Deck 25: The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century Crisis: War and Revolution

Question 1

Why did the nations of Europe go to war in 1914? What did they hope to gain from the conflict, and how did their goals change during the course of the war?

Answer 1

Answers will vary.

Question 2

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
conscription

Answer 2

Answers will vary.

Question 3

In what ways did the ideologies of the nineteenth century fuel the antagonisms that led to the outbreak of World War I?

Answer 3

Answers will vary.

Question 4

How did the Russian Revolution alter the dynamics of European statecraft and policy during the waning months of the war and into the time of the Paris Peace Conference?

Question 5

In your opinion, was the peace settlement at the end World War I a just and fair one? Why or why not?

Question 6

What role did technology play in the high casualty rate suffered during World War I? What other factors contributed to the high casualty rates?

Question 7

Can the Treaty of Versailles be viewed as a successful settlement of the war? Why or why not?

Question 8

In what sense was the Great War a "world war"?

Question 9

Why did the Allies eventually prevail over the Central Powers?

Question 10

Why can 1917 be viewed as the year that witnessed the decisive turning point of World War I?

Question 11

Describe Woodrow Wilson's vision of the postwar world. Was it realistic? Optimistic? Explain.

Question 12

How would you explain the communist victory in the Russian Civil War?

Question 13

What was Germany's strategy at the outset of the war? Why did it fail?

Question 14

How did World War I contribute to the outbreak of the Russian Revolution?

Question 15

How did women's lives change during World War I?

Question 16

Were there any realistic alternatives to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, given the causes and the consequences of the war and its impact upon Western civilization?

Question 17

Discuss the course of the first two years of World War I: Why did many people expect a short war? Why was it not a short war? Why did World War I become a "war of attrition"? Why did the warring nations, worn out by the end of 1916, not make peace?

Question 18

How did events in the Balkans in 1914 spark World War I?

Question 19

What is meant by the concept of total war, and how applicable is that concept to World War I?

Question 20

In your opinion, what nation or nations was most responsible for starting World War I?

Question 21

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
the Cheka

Question 22

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Treaty of Versailles

Question 23

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
League of Nations

Question 24

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
November 11, 1918

Question 25

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
the Lusitania

Question 26

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Nicholas II

Question 27

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Leon Trotsky

Question 28

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Question 29

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
the Schlieffen Plan

Question 30

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
self-determination

Question 31

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
total war

Question 32

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
V.I. Lenin

Question 33

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
trench warfare

Question 34

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Central Powers

Question 35

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
"Peace and bread"

Question 36

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
"war communism"

Question 37

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Woodrow Wilson

Question 38

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Armenian genocide

Question 39

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Archduke Francis Ferdinand

Question 40

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Verdun and the Somme

Question 41

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Yugoslavia

Question 42

European military machines ____ between 1890 and 1914.

A)shrank considerably in size
B)doubled in size
C)were largely unchanged in size
D)increased fivefold in size
E)increased tenfold in size

Question 43

The Great War annihilated which of the following basic precepts on which Western civilization seemed to have been founded?

A)The belief in democracy.
B)The belief in progress.
C)The belief in equality.
D)The belief in the benevolence of the Christian God.
E)All of these are correct.

Question 44

The rivalry between Russia and Austria-Hungary for domination of the new states in southeastern Europe played out largely through a conflict involving

A)Slovenia.
B)Bulgaria.
C)Greece.
D)Italy.
E)Serbia.

Question 45

Which two nations competed for domination of the new Balkan states in the early twentieth century?

A)Russia and Austria
B)France and Britain
C)Spain and Italy
D)Germany and Austria
E)Britain and Germany

Question 46

What was the main reason why European diplomats were incapable of slowing a rush toward war as early as late July of 1914?

A)European kings, tsars, and emperors were too bent on war to heed their advice.
B)The complex, rigid, and demanding mobilization plans devised by European army generals made immediate military action essential.
C)Ordinary people everywhere went to the polls and voted for immediate opening of the war on all fronts.
D)European industrialists, seeking to profit from mass destruction, induced the politicians they owned through bribery to push declarations of war through all European legislatures.
E)Communications was slow in a pre-computer era.

Question 47

How did Europeans perceive the upcoming war in August 1914?

A)It would be the dawn of a new socialist Europe.
B)It would be very short, possibly only weeks in duration.
C)It would mark the end of European civilization.
D)Its long-term nature would revive Europe's suffering economy.
E)It would be avoided at the last minute, once the diplomats finally met together.

Question 48

How did the war in the East differ from the war in Western Europe during 1914?

A)It was marked by immobility.
B)It was marked by mobility.
C)It developed methodically and took months to get heated.
D)It was marked by careful diplomacy.
E)It involved much smaller numbers of troops.

Question 49

Which of the following trends helped lead to the outbreak of the Great War?

A)The hopes of conservative leaders to crush internal democratic movements through war.
B)The adoption by European generals of new military policies.
C)The belief of European states that they had to uphold the power of their allies for their own internal security.
D)The downward spiral of European economies.
E)The dismantling of Europe's overseas empires.

Question 50

What did most Europeans believe about the Great War?

A)It would be much like the American Civil War in length.
B)It would be an exciting, emotional release from the otherwise dull and boring existence of mass society.
C)It would last for years creating a rousing state of perpetual heroics as proclaimed by Nietzsche in his writings on the "superman."
D)It would ultimately bring about the unification of Europe in one centralized and highly militarized government.
E)It would result in a new balance of power throughout all of Western Civilization.

Question 51

At the First Battle of the Marne,

A)Germany was halted just east of Paris.
B)Germany won a crucial victory.
C)France drove the Germans back across the border.
D)U.S. troops distinguished themselves with their bravery.
E)poison gas proved the decisive weapon.

Question 52

Which nineteenth-century European political movement was most responsible for triggering World War I?

A)Nationalism
B)Liberalism
C)Conservatism
D)Socialism
E)Modernism

Question 53

Which nationalist organization was responsible for assassinating Archduke Ferdinand and his wife?

A)The German Bund
B)The White Knights
C)The Austrian Revolutionaries
D)The Black Hand
E)The Serbian Brotherhood

Question 54

How many men died at the ten-month Battle of Verdun?

A)10,000
B)100,000
C)500,000
D)700,000
E)1 million

Question 55

The underlying motive that led Great Britain to declare war on Germany was

A)the German invasion of Belgium.
B)a desire to plunder on the continent.
C)the desire to maintain world power.
D)fear of German intentions in France.
E)anxiety concerning a possible German invasion of Britain.

Question 56

The "blank check" had the effect of

A)assuring Russia a sufficient supply of guns.
B)making the war vastly more expensive than it had to have been.
C)making it impossible for England to enter the war.
D)encouraging Austria to attack Serbia.
E)demonstrating Germany's desire for peace.

Question 57

What was the immediate catalyst of World War I?

A)The uprising of Catholic peasants in Bavaria
B)The assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo
C)The German invasion of Poland
D)The German naval blockade of Britain
E)The French occupation of the Ruhr

Question 58

The Schlieffen Plan was designed to prevent

A)America's entry into the war.
B)war.
C)a prolonged two-front war.
D)a war of attrition.
E)a European-wide war.

Question 59

Which two nations did not have conscription already in place on the eve of WWI?

A)Germany and Austria-Hungary
B)Great Britain and the United States
C)France and Great Britain
D)Italy and Germany
E)Russia and France

Question 60

Who did Austria turn to for approval of its plan to attack Serbia?

A)Hungary
B)Russia
C)Germany
D)The Ottoman Empire
E)France

Question 61

Because of inflation, people experienced a loss of purchasing in all of the following countries EXCEPT

A)Germany.
B)France.
C)Russia.
D)Italy.
E)Britain.

Question 62

Evidence that the Russians struggled to mobilize for total war can be found in the fact that they conscripted millions of men but could only arm

A)10 percent of them.
B)25 percent of them.
C)40 percent of them.
D)50 percent of them.
E)none of them; soldiers were required to bring their own weapons upon conscription.

Question 63

The French drafted more than 170,000 ____ soldiers, many of whom fought on the western front.

A)Chinese
B)West African
C)South American
D)South African
E)Indian

Question 64

What occurred as public morale and support for the war ebbed?

A)Workers' strikes became less frequent as they were brutally repressed.
B)The liberal French government under Clemenceau found it impossible to end internal dissent.
C)Propaganda posters and weapons became less important.
D)Police powers were expanded to include the arrest of all dissenters as traitors to the state.
E)Politicians attempted to end the war short of total victory.

Question 65

Internal opposition to the war in European nations came largely from

A)factory owners and businessmen ruined by wartime inflation.
B)liberals and socialists appalled by the scale of human slaughter.
C)government ministers terrified of losing complete control over armies and the civilian populations being fed into the military.
D)ethnic minorities and women convinced that they would lose newly won rights as the war progressed, leading to increased repressive government policies.
E)the lower classes who were drafted or conscripted into the armies and fought in the trenches.

Question 66

What happened to daily life as soldiers on both sides realized that no one could gain an advantage in trench warfare?

A)Savage treatment of prisoners became commonplace.
B)New weapons were developed to kill rather than overrun the enemy.
C)Soldiers' daily lives became increasingly squalid and miserable in rat-infested trenches.
D)Officers increasingly encouraged soldiers not to fight and to await a peace treaty.
E)Most of the participants on all sides simply quit active fighting and the war bogged down into a stalemate.

Question 67

The entry of the United States into World War I in April 1917

A)gave their nearly-defeated allies a psychological boost.
B)was greatly feared by the German naval staff.
C)was a response to Turkey's entrance into the war on the side of the Central Powers.
D)put an end to Germany's use of unlimited submarine warfare.
E)was an attempt to keep Russia in the war after the February Revolution.

Question 68

Which British officer incited Arab princes to revolt against their Ottoman overlords?

A)T.E. Lawrence
B)George Clemenceau
C)Woodrow Wilson
D)Alfred von Schlieffen
E)John J. Pershing

Question 69

What was the chief reason for the United States' entry into World War I?

A)Compelling British propaganda
B)German violations of the principles of neutrality and freedom of the seas
C)Expulsion of the American consul from Berlin
D)Diplomatic chicanery on the part of the Austrians
E)Threats by Mexico to invade the southwestern United States

Question 70

How did George Clemenceau's government respond to increased opposition to the war?

A)The government encouraged French citizens to voice their opposition.
B)The government suppressed basic civil liberties in order to quell dissent.
C)The government created less wartime propaganda.
D)The government was unaware of the opposition to the war.
E)The government ignored the opposition to the war.

Question 71

The most important consequence of the first year of World War I was

A)a deadly stalemate on the western front as a result of the failure of German war plans.
B)Italy's decision to switch sides to the German-Austrian alliance.
C)the collapse of German armies on the Russian front.
D)Serbia's rapid advance into Austria-Hungary.
E)the Ottoman Empire's decision to join the Triple Entente.

Question 72

What best describes women workers during World War I?

A)They served as support troops behind the front line trenches.
B)They gained equal industrial wages with men by the end of the war.
C)They achieved permanent job security in the once male-dominated workplace.
D)They worked in all areas except the textile industry.
E)They gained the right to vote immediately following the war.

Question 73

The ____ Amendment to the Constitution gave American women the right to vote in 1920

A)Fifteenth
B)Sixteenth
C)Seventeenth
D)Eighteenth
E)Nineteenth

Question 74

What was the economic impact of World War I?

A)It saw European governments adopt a "hands off" policy toward their economies.
B)It saw European governments all take control of only war-related industries.
C)It witnessed European governments gradually take full control of all aspects of their economies.
D)It did little to affect the domestic industries of European nations.
E)It brought considerable prosperity to all of the belligerent nations.

Question 75

During 1914, in contrast to events in Western Europe, the war in the east

A)was marked by immobility.
B)was marked by mobility.
C)developed methodically and took months to get heated.
D)was marked by careful diplomacy.
E)involved smaller numbers of troops.

Question 76

Which of the following powers seized German-held territories in the Pacific?

A)Japan.
B)Australia.
C)New Zealand.
D)All of these are correct.
E)None of these are correct.

Question 77

In 1916, compulsory military service was introduced in ____ for the first time.

A)France
B)Austria
C)Germany
D)Russia
E)Britain

Question 78

On which side did the Ottoman Empire join the war in 1914?

A)The United States
B)Italy
C)France
D)Russia
E)Germany

Question 79

At the outset of the war, the United States

A)declared its neutrality.
B)voiced its support for the Allies.
C)voiced its support for the Central Powers.
D)began to make plans for immediate intervention in Europe.
E)offered to host a peace conference.

Question 80

One socioeconomic group that clearly benefited from World War I was

A)civil servants who received more powers and job security.
B)large industrialists, especially owners of factories making weapons and munitions.
C)young adults who received better, more technical training.
D)petty criminals who won release in wartime to work in factories.
E)rural landholders who profited by producing additional foodstuffs for the troops.