CG Board Class 10 Social Science Chapter 7 Solutions: The First World War (प्रथम विश्व युद्ध) (2026-27)

Answer:

• Triple Alliance / Central Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary.
• Triple Entente / Allied Powers: Britain and France [also Russia and USA].

1 :

Austria attacked Serbia to avenge the assassination of the Archduke of Austria (Franz Ferdinand) and his wife in Sarajevo in June 1914 by a patriotic Serbian citizen. Russia came to the aid of Serbia.

Germany attacked neutral Belgium to secure a quick, unexpected overland transit route to invade France from its less-defended northern border, aiming to defeat France rapidly before Russian armies mobilized in the east.

France was deeply aggrieved because Germany had defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and forcibly seized its mineral-rich territory of Alsace-Lorraine.

A secret treaty is an official agreement signed between two or more nations whose terms and existence are kept completely hidden from other countries and the general public. A key condition was that if any signatory country was attacked, its treaty partners were bound to join the war in its defense.

USA joined the war on April 6, 1917, because German submarines (U-boats) began attacking American merchant ships and torpedoed an American passenger liner carrying civilians, directly threatening American maritime trade and financial loans extended to Britain and France.

Militarism profoundly transforms society in two major ways

1. Massive Armaments Stockpiling: The state redirects public tax revenue away from public health, education, and social welfare to construct weapons, build battleships, and expand standing armies.
2. Moulding Public Mindset: Militarism promotes strict regimentation where citizens are conditioned to obey government orders uncritically, view neighboring nations with malice, and celebrate war. Democratic freedoms and critical questioning are suppressed while autocratic rule is strengthened.

Industrialization was a fundamental root cause of the First World War

1. Quest for Raw Materials & Markets: Industrializing European nations required massive supplies of iron ore, coal, and oil, alongside captive markets to sell factory goods, leading to aggressive imperialist rivalries.
2. New Imperial Competitors: Newer industrial powers like Germany sought to forcibly seize mineral-rich regions (Alsace-Lorraine) and colonies from older empires like Britain and France.
3. Industrial Weapons Production: Industrialization enabled mass production of deadly armaments (machine guns, heavy artillery, submarines, tanks, poison gas), making total global warfare possible.

To alleviate the horrific plight of soldiers, the following measures should have been implemented

1. Enforce International POW Conventions: Strict adherence to international agreements ensuring captive soldiers received adequate food, clothing, shelter, and humane medical care.
2. Hygiene & Medical Facilities in Trenches: Proper drainage, sanitation, rotation of troops from slush-filled trenches, and timely distribution of antiseptics to prevent fatal infections.
3. Psychological Treatment: Recognizing shell shock and blast trauma as severe medical illnesses requiring specialized doctor care rather than treating disoriented soldiers as deserters.

Factory Owners (Capitalists):** Prospered enormously. Supplying arms, ammunitions, uniforms, and provisions to military governments at highly inflated prices enabled them to earn record profits and accumulate immense wealth.

• Workers: Faced extreme hardship. Wages remained stagnantly low while food prices doubled and trebled. Workers suffered long working hours, severe shortages of basic consumer goods, and food rationing, leading to widespread strikes and agitations.

Figure 7.11 depicts women working in a British armaments factory during the war.

• Life Conditions: With male workers away at the frontlines, women stepped into heavy industrial roles, handling hazardous machinery and explosive chemicals for long hours.
• Impact: Despite risks, earning independent wages built strong financial independence and self-worth. It proved women’s equal competence outside domestic confines and laid the groundwork for winning voting rights.

Revolutions broke out in Russia (1917), Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey before the war ended because

1. Economic Ruin & Starvation: Total war led to acute food shortages, severe inflation, and millions of military deaths.
2. Anti-War Public Anger: Citizens and soldiers realized that autocratic monarchs were sacrificing millions of lives purely for imperialist ambitions.
3. Demand for Democracy: The absence of democratic accountability prompted war-weary citizens and soldiers to revolt, overthrowing monarchies to establish peace and democratic republics.

1.

1. ‘ ‘

3.

1. : ;
2. : ; , ”

The Treaty of Versailles had a catastrophic impact on Germany

1. Humiliation & War Guilt: Germany was solely blamed for starting the war, deeply wounding German national pride.
2. Economic Crippling: Stripped of 65,000 sq km territory, Alsace-Lorraine, Saar coal mines, and overseas colonies, while being burdened with an impossible war reparation (£66,000 lakh), which destroyed the German Mark currency.
3. Military Weakening: Reduced the army to 1,00,000 soldiers, banned submarines/aircraft, and demilitarized the Rhineland.
4. Destabilization of Democracy: The humiliation weakened the newly formed democratic Weimar Republic, fueling bitter resentment among the German public, which directly paved the way for Hitler’s rise and the outbreak of Second World War.

American, French**

1688 , 1776 * 1789 *

French**

England, Germany**

18 * , * 1850

Italy, Germany**

1850 * *

Japan**

Africa**

19 **

Britain**

20 **