Deck 3: World War I: World on Fire

Question 1

What is the "blank check" that Germany gave to Austria-Hungary in early July 1914?

A) Germany committed to backing Austria-Hungary's moves against Serbia, whatever they may be.
B) Germany committed to giving Austria-Hungary colonial territories in Asia and Africa.
C) Germany committed to giving Austria-Hungary territory conquered from Russia and Turkey.
D) Germany committed to staying out of a war among great powers.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Arguing that German aggression was caused by "logrolling" coalitions among various elite groups, each of which had an independent interest in war or expansion, is an example of an argument from the ______ level of analysis.

A) individual
B) domestic
C) foreign policy
D) systemic

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What were the "Willy-Nicky" telegrams?

A) an exchange between diplomats during World War I
B) an exchange between spies during World War I
C) an exchange between the German Kaiser and Russian czar prior to World War I
D) an exchange between the British king and the German Kaiser prior to World War I

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Why did the United States enter World War I?

A) The United States pledged to aid its ally Great Britain should it enter any war.
B) Germany's policy of unlimited submarine warfare contributed to the sinking of the American ship Lusitania.
C) The United States perceived Germany as a threat to its naval superiority.
D) The United States was bound by treaties to protect France in case of attack.

Question 5

In which country did Russia have vital interests at stake and thus pledge to aid in the event of war?

A) Austria-Hungary
B) Italy
C) Germany
D) Serbia

Question 6

That Kaiser Wilhelm II's clumsy diplomacy caused both the naval competition between Germany and Great Britain and the military provocation of France and Russia is an example of which argument?

A) realist perspective
B) liberal perspective
C) individualist perspective
D) neorealist perspective

Question 7

An argument from the power transition school of realist theory may stress the decline of which hegemon in the early twentieth century as making World War I possible?

A) Bulgaria
B) Great Britain
C) Turkey
D) Germany

Question 8

In what city was Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, assassinated in 1914?

A) Berlin, Germany
B) Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria
C) Moscow, Russia
D) Podgorica, Montenegro

Question 9

According to the liberal perspective, which of the following factors did not contribute to diplomacy's ability to prevent World War I?

A) Germany expected that Great Britain would remain neutral in the conflict.
B) Military mobilization plans called for an automatic escalation to war.
C) Civilian institutions in various states broke down.
D) Germany sought to ease the security dilemma by arming itself against invasion.

Question 10

What customs union created by Prussia in the 1830s contributed to the rise of German power through the lowering trade barriers that sparked rapid industrial development?

A) Zollverein
B) Blitzkrieg
C) Schlieffen Plan
D) Entente Cordiale

Question 11

The argument that power politics among German landowners, industrialists, and the military drove German aggression operates at the ______ level of analysis.

A) individual
B) domestic
C) foreign policy
D) systemic

Question 12

During World War I, which U.S. president championed worldviews that emphasized open markets, the rule of law, and collective (rather than national) security?

A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) William Howard Taft
C) Warren G. Harding
D) Woodrow Wilson

Question 13

The ______ nationalism focuses on cultural and racial differences and advocates an aggressive, heroic approach to international relations.

A) hyper
B) militant
C) liberal
D) socialist

Question 14

Socialist nationalism primarily stresses which of the following ideas?

A) international cooperation
B) social and economic equality
C) the dominance of one race over another
D) military dominance

Question 15

Who believed that World War I was a product of the struggle for markets among capitalist countries?

A) Kaiser Wilhelm II
B) Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
C) Karl Marx
D) Woodrow Wilson

Question 16

Which of the following was not a consequence of German unification?

A) a change in the balance of power because Germany was a strong new great power
B) a change in the security dilemma because Germany was geographically vulnerable
C) a link between the rivalries of France and Great Britain in the west and Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and Russia in the east
D) the decline of France as a hegemon on the European continent

Question 17

Which two great powers confronted each other (although without going to war) during the Bosnian Crisis of 1908 and the two Balkan Wars in 1912-1913 and 1913?

A) Great Britain and France
B) Germany and Russia
C) Austria-Hungary and Russia
D) Russia and Serbia

Question 18

Why did Norman Angell, in a famous book written before World War I, argue that war is a "great illusion"?

A) All people share the same core values, and therefore, they should not fight.
B) A conspiracy of world leaders is responsible for creating wars for their own profit.
C) The costs of war include cutting off lucrative commercial and financial ties, making the costs of war higher than any benefits that might be gained.
D) War is a product of imperial competition, which is the "last stage of capitalism."

Question 19

Which type of war might a country consider if it fears that the growth of power in another country may enable that country to attack it in the future?

A) preventive war
B) cold war
C) preemptive war
D) war of attrition

Question 20

What term refers to Germany's mobilization plan that called for an attack on France first by way of Belgium followed by an attack on Russia?

A) Cult of the Offensive
B) Zollverein
C) Schlieffen Plan
D) Blitzkrieg

Question 21

The liberal argument that World War I occurred because interactions among the great powers broke down highlights the importance of which concept from game theory?

A) zero-sum gains
B) the last move
C) equilibrium
D) power balance

Question 22

The argument that German unification significantly altered the balance of power in Europe operates at the______ level of analysis?

A) individual
B) domestic
C) foreign policy
D) systemic

Question 23

That the unification of Germany in 1871 as a central power threatened neighboring countries that then allied against Germany, which in turn made Germany feel even more threatened, is an example of which concept?

A) collective security
B) security dilemma
C) reciprocity
D) power transition

Question 24

The widespread belief among the European military establishment that offensive strategies would hold the advantage in the next war was called ______.

A) the cult of the offended
B) advantage of preemptive war
C) the cult of the offensive
D) advantage of preventative war

Question 25

Who wrote Idea for a Universal History and Perpetual Peace and argued that democracy would spread and lead to a federation of peaceful states?

A) Frederick Engels
B) William Gladstone
C) Norman Angell
D) Immanuel Kant

Question 26

According to the identity perspective, which of the following developments led to increased military competition before World War I?

A) the unification of Germany
B) the decline of British hegemony
C) the spread of Social Darwinism
D) the decline of the Concert of Europe

Question 27

The Concert of Europe, created in the early 1800s, was primarily ______.

A) a trade alliance between Germany and Italy
B) a multilateral and open system for settling disputes
C) a German plan for war against France and Russia
D) one of several ideologies that promoted nationalism

Question 28

According to the realist perspective, which of the following developments most contributed to the insecurity of European states before World War I?

A) the weakening of domestic institutions in the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires
B) the clumsy diplomacy of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
C) the unification of Germany in 1871
D) the spread of militant nationalism

Question 29

To argue that Germany was insecure because it was located in the vulnerable northern plains of Europe is to argue for the importance of ______.

A) power balances
B) offensive realism
C) global governance
D) geopolitics

Question 30

According to the identity perspective, ______ nationalism focused on cultural and racial differences and advocated an aggressive, heroic approach to international relations.

A) militant
B) socialist
C) racist
D) realist

Question 31

According to the realist perspective, why was Germany more threatening to Great Britain than the United States when both Germany and the United States were gaining wealth and expanding their navies?

A) Great Britain shared a common culture with the United States but not with Germany.
B) Great Britain had close diplomatic ties with the United States but not with Germany.
C) Germany, compared to the United States, was geographically closer to Great Britain.
D) Germany had aggressive intentions toward Great Britain while the United States did not.

Question 32

World War I began when ______.

A) Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
B) Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary
C) Germany declared war on Poland
D) France declared war on Germany

Question 33

What were the two alliances that formed before World War I?

A) the Iron-Rye Coalition and the Second International
B) the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance
C) the Axis and the Allies
D) the Concert of Europe and the Entente Cordiale

Question 34

The iron-rye coalition that ran the German government gets its name from what two elite groups?

A) landed agricultural interests and industrial leaders
B) landed agricultural interests and military leaders
C) the clergy and military leaders
D) military leaders and socialist democrats

Question 35

The ______ preserved peace among the great powers throughout the nineteenth century by creating a more multilateral and open system for settling disputes.

A) European Union
B) League of Nations
C) United Nations
D) Concert of Europe

Question 36

According to the realist perspective, what type of war did the encirclement of Germany lead Germany to consider?

A) preventive war
B) preemptive war
C) nuclear war
D) defensive war

Question 37

According to an argument from the liberal perspective, what caused both the naval competition between Germany and Great Britain and the military provocation of France and Russia?

A) Czar Nicholas II's secret diplomacy
B) Kaiser Wilhelm II's clumsy diplomacy
C) The declining hegemony of Great Britain
D) Shared values between Germany and Serbia

Question 38

According to the liberal perspective, the argument that the iron and rye coalition in the German government that excluded the growing working class and its socialist leaders who held the majority in the Reichstag is an argument from the ______ level of analysis.

A) individual
B) domestic
C) foreign policy
D) structural

Question 39

According to historians, German power peaked in 1905, yet it did not launch a war until 1914. What may explain this delay?

A) Germany did not secure alliances to help in the war effort before 1914.
B) Germany did not complete its naval program until 1914, which was needed to deter Great Britain.
C) Germany was in intense diplomatic relations with the United States, which urged it not to go to war.
D) Germany did not believe that Russia was a great enough threat until its production of military equipment ramped up in the early 1910s.

Question 40

What is the focus of liberal nationalism?

A) cultural and racial differences and an aggressive, heroic approach to international relations
B) political ideologies and wider participation in the rule of law in both domestic and international politics
C) greater economic equality and social justice, especially in class and colonial relationships
D) the preservation and promotion of cultural superiority through political and military struggle

Question 41

According to some realists, the multipolar balance of power in Europe transitioned into a rigid bipolar balance, which eventually precipitated a preemptive war.

Question 42

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. According to the liberal perspective, which of the following factors at the systemic process level of analysis caused World War I?

A) emotionally unstable leaders
B) automatic mobilization plans
C) growing but insufficient trade, social, and legal interdependence
D) the spread of militarism

Question 43

The argument that Germany was able to survive (while Poland was not) because Germany could convert wealth into military power (and Poland could not) is an argument from the ______ level of analysis.

A) international
B) domestic
C) foreign policy
D) systemic

Question 44

The realist perspective would not argue that the United States and Great Britain became allies because they shared similar cultural and political systems.

Question 45

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following realist perspectives explains the breakdown of the balance of power between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, leading to the start of war in 1914?

A) Some realists argue that Germany launched a preventive war against Russia to maintain its position of power.
B) Some realists argue that the cartelized domestic politics in Germany resulted in overexpansion, which alienated the country's immediate neighbors.
C) Some realists argue that war was a result of the decline of Great Britain as a hegemon, leading to a multipolar scramble to decide which country would be the next hegemon.
D) Some realists argue that the collapse of the Concert of Europe conference system led states to develop a rigid unipolar system to compensate for the lack of institutional direction.

Question 46

Otto von Bismarck's skillful diplomacy prevented other great powers from aligning against Germany until after he left office.

Question 47

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. According to the identity perspective, what factors at the domestic level of analysis caused World War I?

A) the rise of hypernationalism in Germany that stressed racial superiority and militarism
B) the alliance of democracies precipitated by the development of liberal nationalism in the United States and Great Britain
C) divisions between Congress and the presidency in the United States, which delayed the country's entry into the war
D) cartelized German domestic interests that made Germany act aggressively

Question 48

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are factors that are typically stressed by the liberal or identity perspectives but are sometimes added to realist arguments to explain outcomes?

A) cognitive factors
B) material factors
C) economic factors
D) bureaucratic factors

Question 49

The Zollverein was a military alliance system led by Germany.

Question 50

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. According to the identity perspective, what factors at the domestic level of analysis caused World War I?

A) the rise of hypernationalism in Germany that stressed racial superiority and militarism
B) the alliance of democracies precipitated by the development of liberal nationalism in the United States and Great Britain
C) divisions between Congress and the presidency in the United States, which delayed the country's entry into the war
D) cartelized German domestic interests that made Germany act aggressively

Question 51

The Entente Cordiale between Great Britain and France became the Triple Entente with the addition of the United States as an ally.

Question 52

Germany's domestic ability to convert resources into power affects the balance of power at the ______ level of analysis.

A) individual
B) foreign policy
C) systemic structural
D) systemic process

Question 53

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following was a consequence of German unification?

A) a change in the balance of power because Germany was a strong new great power
B) a change in the security dilemma because Germany was geographically vulnerable
C) a link between the rivalries of France and Great Britain in the west and Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and Russia in the east
D) the decline of France as a hegemon on the European continent

Question 54

The identity perspective emphasizes the weakness of common institutions initiated by the Hague Conferences and the collapse of the Concert of Europe conference system as causes of World War I.

Question 55

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. According to the liberal perspective, which of the following factors made diplomacy less likely to prevent World War I?

A) Germany expected that Great Britain would remain neutral in the conflict.
B) Military mobilization plans called for an automatic escalation to war.
C) Civilian institutions in various states broke down.
D) Germany sought to ease the security dilemma by arming itself against invasion.

Question 56

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. According to the liberal perspective, which of the following factors at the systemic process level of analysis caused World War I?

A) Emotionally unstable leaders
B) Automatic mobilization plans
C) Growing but insufficient trade, social, and legal interdependence
D) The spread of militarism

Question 57

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are factors that are typically stressed by the liberal or identity perspectives but are sometimes added to realist arguments to explain outcomes?

A) cognitive factors
B) material factors
C) economic factors
D) bureaucratic factors

Question 58

Preemptive war is an attack against a state that is preparing to attack you.

Question 59

The identity perspective views the French Revolution as a key event in the timeline leading to World War I, as it influenced the rise of nationalism.

Question 60

Austria-Hungary considered Germany responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and declared war on July 28, 1914.

Question 61

According to the liberal perspective, diplomacy failed to prevent war in 1914 in part because Germany mistakenly expected Great Britain to remain neutral.

Question 62

According to the liberal perspective, diplomacy failed to prevent war in 1914 in part because Germany mistakenly expected Great Britain to remain neutral.

Question 63

The militarist mentality in Europe created the cult of the offensive, which led to the development of rapid mobilization plans and their interaction at the end of July 1914.

Question 64

The ______ contributed to the rise of hypernationalism in Germany because it created a whole new arms industry that promoted and thrived on accelerating arms races.

Question 65

According to a realist argument at the domestic level of analysis, German politics was ______, or united among various elite groups, which supported German aggression.

Question 66

______ called for a German attack on France first, by way of Belgium (bringing Great Britain into the war), followed by an attack on Russia.

Question 67

German unification was preceded by the formation of ______, which lowered barriers to trade and promoted rapid industrial development.

Question 68

The realist perspective argues that bureaucratic and cognitive factors influence perceptions of the value of offensive and defensive technology and strategy.

Question 69

The identity perspective emphasizes the weakness of common institutions initiated by the Hague Conferences and the collapse of the Concert of Europe conference system as causes of World War I.

Question 70

The ______ preserved peace among the great powers throughout the nineteenth century by creating a more multilateral and open system for settling disputes.

Question 71

Militant nationalism focused on political ideologies and called for wider participation and the rule of law in both domestic and international politics.

Question 72

According to the power balance school of realism, the emergence of hegemony threatens stability because the rising power is seeking to challenge the status quo.

Question 73

The iron and rye coalition was a liberal coalition that ran the German government consisting of agricultural, industrial, and socialist leaders.

Question 74

The belief that war was "almost bound to come eventually" illustrates the concept of the last move in the prisoner's dilemma, during which players come to believe they are playing the game for the last time.

Question 75

According to the identity perspective, ______ focused on cultural and racial differences and advocated an aggressive, heroic approach to international relations.

Question 76

According to the realist perspective, ______ tend to develop in a checkerboard pattern. An example is relations between France and Russia, Germany's two neighbors.

Question 77

According to the ______ school of realism, the loss of hegemony threatens stability because the country in decline seeks to preserve the status quo and remain the hegemon.

Question 78

Held in 1899 and 1907, ______ brought large and small states into the diplomatic process and reformed the rules and methods of diplomacy.

Question 79

According to the liberal perspective, each diplomatic blunder narrowed the options for the next decision, which eventually led to the ______ of the prisoner's dilemma, in which war seemed to be inevitable.

Question 80

According to the realist perspective, the balance of power was disrupted by ______ in 1871.