European History chapter 25

(SA) How did Lenin transform Karl Marx's philosophy to address the environment of Russia?

- stressed violent revolution was necessary and peaceful evolution of socialism betrays Marx - said agrarian societies (such as Russia) could revolt, not just to working class - argued that revolution was determined by human leadership, not historical laws

What was the February Revolution in Russia in 1917?

An unplanned uprising of hungry and angry people in the capital.

What was the primary consequence of the First Moroccan Crisis?

Britain, France, and Russia began to see Germany as a threat to dominate all of Europe

What was the result of Allied support of the White armies in the Russian civil war?

It helped the Bolsheviks, who could appeal to patriotic nationalism against the Allies.

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

Who assassinated Grigori Rasputin in 1916?

Nationalistic aristocrats

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.

Germany's initial offensive was stopped on the outskirts of Paris at the Battle of...

The Marne

What happened to Armenian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire during World War I?

The Ottoman Empire ordered their mass deportation from their homeland, resulting in about a million deaths from murder, starvation, and disease.

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 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.

What was the primary political weakness of the White forced as they fought against the Bolsheviks?

They had a poorly defined political program that failed to unite the enemies of the Bolsheviks.

Walter Rathenau is remembered for his...

role in Germany's total war mobilization

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

How did Lenin respond to the peasants' seizure of land when he rose to power in 1917?

He mandated land reform in order to offer his approval for what the peasants had already done.

What di the Schlieffen Plan call for in 1914?

A lightning attack through neutral Belgium and a quick defeat of France before turning on Russia

What was the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916?

An agreement between Great Britain and France to divvy up parts of the Middle East after the war.

(SA) How did Germany respond to the need to wage total war?

- planned economy - looked for substituted for supplies that became rare during the war - Auxiliary Service Law requires men to work jobs necessary to war effort - established military dictatorship

How did Lenin and the Bolsheviks' view of the Marxist party in Russia differ from the Mensheviks' view of the party?

The Bolsheviks wanted a small, disciplined party, while the Mensheviks wanted a democratic party with mass membership.

Why did the Germans accept the Treaty of Versailles?

They had little alternative, especially as the naval blockade was still in place and the German people were starving.

What issue contributed to tensions between Germany and Great Britain in the first decade of the 1900's?

Germany's decision to build a large fleet of battleships

What part of Otto von Bismarck 's alliance system did William II abandon?

Germany's non-aggression pact with Russia

What did the "war guilt clause" in the Treaty of Versailles declare?

Germany(with Austria) was solely responsible for the war and had to pay reparations.

How did Henri-Philippe Petain maintain order among French troops by late 1917?

He formed a tacit agreement with the troops that there would be no more grand offensives.

Bismarck's alliance system was designed to isolate France and to ...

Maintain peace between Russia and Austria-Hungary

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 were the two-front wars that military planners had anticipated prior to the First World War?

Russia has assumed a two-front war against Germany and Austria-Hungary, and Germany had assumed a two-front war against Russia and France.

What ultimately happened to Ukraine and Belarus, parts of the Russian Empire ceded to Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

The Soviet Union reconquered those territories during its civil war.

Throughout the First World War, what mistakes did miliary commanders repeatedly make?

They attempted to mount massive offensives designed to break through entrenched lines.

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?

They believed that improved submarines could starve Britain into submission before the United States could come to Britain's rescue.

How did the moderate Socialist Democrats in Germany put down the radical Communist Spartacist Uprising?

They called on bands of demobilized soldiers called Free Corps to crush the uprising.

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.

(SA) Why did the Bolsheviks sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

- German armies continued advancing into Russia - once there was peace, the Bolsheviks could come to greater power

(SA) Why was Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty, the "war guilt clause," so controversial?

- Germans believed propaganda that told them they were victims forced into war -didn't want to pay for a war that wasn't their fault

Who was Alexander Kerensky?

An agrarian socialist who became prime minister of Russia in July 1917.

Why did Austria-Hungary deliberately choose war in July 1914?

It hoped to stem the tide of hostile nationalism within its borders.

During the First World War, the African colonial subjects of Britain and France...

generally supported their foreign masters

(SA) How did the experience of total war affect the power of labor unions?

- need for troops = lots of available jobs at home - need for workers gives more power to unions - unions cooperate with government regulations in exchange for political power

What did the Balfour Declaration of November 1917, written by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, announce?

Britain favored a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

(SA) What was the Schlieffen Plan, and why did it fail?

- German plan calling for attack and defeat of France (going through Belgium) before turning on Russia -thinking Russian troops take longer to mobilize - failed because Britain declared war before the Germans could take France - Belgium resists German invasion

(SA) In the decades following the First World War, why did leading statesmen promote militarism and nationalism?

- to distract from domestic issues -such as Irish civil war for Britain, financial trouble in France, and Russia was dealing with the consequences of revolution and defeat by the Japanese.

(SA) How did Mustafa Kemal seek to transform Turkish society?

- wanted to modernize/westernize Turkey -established single-party republic with him as president -declared separation of church and state - established secular school and gave women some rights

Which nations joined the war on the side of the Central Powers?

Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

What was the French premier Georges Clemenceau's opinion at the Paris Peace Conference?

He wanted to create a buffer state between Germany and France?

What did Germany's Auxiliary Service Law require?

That all men between 17 and 60 work at jobs considered critical to the war effort.

What was the immediate cause of British entry into the First World War?

The German invasion of neutral Belgium

Why were the Balkans considered the "powder keg of Europe"?

The Ottoman Empire has been forced to give up its territory in the region, leading to growing ethnic nationalism.