World War I Questions

World War I (Spring Exam)

What were the causes that led to the formation of the opposing European alliances and the factors that brought the two alliances to war in 1914?

• Franz Ferdinand got assassinated which caused Austria-Hungary to ally with Germany

• Germany went into Belgium which was a neutral territory causing Britain to join the war

• Rising nationalism

• The alliance system

• Rising militarism

• Colonial rivalries

The great powers of Europe were obsessed with building colonial empires. In what ways did this obsession prove to be a major factor leading to World War I?

• Germany wanted more territory so they helped Austria-Hungary declare war

• Competing for the same resoruces

Why were some spoiling for a fight at the start of World War I?

• They wanted to use there advanced military

• They thought the war would turn boys into men and be glorious

• They thought war was survival of the fitnesest

• Nationalistic

• They thought it was necessary

What were the major factors, particularly in Europe, that contributed to the catastrophic levels of calculaties and general destructiveness of World War I?

• Poisonous gas, machine guns, barbed wire, tanks, airplanes, and submarines

• Trench warfare and barbaric nature

• The use of colonies

How did the fallout from the conflict alter and racial attitudes and interactions both in wartime and decades after the war?

• Woman worked in hospitals and factories as soldiers came back they got there jobs taken away from them for men

• Increase in misogyny

• People forced Africans to fight for them which caused damage in Africa and major slaughter

• Promises were made that were broken

• Tensions were increased

How did the long, costly, and basically indecisive conflict undermine the attitudes, ideas, and methods the Europeans had deployed to dominated the African and Asian peoples whom they sought to rule?

• Barbaric

• The colonized saw how the colonizers got uncivilized and watched them tear eachother apart which disproved the argument that Europe is educated and civilized

• Dynamics changed

Why was World War I considered a “Total War”? What did this mean for civilians as well as soldiers?

• Everyone was involved

• Everyone everywhere was affected

• Civilians were killed and had to help supply resources

What was the “Home Front” and what were some of the challenges faced on the “Home Front”?

• The civilian front of the war where they were providing things for they war (they worked extra long hours to help the soldiers)

• Some supplies for civilians ran out

• People were living in fear → children were moved away from their family

What is Trench Warfare?

• Underground muddy/watery trenches were soldiers gone mad

• A state of paronio gre because they were in a constant state of fear

• Soldiers faced disease, rats, dead bodies, and poisonous chemicals

• Very dirty

What was the League of Nations?

• Made in the Treaty of Versailles to mandate lasting peace

• The idea was made by the U.S. president but the U.S. didn’t join

What were some of the most serious flaws in the treaties and settlements that were supposed to end World War I?

• Germany and other countries were greatly insulted, disculeded, and had to agree with the other countries

• Promises were broken

• Losing nations were not able to participate

What goals was Wilson trying to fulfill with his “Fourteen Points”?

• Wilson was trying to show how hard the war has been and that everyone should be at peace and have easier access to resources

• He thinks that people should be able to sail on territories that aren’t theirs, removal of economic barriers, justice and equality for colonies, and that people should be educated