World War I Study Guide

Causes of the War

Ø Define these terms: Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism

Ø What determined international laws and the relationships between nations before WWI? Describe the fairness of international law? Was there an international organization like the UN to maintain peace between nations before the war?

Ø What was the relationship between Serbia and Austria-Hungary before the war? How did Russia factor into this conflict?

Ø Describe Germany’s place in the world and its ambitions before the war?

Ø Who was General Schlieffen and what was his plan?

Ø Describe the naval competition between Britain and Germany before the war?

Ø What opinions about war did most people have leading into it?

The War Begins

Ø What happened in Sarajevo in 1914? What role did a small group of Serbian nationalists play? What was important about this event?

Ø Who attacked whom to start the war?

Ø What nations were in the Triple Alliance? What was this side called in the war?

Ø What nations were in the Triple Entente? What was this side called in the war?

The War Drags On

Ø What were trenches and how did they effect how this war played out? Where trenches dug in Germany?

Ø Know about the three primary theaters of battle: the Western, Eastern and Southern Fronts. Who fought in each region?

Ø How did the British use their navy during the war?

Ø How did the Germans use their submarines during the war?

Ø What is propaganda, and why was it used by governments during the war?

Ø What was the US’ position toward the war for the first few years of the war?

Ø How did the United States develop a vested interest in Britain and France winning the war?

Ø What happened in Russia in 1917 during the war? What effect did this event have on American’s attitudes about this war?

Ø What was the Lusitania and what happened to it? How did this affect Americans?

Ø Who sent the Zimmermann Telegram to who, and what did it say? What did it lead to?

Ø What did Germany run out of and why?

Ø Where were German soldiers when they surrendered?

The Aftermath

Ø What was the treaty called? The leaders of what nations wrote it?

Ø What were the 14 Points, and what principles did they advocate?

Ø What was different about Wilson’s desires for the treaty and the desires of the British and French leaders?

Ø List the ways the treaty punished Germany. What new nations were created by the treaty? What empires were broken apart?

Ø What was the League of Nations? Why didn’t Germany, Russia, or the United States join it?

Names, Dates and Geography

Ø Know the following leaders: the US president, the Russian King, the German King.

Ø Know the following dates: the war begins, the Russian revolution, the US enters, the war ends.

Ø Be able to find the following places on a blank WWI-era map of Europe: France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Great Britain, Serbia, The Ottoman Empire, the Western Front, the British Blockade of the North Sea.