This set practises the four skills in the First World War depth-study pathway: placing events in a window, reading sources, supporting claims and planning. Attempt each question before opening its answer, and note the error type if you miss it.
All source extracts are invented for practice and labelled. Check your own syllabus version and school-chosen depth study before relying on any topic here.
Questions, easiest first
1. Put in order: first day of the Somme offensive; Britain declares war on Germany; armistice with Germany.
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Britain declares war (4 August 1914), the Somme begins (1 July 1916), the armistice (11 November 1918).
2. Label as fact, source viewpoint or interpretation: “Some historians argue the Somme achieved too little for its cost.”
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Interpretation. It reports a historians’ judgement, which should be attributed and not stated as settled.
3. A question window is 1914 to 1915. Is the armistice with Germany inside it?
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No. It was on 11 November 1918, three years after the window ends.
4. How many days passed between the assassination at Sarajevo (28 June 1914) and Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on Serbia (28 July 1914)?
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30 days. June has 30 days, so 28 June to 28 July is exactly 30 days.
5. Source D (invented practice extract): “Our rations arrived late again. I am writing by candlelight in a dugout where the roof leaks.” Name two pieces of content you could quote for a question on conditions.
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“Rations arrived late” (supply) and “the roof leaks” (shelter). Quote them briefly and attribute them to the writer.
6. Rewrite so it is supported: “Everyone at the front was miserable.”
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“Source D (an invented practice letter) describes late rations and a leaking dugout, which suggests hardship for this writer, though one letter cannot show the experience of everyone.”
7. A student writes: “Conscription began in 1916 and proves the war was lost.” Identify two weaknesses.
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“Proves” overstates what one development shows, and “the war was lost” is a judgement the evidence does not support, since the war continued until 1918. The date 1916 itself is fine.
8. Source E (invented practice extract, an official notice): “Volunteers are urged to enlist at once.” Source F (invented practice extract, a private diary): “I enlisted because the notice shamed me.” How does the second source help you read the first?
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Source E shows the aim of the notice, which was to persuade. Source F, with a personal viewpoint, suggests the notice could succeed by pressure. Neither shows how common that reaction was.
9. Plan in five lines: “Explain why Britain entered the war in 1914.”
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Command and focus: explain causes of Britain’s entry. Window: 1914. Points: the crisis after the assassination at Sarajevo (28 June); Austria-Hungary’s declaration on Serbia (28 July); the widening of the conflict leading to Britain’s declaration (4 August). Evidence: the dates above. Order: chronological, ending with a one-line judgement attributing any disagreement on weight to historians.
10. Using Sources A and C from the source lesson, write two sentences answering: “How far do these sources agree about winter conditions?”
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“Both mention flooding as a hardship: Source A (invented practice letter) describes water a foot deep, and Source C (invented modern summary) calls flooding a regular hardship. However, Source C adds that conditions differed between sectors, which Source A, as one writer’s view, cannot confirm.”
If you got these wrong
| Error type | Questions | Go to |
|---|---|---|
| Dates, order, window | 1, 3, 4, 9 | Connect a depth topic to its chronology |
| Fact versus viewpoint versus interpretation | 2, 5, 8, 10 | Interpret a practice source set |
| Overclaiming or unattributed judgement | 6, 7 | Support a claim about a documented development |
| Plans that drift from the question | 9 | Plan a depth-study response |
If a pattern repeats across several questions, our online one-to-one History tuition can work through it using your own syllabus version. For the full route, return to the pathway overview.