Focus points
• Did the Alliance System and global diplomacy make war more likely or less likely?
• How far did colonial problems create tensions between the Great Powers?
• Why were problems in the Balkans so difficult for the Great Powers to solve?
• How did the assassination of Franz Ferdinand lead to war?

Specified content
• The origins of the First World War, 1890–1914:– the Alliance System and the European diplomatic system– the 1902 Anglo–Japanese Alliance– the arms race– colonial rivalries– developments in the Balkans– the crisis of June–July 1914 and the outbreak of wa