Balkans · 1912-1914

The Balkan Wars

In 1912 four Balkan states join forces and drive the Ottoman Empire almost out of Europe. A year later they fight each other over the spoils. Students map the wars, the birth of Albania and the road to the shots in Sarajevo in June 1914.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1900 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1912 four Balkan states join forces and drive the Ottoman Empire almost out of Europe. A year later they fight each other over the spoils. Students map the wars, the birth of Albania and the road to the shots in Sarajevo in June 1914.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Compare the map of the Balkans in 1900 and 1914.
  • Explain the causes and results of the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912-1913).
  • Explain why the Balkans were called the "powder keg of Europe" before 1914.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1900

The Balkans in 1900

Open the map in 1900 and zoom in on the Balkans. Which lands does the Ottoman Empire still hold in Europe? Find Macedonia, Albania and Thrace.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1914

After the wars

Drag the slider to 1914. Which new state appears on the Adriatic coast? Which countries have grown larger?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1914

An old map

Stay in 1914 and turn on Historical Maps. Compare the Ottoman map of 1880 with the borders after the wars. How much of its European land has the empire lost?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro had different languages and churches. Why did they still join forces in 1912?
  2. Why did the allies fall out so quickly after their victory?
  3. Hundreds of thousands of people fled or were driven from their homes during these wars. Why do wars over borders hit civilians so hard?
  4. The great powers created Albania partly to keep Serbia from the sea. Should outsiders decide such things?
  5. Each side in the Balkan Wars called its war a liberation. Can a war be a liberation for some and a conquest for others?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Suleiman the Magnificent in Rule History. He took Belgrade in 1521 and much of Hungary in 1526. Discuss: the empire he expanded into Europe lost almost all of it in 1912-1913. Why did Ottoman power in Europe last so long, and why did it end so fast?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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