ap euro u9 Flashcards
how the 2 rival blocs were created
-Germany’s great power status- the status of germany was a major cause of the war. Though Bismark insisted that Germany had no territorial ambitions and needed to maintain friendly relations with Russia, emperor William II pursued a much more belligerent foreign policy. He refused to renew the nonaggression pact with Russia
-The alliance system- the triple alliance (austria, germany, italy) faced the dual alliance (russia, france). The german military began preparing for a two front war. when war broke out in 1914, italy left the alliance on the grounds that austria had launched a war of aggression
Explain the reasons behind the new British – German rivalry
Britain was the only neutral Great power in europe- relations with germany soured because of commercial rivalry in world markets, germanys colonial expansion, germanys decision to expand navy (challenged British naval supremecy), Britain improved relations with the US, allied with Japan, and joined the French as part of the Anglo-French Entente
How does ‘Balkan nationalism’ contribute to the tension between the great powers of Europe?
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip; western powers forced the ottoman empire to give up european territories, ethnic nationalism grew in the region and threatened Austro-Hungarian empire. serbia wanted to build a serbian state including those in the austro-hungarian empire; two balkan wars- serbia joined greece and bulgari to attack the ottoman empire, bulgaria attacked its former allies, promting austrian intervention; austria gave serbia an ultimatum that would violate serbian sovereignty. serbia turned to russia for support, russian mobilization plans gave a two front war against austria and germany
trench warfare
trench warfare was when soldiers dug trenches and made use of machine guns, hand grenades, poison gas, flame throwers, long range artillery, airplanes, and tanks. Slow moving, lots of lives lose, gains minimal
Explain the German treatment of the people in the Slavic countries.
they captured, killed, or wounded 2.5 milllion Russian soldiers. German military treated the Slavs as savages and used POWs and refugees as slaves. stole animals and crops and killed or turned ⅓ of the population into refugees
Describe the role of Italy and the Ottoman Empire in WWI
italy joined the triple entente in 1915 in exchange for austrian territory, the ottomans entered on the side of the central powers. the ottoman entry led to the genocide of more than 1 mil armenians
Explain the impact the war had on the economy and the people at home and analyze the cooperation of the population on the home front.
provided care for widows and veterans, and censored and controlled the news. planned economy- set production goals, set limits on wages and prices, and created war materials boards. In germany, the gov refused to tax war profits of private firms, a situation that led to deficit financing, inflation, black market, and class conflict; military dictatorship
Analyze the effect the war had on the power of organized labor and on women in society.
labor shortage- millions of men sent to the font and the needs of the military produced an enormous labor shortage; labor unions- unions gained power and prestige. They chose to cooperate with wartime govs on workplace rules, wages, and production schedules in exchange for real participation in important decisions; women workers- women moved into skilled industrial jobs as bank tellers, mail carriers, police officers, firefighters, farm laborers, and auxiliaries or nurses at the front. At end of the war, women were forced out of the workplace as soldiers demanded their jobs back. some countries (US, britain, germany, poland) granted women the right to vote after the war, but women’s rights movements faded later
Identify and explain the causes that led to the Russian Revolution in March 1917.
russia was experiencing great losses in the war effort- poorly led, poorly equipped: tsar nicholas retained complete control over the bureacracy and the army and ignored demands for a more democratic and responsive gov. he went to the front in september 1915 to rally the troops, leaving his wife and rasputin in control. the revolution was sparked by bread riots in st petersburg that quickly spread to factories and beyond. duma declared a provisional government and three days later, nicholas abdicated. the new gov led by Kerensky continued the war despte the peoples desire for “peace, land, bread”-this opens the way for the Bolsheviks and lenin to seize power by meeting their desire.
What were the reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the Russian civil war? Explain.
strategic- they controlled the center while the whites were always on the fringes and disunited; whites had a poorly defined political program that didn’t wipe all the enemies of the bolsheviks; communists established a better army under Trotsky’s leadership; Bolsheviks “war communism” maintained labor discipline to keep red army supplied; revolutionary terror of the secret police (cheka); foreign intervention was not enough to help the whites but helped the reds appeal to the patriotic nationalism of ethnic russians
Analyze the evidence as it relates to the strain the war was beginning to take on the home front in Russia, Austria, France, and Germany by 1916.
propaganda- ensured support for most govs and featured exaggerated accounts of atrocities and patriotc slogans; strains in the allied powers- demonstrations led by the radical German socialist leader Karl Liebknecht, strikes in france suppressed by Clemenceau; strains in central powers- in austria, the minister was assassinated by a socialist, while Czech and Yugoslav leaders demanded independent states. In germany, 750,000 civilians died of starvvation because of the british blockafe, while moderate socialisst in the reichstag called for a compromise “peace without annexations or reparations” After a series of strikes, radicals left the socialist party to form the independent socialist party, which would found the german communist party in 1918
Analyze the similarities and differences of the Russian and German revolutions of 1917-1918
both of the revolutions of russia and germany revolved around ideas promoting democracy, liberalism, and socialism. they created provisional governments as a result of the abdication of the former monarch in power (tsar nicholas II and Wilhelm II). However, the russian revolution was very popular amongst the peasants and lower class, and it wasn’t as popular in germany. there was not a second communist second installment in germany, as there was in russia under the leadership of lenin.
Bismarks foreign goals
1- keep france diplomatically isolated
2- keep peace with austria-hungary/russia (they could gain the Ottoman Empire)
3- keep peace (remain friendly) with britain
Wilhelm II (how he changes bismarks plans)
- breaks three emperor alliance (stops with russia)
-anglo-german rivalry
causes of WWI
M-militarism
A- alliances
I- imperialism
n- nationalism
