Chapter 26 Study Guide
What did the Schlieffen Plan call for in 1914?
A surprise invasion of France by passing through Belgium, with a subsequent attack on Russia
Who was Alexander Kerensky?
An important liberal political leader of the Provisional Government in Russia
During the First World War, the African colonial subjects of Britain and France
Generally supported their foreign masters
Bismarck's alliance system was designed to isolate France and to
Maintain peace between Russia and Austria-Hungary
Who assassinated Grigori Rasputin in 1916?
Members of the high aristocracy
What happened to Armenian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire during World War I?
Ottoman Empire mass deportation, millions died of murder, disease, starvation
Why were the Balkans considered the "powder keg of Europe"?
The area saw a number of smaller events that eventually set off much larger ones, leading to World War I
What was the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916?
A secret agreement that was concluded by two British and French diplomats, Sir Mark Sykes and Georges Picot
How did Lenin respond to the peasants' seizure of land when he rose to power in 1917?
He mandated the land reform in order to offer his approval for what the peasants had already done
Germany's initial offensive was stopped on the outskirts of Paris at the Battle of
The Marne
How did Henri-Philippe Pétain maintain order among French troops by late 1917?
Tough military justice for leaders and a tacit agreement with the troops
What did Germany's Auxiliary Service Law require?
All males to be between seventeen and sixty to work only at jobs considered critical to the war effort
What ultimately happened to Ukraine and Belarus, parts of the Russian Empire ceded to Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
It created dangerous bases of anti-Bolshevik military activity in the subsequent Russian Civil War
Why did Austria-Hungary deliberately choose war in July 1914?
It hoped to stem the tide of hostile nationalism within its borders
Following the First World War, what was one of the most difficult domestic problems faced by governments?
Providing care for the large number of injured veterans
What was the common effect of western-front offensives during the First World War?
They caused the slaughter of massed infantry units
What was French premier Georges Clemenceau's opinion at the Paris Peace Conference?
He wanted to create a buffer state between Germany and France
Why did the Germans accept the Treaty of Versailles?
They had no choice
What was the result of Allied support of the White armies in the Russian civil war?
Allowed the Bolsheviks to appeal to the patriotic nationalism of ethnic Russians who objected to foreign involvement in Russian affairs
What was the February Revolution in Russia in 1917?
An unplanned uprising of hungry and angry people in the capital
What did the Balfour Declaration of November 1917, written by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, announce?
Britain favored the national home for the Jewish people in Palestine
What was the primary consequence of the First Moroccan Crisis in 1905?
Britain, France, and Russia began to see Germany as a threat to dominate all of Europe
Which nations joined the war on the side of the Central Powers?
Bulgaria, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary
What issue contributed to tensions between Germany and Great Britain in the first decade of the 1900s?
Commercial rivalry in world markets between Germany and Great Britain increased sharply after the 1890's, as Germany became a great industrial power.
What was the immediate cause of British entry into the First World War?
German invasion of neutral Belgium
What did the "war guilt clause" in the Treaty of Versailles declare?
Germany had to assume all responsibility for the damage caused in WWII
What part of Otto von Bismarck's alliance system did William II abandon?
Germany's non-aggression pact with Russia
Why did Italy, after declaring neutrality in 1914, decide to join the Triple Entente in 1915?
It was promised Austrian territory in return
What did the Petrograd Soviet Army Order No. 1 state?
Military officers were stripped of their authority and power was placed in the hands of elected committees of soldiers.
How did Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff react to Germany's loss in the war in the fall of 1918?
Not wanting to shoulder the blame, they insisted moderate politicians should take responsibility for the defeat
What was the principle of national self-determination promoted by Woodrow Wilson?
People should be able to choose a national government through a democratic process and live free from outside interference
Walter Rathenau is remembered for his
Role in Germany's total war mobilization
Why did the German military command recommence submarine warfare in the Atlantic despite knowing that it would lead the United States to enter the war against them?
The German military command hoped that improved submarines could starve Britain into submission before the U.S could come to its rescue.
How did Lenin and the Bolsheviks' view of the Marxist party in Russia differ from the Mensheviks' view of the party?
The Mensheviks' wanted a more democratic, reformist party with mass membership. Lenin's Bolsheviks' wanted a highly disciplined workers' party strictly controlled by a small, dedicated elite of intellectuals and professional revolutionaries who would be dedicated to Communist revolution.
What were the two-front wars that military planners had anticipated prior to the First World War?
The Russian general staff assumed a two-front war with both Austria and Germany. The German general staff assumed a two-front war with France and Russia.
What was the fatal turning point in the Russian prosecution of the war?
The tsar's decision to assume command of Russia's armies, leaving the government in the hands of the strong-willed, autocratic tsarina
How did the moderate Social Democrats in Germany put down the radical Communist Spartacist Uprising?
The uprising was crushed by nationalist Free Corps militias, and Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg were murdered
How did the war on the eastern front differ from the war on the western front?
The war on the eastern front remained more mobile, with Germany in a more dominant position.
Throughout the First World War, what mistake did military commanders repeatedly make?
They attempted to mount massive offensives designed to break through entrenched lines
What was the primary political weakness of the White forces as they fought against the Bolsheviks?
They had a poorly defined political program that failed to unite the enemies of the Bolsheviks
How did the Western powers react to the declarations of independence by Syria and Iraq shortly following the First World War?
They invaded the two regions and defeated the independence movements