WW1

Question 1

How many people died in WW1

Answer 1

Over 17 million people were killed in WW1

Question 2

What was the immediate cause of WW1?

Answer 2

The immediate cause was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Question 3

What were the four main causes of WW1?

Answer 3

The four causes of WW1 were M.A.I.N. Militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism

Question 4

What are colonies and how did they help?

Answer 4

Colonies are countries that are owned and controlled by another. Colonies help improve the wealth and strengthen the empire of the Great Powers

Question 5

What is imperialism?

Answer 5

Imperialism is the act of gaining more land by invading other smaller countries and getting full control of them

Question 6

What did alliances and defense treaties do?

Answer 6

Alliances ensured that when one country went to war with another, the countries in its alliance had to go to war with them and help

Question 7

Which were the two biggest alliances at the time and which countries were in them?

Answer 7

Triple Entente - Russia, France, Britain

Triple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

Question 8

What is militarism?

Answer 8

Militarism is the mass production of arms by the Great Powers in order to be able to protect themselves and to acquire Great power status

Question 9

Who murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand and how did that lead to WW1

Answer 9

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. On the 28th of June, he was murdered by a Serbian nationalistic organization called the Black Hand. Because of his assassination, Austria threatened to go to war with Serbia. Austria-Hungary then sent a list of demands to Serbia to stop the war. When Serbia refused, Austria declared war on them. Germany sided with Austria, while Russia sided with Serbia. France also joined the party as they had a defense treaty with Russia

Question 10

How did militarism cause WW1

Answer 10

Militarism caused WW1 because every country at that time wanted to have the greatest army. The mass production of arms led to arm races, creating more tension and fear between the countries of Europe and making their relationships even more competitive

Question 11

What are arm races

Answer 11

Arm races are when countries compete against each other by buying arms in order to be stronger and superior to the other

Question 12

What’s an example of an arm race

Answer 12

An example of an arm race is the Anglo-German naval race. Germany had tried to surpass Britain in the naval department by building more dreadnoughts than them. Britain was threatened by this as they wanted to be the strongest naval power. This made Britain mass-produce dreadnoughts and achieved a ratio of 2:1 dreadnoughts against Germany

Question 13

What was the Treaty of London in 1839?

Answer 13

The Treaty of London guaranteed Belgium’s independence and neutrality. Germany broke this treaty by invading Belgium, causing Britain to join WW1 against Germany

Question 14

What was the main aim of the Triple Entente

Answer 14

The main aim of the Triple Entente was technically to go against the Triple Alliance, but really it was to prevent Britain and France to go to war over Japan

Question 15

How did alliances lead to WW1

Answer 15

With alliances, when one country declares war on another, its allied countries come to help. This could turn a small war into a bigger one as more countries get involved. In the case of WW1, the small regional war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia turned into a big, global war as the allies of these two countries got involved. Alliances also create hatred and aggressiveness between countries of opposite alliances

Question 16

How did imperialism lead to WW1

Answer 16

Imperialism led to WW1 because every country at the time wanted to have the greatest empire. They achieved that through taking other countries as colonies. This created competition between the countries of Europe and built more tension between them, as they often got into disagreements about who to take over one country. An example of this is when Russia wanted the Ottoman Empire because they needed access through the Dardanelles. Britain and France wanted to prevent this, as they didn’t want Russia to have access to the Mediterranean, because it would challenge their own colonies in Africa

Question 17

What was the Age of Nationalism

Answer 17

The age of nationalism was when people rebelled against the Great Powers as they wanted to form their own nation-state(a state with mostly on ethnic group)

Question 18

What was the Bosnian crisis of 1908

Answer 18

The Bosnian Crisis was conflict around Bosnia in 1908. Austria-Hungary wanted to annex Bosnia, as even though it was occupied by Austria, it officially was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Serbia also wanted a piece of Bosnia as they wanted access to the Adriatic Sea and many Serbs lived there. Serbia mobilized and was ready to go to war over Bosnia. Their plans later failed, as they did not have the support of Russia and couldn’t fight Austria all alone. Even though they had to acknowledge the annexation as finished, many Serbs in Bosnia wanted to be a part of Serbia and achieve independence from Austria.

Question 19

What is nationalism

Answer 19

Nationalism is when people in one country believe there country is better than another

Question 20

How did Nationalism lead to WW1

Answer 20

Nationalism led to WW1 as it created hatred between the countries of Europe. Also, with nationalism people of one ethnicity wanted to form their own nation-state and rebel against their country. In the case of WW1, the Serbs in Austria-Hungary wanted to unite with Serbia and achieve independence. This created tension in Austria-Hungary and also was the reason Archduke Ferdinand was murdered which in turn caused WW1.

Question 21

What was the Schlieffen plan

Answer 21

The Schlieffen plan was Germany’s plan based on avoiding a two front war. The idea was that because Russia takes so long to mobilize, Germany was going to send all its troops to France, defeat them, and quickly send them back to Russia

Question 22

Why did the Schlieffen plan fail

Answer 22

The Schlieffen plan failed because France had already built their defenses across the Border. This forced Germany to send their troops through Belgium. Their plan did not turn out well as Belgium fought back, slowing them down significantly. Britain also got upset that Germany broke Belgium’s neutrality and declared war against Germany

Question 23

What is a stalemate

Answer 23

A situation in which neither side can progress

Question 24

What did countries use to break the stalemate

Answer 24

Machine guns, Aircraft(for reconnaissance), gas, tanks(to break barbed wire)

Question 25

What happened in the Battle of Somme

Answer 25

The Battle of Somme is one of the largest battles in WW1. The Allies started with a week long bombardment to weaken enemy defenses. Over 1.5 million shells were fired. The German defenses were left intact, as they were reinforced with concrete dugouts making them very strong. Thus, the Germans could easily shoot British soldiers down with machine guns. Over 1.25 million soldiers were killed and the battle lasted 5 months

Question 26

What was trench foot

Answer 26

Trench was an infection to the feet caused by the cold conditions. This caused their feet to go numb and their skin to turn red or blue. If it was left untreated the skin would turn gangrenous, resulting in amputation. Over 20000 were treated for trench foot in the winter of 1914