Unit 5

Question 1

What are the two other names (nicknames) of WWI?

Answer 1

The Great War and The War to End All Wars

Question 2

What were the 4 MAIN causes of WWI? Identify and explain how each one was a cause.

Answer 2

1. Growth of Nationalism (competition for territory, materials and markets)
2. Imperialism (competition for colonies)
3. Militarism
4. Alliances

Question 3

What single event set in motion the start of the war? When did it happen? (month, day, year)

Answer 3

Assassination of heir to Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife by Serbian wanting to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule. June 28, 1914.

Question 4

Define: Western Front

Answer 4

Deadlocked region of battlefields in Northern France.

Question 5

Define: Eastern Front

Answer 5

Battlefields along German and Russian border where Russians and Serbs battled Germans and Austro-Hungarians.

Question 6

Who was part of the Central Powers?

Answer 6

Germany and Austro-Hungary. Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire joined later.

Question 7

Who was part of the Allied Powers?

Answer 7

Great Britain, France & Russia. Later Japan and then Italy (which was originally in Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary).

Question 8

What was the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 8

German battle plan for addressing war on two fronts (France in west and Russia in east).

Question 9

What were the 2 main steps of the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 9

1. Attack & defeat France in west

2. Fight Russia on the east

Question 10

What was the key for success? (Schlieffen Plan)

Answer 10

Speed

Question 11

Why did the Americans join the war?

Answer 11

1. German U-boat (sub) sank British passenger ship w/128 U.S. citizens (and ammunition) or board
2. German U-boats sank 3 American ships
3. interception of German foreign scty Zimmerman’s msg to Mexico offering to help reconquer land lost to U.S. if Mexico aligned itself with Germany

Question 12

Why does Russia withdraw from the war?

Answer 12

Civil unrest related to war shortages – Czar Nicholas steps down. Revolution and Lenin takes power in Nov. 1917 and offers truce to Germany (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk).

Question 13

What was the legacy of WWI?

Answer 13

1. new kind of war: trench warfare, new tech
2. magnitude of deaths, inc. civilian
3. devastating economic impact
4. disillusionment, insecurity, despair of survivors
5. peace agreement which set stage for WWII

Question 14

Who were the “Lost Generation”?

Answer 14

Generation that came of age during WWI, viewed as cynical, disillusioned, and without cultural or emotional stability. Term made popular by Ernest Hemingway.

Question 15

Define: Fourteen Points

Answer 15

Woodrow Wilson plan for peace drafted in Jan 1918.
1. end to secret treaties
2. freedom of the seas
3. free trade
4. reduced national armies and navies
5. adjustment of colonial claims (fairness to colonial peoples)
6-13. specific border changes
14. “general association of nations” to protect “great and small states alike”

Question 16

Define: League of Nations

Answer 16

Wilson’s 14th point, created by the Treaty of Versailles. An international association with goal of peace among nations. Germany and Russia excluded.

Question 17

Who were the 4 major powers involved in writing the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 17

Great Britain, France, U.S. and Italy

Question 18

Who was left out of the writing of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 18

Germany, Austria, Hungary

Question 19

In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles punish Germany?

Answer 19

Lost territory, army size limited, “war guilt” clause (sole responsibility), pay reparations to Allies, territories in Africa and Pacific became mandates governed by League of Nations until ready for independence.