Causes of World War I

Question 1

The Balkan nation of Serbia had the political support and implied military backing of which major power?

Answer 1

Russia

Question 2

Who created an international incident in 1905, by delivering a provocative speech in Tangier?

Answer 2

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Question 3

The Schlieffen Plan and the German advance were brought to a halt at which September 1914 battle?

Answer 3

The Battle of Marne

Question 4

What was the dynastic name of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in the 19th and early 20th century?

Answer 4

Hapsburg

Question 5

In 1908 Kaiser Wilhelm II caused controversy by making several inflammatory statements, during an interview with which London newspaper?

Answer 5

Daily Telegraph

Question 6

In which year did Britain, France and Russia sign a three-way alliance called the Triple Entente?

Answer 6

1907

Question 7

In 1905 a short but disastrous war saw Russia defeated by which rapidly industrialising Asian nation?

Answer 7

Japan

Question 8

The Kaiser and some of his advisors believed that this nation was unlikely to enter a war to defend Belgian sovereignty.

Answer 8

Britain

Question 9

Which nation heightened tensions in the Balkans by annexing Bosnia-Herzevogina in 1908?

Answer 9

Austria-Hungary

Question 10

A mishap during his birth left the German kaiser, Wilhem II, with a slightly deformed what?

Answer 10

arm

Question 11

Which bilateral agreement was signed by the British and French governments in 1904?

Answer 11

Entente Cordiale

Question 12

In 1911 a diplomatic crisis was created by the arrival of a German gunship in which foreign port?

Answer 12

Agadir

Question 13

The objective of the Schlieffen Plan was to allow a rapid German defeat of which other major power?

Answer 13

France

Question 14

A 1839 treaty, still in effect in 1914, guaranteed the neutrality of which small European nation?

Answer 14

Belgium

Question 15

Active during the crisis of 1914, who served as the British foreign minister between 1905 and 1916?

Answer 15

Sir Edward Gray

Question 16

Which empire, plagued by economic problems and political instability, was dubbed the Sick Man of Europe?

Answer 16

Ottoman Empire

Question 17

The high command of the German military was dominated by members of which Prussian land-owning aristocracy?

Answer 17

The Junkers

Question 18

With 29 large ships and more than 200,000 men, which Great Power had the largest navy in Europe in 1914?

Answer 18

Britain

Question 19

What term describes the act of quickly assembling men and resources, in preparation for war?

Answer 19

Mobilization

Question 20

Which of the Great Powers of Europe was known for its ethnic and linguistic diversity, with 10 significant ethnic groups?

Answer 20

Austria-Hungary

Question 21

What was the name of the foreign policy adopted by Wilhelm II and Germany in the late 1890s?

Answer 21

Weltpolitik

Question 22

What term refers to the practice of acquiring overseas possessions and maintaining them as colonies?

Answer 22

Imperialism

Question 23

Which of the following nations and combatants in World War I is not located on the Balkans peninsula?

Answer 23

Italy

Question 24

What was the name of the reigning monarch of Austria-Hungarian Empire in 1914?

Answer 24

Franz Josef

Question 25

Which rapidly industrialising Asian nation signed a military alliance with Britain in 1902?

Answer 25

Japan

Question 26

During the 19th century Britain, France and Germany scrambled to obtain territory on which large continent?

Answer 26

Africa

Question 27

What term is used to describe the strong influence or domination of a civilian government by the military?

Answer 27

Militarism

Question 28

Who became tsar of Russia in 1894 and was still in power at the outbreak of World War I?

Answer 28

Nicholas II

Question 29

The Schlieffen Plan aimed to bypass defensive fortifications by advancing through which neutral nation?

Answer 29

Belgium

Question 30

Which general served as the German chief of staff, and thus the commander of the military, from 1906 to 1914?

Answer 30

von Moltke

Question 31

In 1913 the Ottoman Empire was defeated after a short war with which political entity?

Answer 31

Balkan League

Question 32

Which more than one million regular soldiers in peacetime, which nation had the largest standing army in Europe?

Answer 32

Russia

Question 33

Which contested region, seized by Germany in 1871, was a source of irritation and Franco-German tension?

Answer 33

Alsace-Lorraine

Question 34

What was the surname of the Serbian student responsible for assassinating Franz Ferdinand in 1914?

Answer 34

Princip

Question 35

Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in which Balkan city in 1914?

Answer 35

Sarajevo

Question 36

The Crna Ruka, better known as the Black Hand, was a separatist group based in which country?

Answer 36

Serbia

Question 37

What was delivered to the Serbian government from the Austro-Hungarian government on July 23rd 1914?

Answer 37

an ultimatum

Question 38

In which year did the German-speaking states of Europe unify to form the German Empire?

Answer 38

1871

Question 39

The Bosphorus is a strait of water connecting the Mediterranean Sea with which other waterway?

Answer 39

Black Sea

Question 40

What was the relationship between the German kaiser, Wilhelm II, and the British king, George V?

Answer 40

cousins

Question 41

Which of the following nations was NOT a signatory to the 1882 Triple Alliance?

Answer 41

Ottoman Empire

Question 42

Which month of 1914 gives its name to the international and diplomatic crisis that precipitated World War I?

Answer 42

July

Question 43

The construction of which large naval vessels, launched in 1906, contributed to Anglo-German military rivalry.

Answer 43

Dreadnoughts

Question 44

What term is given to the open-ended support promised by Kaiser Wilhelm II to Austria-Hungary?

Answer 44

“The blank cheque”

Question 45

The Balkan Wars were two brief conflicts fought in eastern Europe in which years?

Answer 45

1912 - 1913