注意：此題目原是DSE歷屆試題，但為免侵犯版權，題目經過修改，同學可以按試題之年份及題號自行查閱原題目。以下內容乃K.W.Ho之補習教材，於課堂教授，內容乃配合K.W.Ho之答題方法及風格所製作，同時內容可能有錯誤之處以供在課堂上糾正。非補習學生在未有得到課堂教學的情況下錯誤使用，恕不負責，同學請敬請留意。
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(a) 提供一個標題(3分)
標題為「錯誤盤算」。
漫畫中，右手邊的德皇及其兒子用「霍亨索倫鏡片」看英國時，以為英國是一隻「怪誕的小動物」，並輕言「讓我們把它踩死」，可見德國原本錯誤估計英國的國力。
然而，當他們拿走鏡片，用肉眼看時，卻發現真正的英國是巨大無比的獅子，反映他們錯誤盤算英國的實力，更被英國的獅子嚇倒，大失所措。
再者，漫畫出版於1914年10月，當時一次大戰已爆發，漫畫的出版是諷刺德國的戰前輕視英國國力，至開戰後才發現錯誤估計英國的國力，故漫畫以「錯誤盤算」命名至為合適。
(b) 以用語分析作者是否支持德國參戰(3分)
資料B作者會反對德國參戰。
作者形容支持參戰的人是「無知」，意即指他們缺乏知識及基礎常識。從作者形容支持參戰之徒對戰爭是「無知」可反映作者是反對參戰。
作者也說「戰爭的恐怖之處」，而「恐怖」即指令人畏懼、可怕，反映作者認為戰爭令帶來嚴重的後果，並不支持參戰。
作者形容支持參戰的人為「戰爭販子」，意思即透過這些人透過煽動戰爭以謀取利益，用語上批評支持參戰的人，可見其不支持參戰。
(c) 第一次世界大戰爆發是否主要由於列強錯誤計算[S+K](7分)
我同意題目。
資料A出版於1914年10月，當時大戰已經爆發。德皇及其兒子用「霍亨索倫鏡片」看的時候，以為英國只是一隻「怪誕的小動物」，並輕言「讓我們把它踩死」，但當放下鏡片時，英國獅子的體積原來是巨大無比，反映德國錯誤估計英國實力，結果輕易開戰，使戰爭爆發。
另一方面，資料A出版於英國，該報章在第二幅圖把英國的獅子描繪成巨大無比，反映英國認為自己實力遠較德國強大，亦因此而令英國在錯誤估算的情況下介入戰爭，使原本的局部性戰爭演變成世界大戰。
資料B顯示，作者認為「這些好戰之徒為何都失去了理智」，亦反問這些人「為什麼對戰爭的恐怖之處那麼無知」，反映作者認為支持參戰的人對戰爭為德國帶來的影響是缺乏認知及理性考慮，而這些人更是佔了大多數，成為驅使德國開戰的重要動力，可見一次大戰是由德國的錯誤盤算下爆發。
資料B中，作者指出支持參戰的人中有「大量參與1870-71年德法戰爭的老兵」，由於德國曾在1870-71年的德法戰爭中獲得勝利，因此他們認為可以再次輕易將法國擊倒，這反映了德國人錯誤估計實況，以致大戰在此基礎上爆發。
資料B中，作者也指出德國的戰爭販子說「我們將在勝利中把法國擊倒在地上。」，反映部分德國人被戰爭勝利的思想充昏頭腦，但卻錯誤估計真實的戰爭形勢，最終使大戰在失去理性的愛國情緒下爆發。
就我所知，德、俄雙方也盤算錯誤以致大戰的爆發。德國認為其在塞拉耶佛危機中開出「空白支票」，無條件支持奧匈能夠迫使俄國在危機中讓步；俄國也以為其在危機中總動員支持塞爾維亞，能夠迫使德、奧退讓，但雙方均錯誤盤算，結果以致戰爭爆發。
此外， 法、俄兩國也錯誤估算戰爭實力。由於法國和俄國在戰前已經共同制訂了「第十七號計劃」和「第十九號計劃」對付德國，預算戰爭爆發後可以東西夾擊德國以將其擊倒。結果，大戰在法、俄的錯誤估算下爆發。
然而，儘管有其他遠因使大戰爆發，但並非主要原因。
資料B指出「信奉泛日耳曼主義的報章」認為開戰是他們「渴望之久的時刻」，而這些報章也是「多年來不斷叫囂開戰的」，可見極端民族主義情緒已經積累己久，是德國開戰的深層次遠因。
然而，列強的錯誤盤算才是主因。資料B可見，由於德國在1870-71年德法戰爭中擊敗法國，以致德國小覤法國，泛日耳曼主義支持者要求開戰的呼聲才會如此高漲，在嚴重錯估當時的形勢情緒底下才導致戰爭的爆發。
就我所知，殖民地爭奪也是大戰爆發的遠因。列強受著殖民地因素的影響以致積怨已久，例如德、法曾因爭奪摩洛哥的利益而觸發兩次摩洛哥危機(1905年、1911年)，成為大戰爆發的遠因。
然而，列強的錯誤盤算更加重要。由於過往英、俄在兩次摩洛哥危機中明確支持法國，令德國被迫退讓。但在塞拉耶佛危機時，由於英國在危機後一直未有表明參戰意向，結果令德國誤以為英國不願為法、俄兩國而捲入戰爭，使德國開戰信心大增，以致戰爭爆發。
軍備競賽也是大戰爆發的遠因。一次大戰前，各國因軍備競賽而導致關係交惡，例如英、德在建造無畏艦方面的競賽激烈，使雙方關係惡劣，成為大戰爆發的遠因。
然而，列強的錯誤盤算更為重要。因軍備競賽沒有直接導致大戰爆發，相反，由於德國錯誤估計其軍事實力，其制定的施里芬計劃預計6星期內能夠打敗法國，然後再迎擊俄國並取得勝利，結果才令其勇於開戰，以致戰爭爆發。
因此，題目所言確能成立。
(a) Provide a suitable headline for the Source(3marks)
The caption is ‘miscalculation’.
In the cartoon, German Emperor on the right hand side and his son thought that Britain was just an ‘absurd little animal’ when they looked at it through ‘Hohenzollern glasses’. German Emperor even suggested ‘step on it and kill it’ frivolously. It shows that Germany originally wrongly estimated the national power of Britain.
However, when they took away the ‘Hohenzollern glasses’ and looked at Britain with the naked eye, they found that the real Britain was a giant lion. It shows that they wrongly calculated the strength of Britain. They were even scared by the British lion and were in a panic.
Moreover, the cartoon was published in October, 1914. At that time, the First World War (WWI) had already broken out. The publication of the cartoon was to satirize Germany who looked down on the national power of Britain before the WWI. Germany discovered that it wrongly estimated the British national power until the start of the war. Therefore ‘miscalculation’ is suitable to be the caption of the cartoon.
(b) In terms of the use of language in the Source, analyse the stance of the author towards the participation of Germany in the war(3marks)
The writer in Source B would oppose the participation of Germany in the First World War (WWI).
The writer described the ‘warlike fellows’ as ‘ignorant’, which means they lacked knowledge and common sense. The writer’s description of people who supported the war, which was ‘ignorant’, reflected that he/she would oppose Germany’s participation of WWI.
The writer also mentioned ‘the horrors of war’. ‘Horror’ means scary, something which makes people feel frightened. It shows that the writer thought that the war would bring serious and terrible consequences, so he/she would not support the participation of Germany in WWI.
The writer described people who supported entry into the war as ‘war-mongers’, which means that these people benefited by stirring up wars. His critical language of those supporting war showed his opposition to German participation.
(c) Is the outbreak of the First World War mainly due to the miscalculations of the world powers[S+K](7marks)
Yes, I agree with the statement.
Source A was published in October, 1914. The WWI had already broken out at that time. German Emperor and his son thought that Britain was just an ‘absurd little animal’ when they used ‘Hohenzollern glasses’ to look at it. They even said ‘let’s step on it and kill it!’ frivolously. But when they put down the glass and looked at Britain with the naked eye, they found that the size of the British lion was huge and giant. It shows that Germany wrongly estimated the national power of Britain. Germany started the war imprudently, making the war break out.
On the other hand, Source A was published in Britain. The newspaper depicted the British lion as a very huge one in the second picture. It reflects that Britain thought that its national power and strength were much stronger than that of Germany. Therefore, under the miscalculation, Britain intervened in the war, which made a partial war turn into a world war.
Source B shows that the writer thought that ‘these warlike fellows, young and old, were out of their mind’. He also asked a rhetorical question, which was ‘Why were they so ignorant of the horrors of war?’ It shows that the writer thought that people who supported the war lacked knowledge and rational consideration about the consequences that could be brought by war to Germany. And these people were in a majority, which became an important motive force for Germany to start the war. We can see that the WWI broke out due to Germany’s miscalculation.
In Source B, the writer pointed out that there were ‘veterans of the German-French war (1870-71)’ among those who supported the war. As Germany got victory in the German-French War (1870-71), the Germans thought that they could easily defeat France again. It shows that the Germans wrongly estimated the real situation, making the war break out.
In Source B, the writer also pointed out that the saying of the German war-mongers, which was ‘In triumph we will hit France to the ground.’ It reflects that some Germans were carried away by the thoughts of war victory, yet they wrongly calculated the real situation of the war, which made the war break out under the irrational extreme nationalism.
From my own knowledge, the miscalculations of Germany and Russia also led to the outbreak of the war. Germany thought that its provision of ‘blank cheque’ in the Sarajevo Crisis which provided unconditional support to Austria-Hungary could force Russia to back down in the crisis; Russia also supported Serbia by general mobilization, hoping to force Germany and Austria-Hungary to back down. Yet both sides also miscalculated, resulting in the outbreak of the war.
Furthermore, France and Russia wrongly estimated the military strength. France and Russia had already signed the French Plan 17 and the Russian Plan 19 to cope with Germany. They predicted that they could defeat Germany by two-front war. As a result, the WWI broke out under the miscalculations of France and Russia.
However, although there were other remote causes which led to the outbreak of WWI, they were not the main reasons.
Source B pointed out that the ‘Pan-German papers’ thought that starting a war was their ‘hour they yearned for’. These newspapers were ‘shouting for wars for years’. We can see that the extreme nationalism had already accumulated for long, which was the underlying remote cause for Germany’s start of war.
However, the miscalculation of the European powers was the main cause. From Source B, as Germany defeated France in the German-French War (1870-71), Germany looked down on France. Pan-German supporters therefore had great shout for war. Under the fanatic emotions, situation was wrongly predicted, resulting in the outbreak of the war.
From my own knowledge, colonial rivalries were also the remote cause of the outbreak of war. The European powers accumulated rancor due to the influence of colonial rivalries. For instance, Germany and France triggered two Moroccan Crises (1905, 1911) because of the fight over the interests in Morocco, which became a remote cause for the outbreak of the war.
However, the miscalculation of the European powers was even more important. As Britain and Russia clearly showed their support to France in the two Moroccan Crises, Germany was forced to back down. Yet in the Sarajevo Crisis, Britain did not show its intention to join the war after the crisis. As a result, Germany misunderstood that Britain did not want to be involved in war because of France and Russia, boosting the confidence of Germany in starting the war, which results in the outbreak of the war.
Armaments race was also an underlying cause for the world war. Before the WWI, the relationships between European countries became worse due to the armaments race. For example, Britain and Germany had severe armaments race in the building of dreadnoughts, worsening their relationship. This was also a remote cause for the outbreak of the war.
However, the miscalculation of the European powers was even more important, as the armaments race did not lead to the outbreak of war directly. By contrast, as Germany wrongly predicted its military strength, in which it thought that its Schlieffen Plan could defeat France within 6 weeks and then Russia, it thought that it could get victory so it dared to start the war, resulting in the outbreak of the war.
Therefore, the statement is valid.
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