Untitled Flashcards Set

🛡 SOCIAL 20 STUDY GUIDE: WORLD WARS & INTERWAR PERIOD

📚 SECTION 1: CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (1914–1918)

🔥 Overview:

World War I, or "The Great War," lasted from 1914–1918, involved global alliances, and introduced new industrialized warfare such as machine guns, tanks, gas, and trench warfare.

🌍 Major Alliances:

Triple Entente:

• Great Britain (including Canada)

• France

• Russia

• Italy (joined in 1915)

• United States (joined in 1917)

Triple Alliance (Central Powers):

• Germany

• Austria-Hungary

• Ottoman Empire

🧨 MANIA: 5 Key Causes of WWI

(Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, Assassination)

1. Militarism

• Belief that military power = national strength

• Arms race, especially between Germany and Britain

• Military seen as glorious and prestigious

• Led to readiness and eagerness for war

2. Alliances

• Countries promised mutual defense

• Created deterrence but also a domino effect (see below)

• Germany wanted more global power; Britain/France wanted to keep balance

3. Nationalism

• Intense pride in one's country; desire for dominance

• Germany sought “a place in the sun” with more colonies and power

• Britain wanted to preserve their massive empire

• France wanted revenge for losses in the Franco-Prussian War

➤ Serbian Nationalism and Pan-Slavism

• Serbia wanted all Slavic peoples under its control

• Russia supported this through Pan-Slavism

• Nationalist tensions led to terrorist acts against Austria-Hungary

4. Imperialism

• Competition for global colonies and resources

• Increased tensions between European powers

5. Assassination

• June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist

• Spark that ignited WWI

🧩 The Domino Effect:

• Once Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, all allied nations followed

• Due to entangled alliances, a regional conflict turned into a world war

🗺 The Schlieffen Plan:

• Germany’s plan to avoid a 2-front war

• Attack France quickly via neutral Belgium before Russia mobilizes

• Britain joins the war after Germany violates Belgian neutrality

🕊 End of WWI:

• Armistice signed on November 11, 1918

• Germany forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles

  • Accept full blame for the war

  • Lose territory

  • Pay massive reparations

  • Military restrictions imposed

📚 SECTION 2: THE INTERWAR PERIOD (1919–1939)

🧠 Key Vocabulary:

• Appeasement: Giving in to an aggressor to avoid war

• Expansionism: Policy of expanding territory or influence

• Great Power: Nation with global influence (economic, military, etc.)

• Isolationism: Avoiding involvement in foreign conflicts

• Ultranationalism: Extreme nationalism that causes conflict with others

🌍 Expansionism in Germany, Italy, and Japan

• Leaders of these nations adopted expansionist policies to:

  • Rebuild empires

  • Secure resources and markets

  • Promote racial superiority and nationalism

🇩🇪 German Expansionism:

• Treaty of Versailles left Germany weakened, angry

• Rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party

• Hitler began violating Treaty of Versailles:

  • 1936: Remilitarized the Rhineland (no reaction from Britain/France)

  • 1938: Anschluss (unification with Austria)

  • Began demanding Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia

☮ Appeasement and the Munich Agreement (1938):

• Britain and France, traumatized by WWI, avoided confrontation

• Munich Conference (1938):

  • Gave Hitler Sudetenland in exchange for peace

  • Hitler promised to stop—but he didn’t

• Lesson: Appeasement failed; it encouraged Hitler to continue aggression

🇺🇸 U.S. Isolationism:

• Due to Great Depression and WWI losses

• U.S. avoided involvement in Europe/Asia

• Stayed isolated until Pearl Harbor (1941)

🌍 Other Countries During the Interwar Period:

🇷🇺 Russia:

• Withdrew from WWI in 1917

• Underwent Russian Revolution

• Tsar overthrown → Communist government under Lenin

🇨🇦 Canada:

• National pride rose after WWI

• Experienced economic boom during the Roaring Twenties

• Hit hard by the Great Depression in the 1930s

⚠ Summary of Tensions Leading to WWII:

• Treaty of Versailles left many nations resentful (especially Germany)

• Global depression increased instability

• Rise of totalitarian regimes and ultranationalism

• Weak international response (e.g., League of Nations, appeasement)

• Aggression by Germany, Italy, and Japan set the stage for WWII

🧠 STUDY TIPS:

1. Understand MANIA and how each cause connects to WWI

2. Be able to explain appeasement and why it failed

3. Know the difference between nationalism and ultranationalism

4. Use examples of expansionism (Germany in Rhineland, Sudetenland, Austria)

5. Remember the timeline of key events (e.g., 1914 assassination → WWI, 1938 Munich → WWII buildup)

Let me know if you’d like this in a Google Doc, PDF, or presentation format!