPY tool, you only have to respond to one of these four questions. This will get you a partial point on the AP^® World History: Modern exam. You should always include the historical significance or “why” (the “Y” in “HAPPY”) for any of the four questions you choose to respond to.

In Part 3, you’ll gather the evidence you found in each document and add it to your note cards so you can include it in a response later. Once each document is analyzed, look at your note cards and try to categorize the cards. There might be a group of documents that support the claim you want to make in your response, and another group that will help you consider counterclaims, for example.

To wrap up, try to respond to the guiding question.

This collection explores the difference faces of World War I: the propaganda at home, the experience of air bombing, the recruitment of soldiers in the colonies and the imperial centers, how women, men, and children were affected, and the promises that were made and broken. These sources include poster art, photography, poetry, magazine articles, and even classroom assignments written by schoolchildren.

The AP^® World History: Modern CED suggests students develop their sourcing skills in line with certain topics. For Unit 7, one of these topics is “Conducting World War I”; therefore, we’ve compiled a number of primary source excerpts to help you develop these skills in relation to this content. This should help prepare you to be successful on the AP exam.

We recommend using the accompanying Quick Sourcing activity (above) to help you analyze these sources.

In this activity, you will compare the Mexican and Russian Revolutions, a comparison that asks you to think about how things changed both over time, and in different areas of the world. By comparing two revolutions, you will see how political revolutions are generally similar in terms of their causes, while the consequences that follow vary greatly. Political revolutions still happen around the world today, often sparked by causes similar to those you have studied. Seeing this will allow you to use your understanding of earlier revolutions to better understand the ones occurring today.

Causation, CCOT, writing
In this activity, you will compare the Mexican and Russian Revolutions. You’ll identify both the causes of revolutions as well as the continuities and change over time as you explore the similarities and differences. Additionally, you’ll work on your writing by crafting a multi-paragraph response for a comparison prompt.

In this activity, you’ll compare and contrast the causes and consequences of the Mexican and Russian Revolutions. Then, you’ll evaluate the similarities and differences to write a multi-paragraph response for a comparison prompt.

Your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Comparison – Mexican and Russian Revolutions worksheet. Next, working individually, use the articles “The Mexican Revolution” and “The Power of One: The Russian Revolution” to answer the questions and complete Part 1: Identifying and Describing of the Comparison Tool (included in the worksheet). After all sections in Part 1 of the tool have been answered, use the similarities and differences identified and described in Part 1 to complete Part 2 of the tool. In Part 2, you’ll write two thesis statements in response to the following prompts:

• What was the most significant similarity between the Mexican and Russian Revolutions?
• What was the most significant difference between the Mexican and Russian Revolutions?

Remember that you can use the acronym ADE (amount, depth, and endurance) to help determine historical significance. Consider if these similarities and differences affected most people in Mexico and Russia (amount); if people in Mexico and Russia were deeply affected by these similarities and differences (depth); or if these similarities and differences were long lasting (endurance).

Finally, you will use your thesis statements to individually write a multi-paragraph response for a comparison prompt: Develop an argument that evaluates the extent to which the causes and effects of the Mexican and Russian Revolutions were similar.

Your teacher will collect your worksheets and paragraphs to assess how your comparison skills are progressing.

In 1910, Porfirio Diaz won his eighth reelection as president of Mexico. But his stranglehold on power had started to look a lot like a dictatorship. He allowed foreign investors to control a large portion of Mexico’s land and failed to give his own people a say in government. He was finally challenged by Francisco Madero, a liberal reformer who called for revolution and quickly defeated Diaz. But the next two decades would hold much more conflict for Mexico. Forces of counter-revolution tried to take things back to the way they had been and revolutionaries disagreed on what systems should replace Diaz’s dictatorship.

The story of the Mexican Revolution could be told many ways. As both a political and a social revolution, it had the potential to create great change. In fact, the revolution sounds a lot like the types of resistance to formal empire that you encountered in the previous unit, but it’s also representative of the global shifts in power and increasing conflict of this unit. This will allow you to make connections across units and determine the causes of global conflict in the twentieth century.

Think about the following question as you read the article: Using evidence from this article, explain how internal and external factors contributed to political change after 1900. Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What’s the difference between a social revolution and political revolution, according to the author?
2. Who was Porfirio Diaz and why did some think of him as a dictator?
3. Why did Madero’s presidency fail?
4. What role did the United States play in the Mexican Revolution?
5. Who were the two sides of the revolution after 1913 and what each side want?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. Using evidence from this article, explain how internal and external factors contributed to political change after 1900.
2. First, write a list of the causes of the Mexican Revolution. Second, rank those causes from most important to least important. Finally, identify whether each cause was a “political” cause or a “social” cause. Based on your list, do you think the Mexican Revolution was more of a political revolution or more of a social revolution? Explain your reasoning.

The First World War devastated Russia. Social and economic conditions led to the fall of the Russian tsar and the rise of a new political leader, Vladimir Lenin, and his Bolshevik party. Mismanagement and political unrest destabilized the country. Russia suffered more casualties in World War I than any other nation, and the winter of 1916–1917 was particularly harsh. In response to all these tensions, factory workers began to strike, and people took to the streets. In the events that followed, the Bolsheviks took control of the government. But Russia’s problems were far from over.

This article provides you with evidence at a national level to respond to the Unit Problem by helping you to identify the causes of the Russian Revolution and by providing background information for you to understand conflicts that you will study in later lessons.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article explain how internal and external factors contributed to change in various states after 1900? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why does the author suggest that Russian peasants would have been excited when they heard about the Russian Revolution?
2. How were the tsar’s actions one of the causes of the revolution?
3. Why did Russia have a different experience with nationalist fervor than its European neighbors?
4. After the tsar stepped down, why did the Provisional Committee eventually lose power to the Bolsheviks?
5. How did the Bolsheviks change both economic systems and social interactions and organization in Russia?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. To what extent does this article explain how internal and external factors contributed to change in various states after 1900?
2. Dissatisfaction with Russian governance was high before the First World War. What role did that conflict play in the Revolution? Should we say that the war caused the Revolution? Why or why not?
3. What evidence from this article supports or challenges the idea that World War I was a total war?

You have been learning about the impact of the First World War on both soldiers and civilians. In this activity, you will use your knowledge of the war from the texts, images, and videos you have analyzed to create a fictional letter from the perspective a soldier or civilian writing to their loved ones. This will help you exercise your historical empathy and creativity skills as you demonstrate your knowledge of events associated with the First World War. This should give you a better feeling about what it was like to be a part of World War I, and perhaps will also give you a sense of what it might be like for soldiers and civilians who are in war torn areas around the world today.

Contextualization, sourcing
In this activity, you are asked to think about the viewpoint of your letter’s writer from a historical perspective, rather than from today’s perspective. As part of this, it’s necessary to consider context. Being aware of and engaging in historical empathy is key to understanding how people thought, felt, and acted in the past.

In this activity, you will first hear about WWI from the perspective of a solider, then you will be asked to craft a fictional letter from a soldier or civilian writing to their loved ones. While you have learned a lot about World War I so far in the course, you haven’t really gotten the perspective of a soldier fighting in the trenches.

Your teacher will read the following excerpt to you, feel free to follow along. The excerpts in this primary source document are from the diary of Private Walter Hutchinson, a British soldier from Yorkshire who participated in the first days of the Battle of the Somme, the deadliest battle in the history of World War I.

Start out by reading the following excerpt to your students. Let them know that the excerpts in this primary source document are from the diary of Private Walter Hutchinson, a British soldier from Yorkshire who participated in the first days of the Battle of the Somme, the deadliest battle in the history of World War I.

“On Saturday July 1st we set off for the trenches about 10 o’clock. As soon as we got on the road we saw an awful sight for there was wounded men by hundreds coming from the line. When we was going across the marsh, German shells was dropping all round but none of us was hit. We then landed to a communication trench. But before we had time to get in it Fritz [German troops] sent us a tear shell. That was our first taste of gas…

We hadn’t gone far up the trench before we came across three of our own lads lying dead. Their heads been badly damaged by a shell. Their names were Voice and Webster Brothers.

We had to go scrambling over the poor fellows—in and out, in and out. It was one of the awful sights I had ever witnessed and at this point our own lads was coming out wounded as we was following them in. Then the order came down dump everything and fix bayonets you have got to fight for it lads.

We obeyed the order like men…

I was talking to these three men some 10 yards away and a shell dropped and killed all the three of them. It was an awful sight. I then went and reported the matter to the officers and they came at once to the scene. We then got the poor fellows buried which was a very difficult task for shells was dropping all round us.”

Source: Hutchinson, Walter. “Extended extracts: Diary from the Somme,” The Telegraph, February 21, 2007. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1543319/Extended-extracts-Diary-from-the-Somme.html

What do you think it might have felt like to be Private Walter Hutchinson?

In this activity, it is your job to take on the role of either a soldier or a civilian in World War I who is writing to loved ones during the war. The process of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes from the past and seeing things from their perspective is often referred to as historical empathy.

If you choose the role of the soldier, you will be writing home to your family. As part of the letter, you should describe the conditions on the battlefield such as trench warfare and the impact of the new weapons introduced in this war. Additionally, you cannot just re-use or restate the information in Hutchinson’s diary. Instead, you might need to do a little research to find out what things were like for your particular soldier. This may change depending upon if you choose a soldier from the Allied or Central Powers and may also change depending upon when the letter was written during the war.

If you choose the role of a civilian, you are writing to a family member who is serving in the war. You should describe the sacrifices made at home to support the war effort. Again, details will depend upon where the family is located, who they are writing to, where the soldier is located, and the time in which the letter was written.

Whether you choose soldier or civilian, you should also explain the emotional toll of war and include the feelings one might have on a battlefield or at home. Also be sure to include the reason your country is at war and why the fighting is necessary. Finally, include a short bio of your soldier or civilian, including their age, date of birth, gender, country of origin, geographic location, side on which they’re fighting/supporting, whether they are a citizen or colonial subject being forced to fight in the war (conscript) or someone who joined willingly, and so on. The bio does not need to be extensive but enough to provide some context.

You may want to do some research to find out more about people’s experiences during this time period so that your letter is as authentic as possible. If your teacher requires extra research, make sure to cite any sources used.

Once you’re done, consider sharing your letter with the class. As you listen to other letters, can you guess the bio (location, Allied or Central Powers, time period, etc.) of those people using the context clues provided in the letter?