Deck 17: The First World War

Question 1

Bismarck's "reinsurance" treaty with Russia demonstrated considerable diplomatic finesse because:

A) Germany and Russia had been enemies earlier.
B) the Russian tsar hated Bismarck.
C) Russia and Austria were enemies in the Balkans, and Germany was also allied to Austria.
D) Bismarck sided with the Polish when they had revolted against Russian rule in 1863.

Answer 1

Russia and Austria were enemies in the Balkans, and Germany was also allied to Austria.

Question 2

The Franco-Russian alliance, signed in 1894, was regarded as almost impossible because:

A) France and Russia had no common interests.
B) France stood for everything radical, and the Russian Empire stood for everything reactionary and autocratic.
C) France had fought Russia during the Crimean War.
D) Russia was already allied to Germany, and France and Germany were enemies.

Answer 2

France stood for everything radical, and the Russian Empire stood for everything reactionary and autocratic.

Question 3

After 1900, Great Britain discarded her "splendid isolation" and became willing to enter alliances because:

A) the Fashoda crisis and the Boer War revealed how isolated Britain was in Europe.
B) the French proved willing to resolve old colonial disputes.
C) Germany's naval construction program caused the Germans profound worry.
D) All of these are correct.

Answer 3

All of these are correct.

Question 4

The British emerged from their diplomatic isolation in 1902 when they formed:

A) a military alliance with Japan against their common enemy, Russia.
B) the Triple Entente with France and Russia.
C) the Triple Alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary.
D) a defensive alliance with France against their common enemy, Japan.

Question 5

The Entente Cordiale between Britain and France was:

A) a defensive alliance.
B) a close understanding between the two states resulting from the resolution of differences over Egypt and Morocco.
C) an offensive alliance.
D) a close understanding resulting from British acquiescence of increased French influence in Egypt and Sudan.

Question 6

Germany's heavy-handed attempt during the Moroccan crisis of 1905-1906 to break up the Entente Cordiale between France and England led to:

A) Moroccan independence and a vindication of German policy.
B) a German protectorate over Morocco.
C) the end of the Entente Cordiale between France and England.
D) joint military planning by French and British army and naval officers.

Question 7

During the Balkan crisis of 1908, _____.

A) the Austrians annexed Bosnia
B) the Russians obtained opening of the Bosporus Straits to Russian warships
C) Russia annexed Bessarabia
D) Serbia conquered Bosnia

Question 8

As a result of the two Balkan wars between 1912 and 1913, _____.

A) an independent kingdom was created in Albania
B) Serbia received a seaport
C) the Ottomans were expelled from Europe
D) Bulgaria annexed all of Macedonia

Question 9

Responding to the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb, Austria:

A) decided to crush Serbian independence.
B) tried to annex Serbia to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
C) contemplated strong actions but, in the end, did nothing.
D) convened an international conference to end revolutionary agitation in the Balkans.

Question 10

In 1914, the country that declared war against Serbia when the Serbs rejected the critical item in the former's ultimatum was:

A) Japan.
B) Russia.
C) Austria.
D) France.

Question 11

The first major power to mobilize its army in 1914 and to do so on both the German and Austrian frontiers was:

A) Britain.
B) Japan.
C) France.
D) Russia.

Question 12

With the help of T.E. Lawrence, _____.

A) Zionists realized their dream of a state in Palestine
B) the Ottoman Empire exterminated the Armenians
C) Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula rebelled against the Ottomans
D) Sir Edward Grey issued the Balfour Declaration

Question 13

At the Paris conference in 1919, the demand of the French for security against Germany led to the creation of:

A) an entente cordiale between Russia and France.
B) the Triple Entente between Britain, Japan, and France.
C) the Treaty of Versailles.
D) an Anglo-French-American guarantee treaty.

Question 14

The German government sent a sealed railway car full of Bolsheviks, including Lenin, through Germany to Russia in order to:

A) promote rebellion against the provisional government.
B) try to transform Russia into a German ally.
C) lend support to the provisional government.
D) negotiate the withdrawal of Russia from the war.

Question 15

The 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was significant because it:

A) forced the Bolsheviks to acknowledge the "independence" of Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic provinces.
B) permitted the shift of masses of German troops from east to west.
C) represented Germany's maximum success during the First World War.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 16

German calculations regarding the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 were correct regarding the:

A) time required for the American army to take part in the fighting.
B) time required to force Britain to sue for peace.
C) combat readiness of the American navy.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 17

The defeat of the German Empire in the First World War was primarily because of:

A) the starvation of the German people.
B) mass desertions from the German army.
C) the Allies' defeat of the armies of Germany and of the other Central Powers.
D) the anti-war efforts of pacifists, communists, and others behind the German front lines.

Question 18

The First World War forced European society to change in many ways that outlasted the war itself, including:

A) the idea of the "planned economy."
B) the regulation of the conditions of labor.
C) the idea of economic equality.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 19

During the four years of the First World War in Europe and the economic devastation that the war entailed, _____.

A) the rest of the world accelerated its own industrialization
B) the productive capacity of the United States increased immensely
C) European dominance of the global economy was undermined
D) All of these are correct.

Question 20

Spengler's historical theories drew attention because they:

A) confirmed liberal confidence in Western progress and expansion.
B) failed to explain the chaos and absurdity of the First World War.
C) suggested that western civilization had fallen into decay and crisis, thus contradicting liberal confidence in Western progress and expansion.
D) drew upon cyclical theories of life and death and suggested that the West was entering its creative middle passage after its energetic youth.

Question 21

Wilson's Fourteen Points demanded all of the following except:

A) an end to secret treaties and secret diplomacy.
B) just reparations for the Allies.
C) a redrawing of European boundaries along national lines.
D) freedom of the seas in peace and war.

Question 22

At the Paris conference in 1919, Wilson compromised the idealism of his Fourteen Points in order to gain Allied acceptance of:

A) secret treaties and secret diplomacy.
B) freedom of the seas in peace and war.
C) self-determination of nationalities.
D) a League of Nations.

Question 23

The "war guilt" clause of the Treaty of Versailles:

A) rightly placed the blame for the outbreak of the First World War on both the Allied powers and the Central Powers.
B) placed the blame for the war on Austria-Hungary and Russia.
C) was devised in order to justify German reparations.
D) placed the blame on Germany, Austria, Russia, and France.

Question 24

When the Treaty of Versailles was presented to the German diplomats in May 1919, they:

A) were surprised by its generosity.
B) initially refused to sign the treaty but were later forced to sign because of the threat of the Allies to renew hostilities.
C) appealed to President Wilson, who subsequently obtained some amendments to the treaty.
D) refused to sign, leading to the renewal of the war for a few months.

Question 25

As a result of the 1919 Paris peace settlement, whose most general principle was recognition of the right of national self-determination, _____.

A) minority problems and irredentism no longer troubled eastern Europe
B) there was a general and often confusing transfer of populations to sort out the new national states
C) minority problems troubled all the new states of eastern Europe as nationalities were intermixed in many places
D) every language group was given a homeland

Question 26

Describe the formation of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. To what extent did the alliance system pave the way for the First World War in 1914?

Question 27

Focusing on the crisis caused by the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand in June 1914, which country or countries do you believe was or were most responsible for the outbreak of the First World War?

Question 28

Examine the long-range social, political, and economic reasons for the outbreak of the First World War. Which factor do you believe was the most important?

Question 29

How did wartime European governments mobilize their home fronts? In what way did such actions require a major shift in the role of governments in many aspects of European life?

Question 30

Describe the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles that affected Germany. Which provision(s) did the Germans most dislike?

Question 31

How did the Paris peace treaties affect the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Examine the economic as well as the political implications of the treaties.

Question 32

Was the Treaty of Versailles a success or a failure? Why?

Question 33

What was the overall impact of the First World War and the Paris peace treaties on Europe and on Europe's position in the world?

Question 34

How did the new states of Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and northern Bulgaria exacerbate tension in the Balkans?

Question 35

How did non-Turkish people in the Balkans react to the modernizing initiatives of the Young Turks?

Question 36

Locate the areas of major fighting during the First World War. Did geographical factors influence the outcome of the most significant battles?

Question 37

How did the battle of the Marne change the course and character of the First World War? Why did the battle of Verdun attain a legendary reputation?

Question 38

Which countries constituted the cordon sanitaire established by the treaties of the Paris conference? Which European powers had formerly controlled the areas constituting the cordon sanitaire?

Question 39

What happened to the region previously controlled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War?

Question 40

How did British isolation shape events at the outbreak of the First World War?

Question 41

How was the United States drawn into the First World War? Why was its involvement so important?

Question 42

Explain the first Balkan crisis and the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913.

Question 43

Why did the First World War provoke a crisis in Western culture? Describe some of the trends of cultural pessimism.

Question 44

What did Wilson hope to achieve with the establishment of the League of Nations?