WWI Flashcards
What were the four main causes of WWI?
Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism (MAIN)
Triple Alliance
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
Triple Entente
France, Great Britain, Russia
What was Serbia determined to do?
Create a large, independent Slavic state in the Balkans
Did Austria-Hungary want the Slavic state established by the Serbians? Why?
No, because they already had their own Slavic minorities to contend with.
What did Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, do?
He shot Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife
How did the Austrian-Hungary government react to the assassination?
They blamed it on the Serbians and wanted to attack them
What did the Austrian-Hungarians fear when considering the attack on Serbia? What did they do about this?
The intervention of Serbia’s ally, Russia. They signed a “blank-check” with Emperor William II of Germany that promised German support if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary.
What did Austria-Hungary do once the “blank-check” was signed?
They declared war on Serbia.
Why would the partial mobilization of the Russian army not work?
If the Russians partially mobilized on Austria-Hungary, they would also have to face Germany
What did the Schlieffen Plan call for?
A two-front war with France and Russia. The Germans would cut through Belgium, fight France, then go east into Russia
Why did Germany declare war on France?
They couldn’t just mobilize their troops against Russia
Why did Great Britain declare war on Germany?
For violating Belgian neutrality
Propaganda
Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause
What happened during the First Battle of the Marne?
French military leaders loaded 2,000 Parisian taxicabs with fresh troops and sent them to the front line to halt the Germans
Why did trench warfare on the Western Front occur?
Neither the Germans nor the French could dislodge themselves from the trenches they dug for shelter
What occurred on the Eastern front?
The Russian army was defeated by the Germans, but the Austrians were defeated by the Russians and thrown out of Serbia.
Who betrayed the Triple Alliance?
Italy, who joined the Triple Entente, forming the Allies
How did the Germans help the Austrians after the Russian attacks in Galacia?
The Germans defeated the Russian army
No-man’s land
The strip of territory between Germany and France’s trenches
What were trenches guarded and protected by?
Barbed wire, machine-gun nests, and heavy artillery
What was the tactic of trench warfare?
Beginning with an artillery barrage to flatten the enemy’s barbed wire, soldiers then attacked the enemy.
What was the war in the air?
Airplanes targeted enemies and ground targets, and Germans used airships to bomb London and eastern England
What were the Central Powers?
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
How was the life of those back home affected?
Propaganda, food rationing
What was the role of women in the war?
They took over many jobs that men would traditionally have, such as chimney sweepers, truck drivers, farm laborers, and factory workers
What were the territorial aspects of the Treaty of Versailles?
-Alsace Lorraine was returned to France
-Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria
-Lands in East Germany, including the farmlands of Posen and the Polish corridor between East
Germany and East Prussia, were given to Poland
-The Saar, which had rich coalfields, was given to France for 15 years
-All of Germany’s colonies were taken and given to France and Britain as mandates
What were the military aspects of the Treaty of Versailles?
- The German army was restricted to only 100,000 men
- The Navy could now only have 6 battleships
- No submarines
- No airforce allowed
- The Rhineland was dematerialized, meaning that the German army could not go to this area between France and Germany
What were the financial/economic aspects of the Treaty of Versailles?
- Germany would have to pay reparations, which would eventually be set at an enormous 132 billion gold marks
- Germany was not allowed to join the league of nations
- They had to accept responsibility for causing all the damage and loss by the war
