Chapter 7 Key Terms and Assessments

Assessments

Review Questions

1. Which two nations engaged in a naval arms race?
a. Great Britain and the United States
b. France and Germany
c. Germany and Great Britain
d. Germany and the United States

2. Where did Germany succeed in establishing most of its colonies?
a. Africa and Latin America
b. Africa and the Pacific
c. Africa and Asia
d. Asia and Latin America

3. On which commander did Germany rely for its naval-building program?
a. Otto von Bismarck
b. Count von Bulöw
c. Alfred von Tirpitz
d. Napoléon III

4. Why did Germany have fewer colonies than France and Britain in the early twentieth century?
a. It had a moral hatred of colonies.
b. It had industrialized and unified later than the other countries.
c. It had a succession of monarchs, each lasting fewer than five years.
d. It had little business or industry in the early twentieth century and no need for colonies.

5. Germany was able to unify as an empire at the end of which event?
a. the Franco-Prussian War
b. the Russo-Japanese War
c. the Austro-Prussian War
d. the First Moroccan Crisis

6. The Triple Entente consisted of which three countries?
a. Germany, Italy, and Russia
b. Belgium, Britain, and France
c. Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy
d. Britain, France, and Russia

7. Upon what was the Schlieffen Plan predicated?
a. Germany’s need to fight a two-front war
b. German troops being in short supply for the first three months of the war
c. an invasion of Germany by France at the outset of the war
d. the speedy mobilization of Russian troops

8. What helped cause the decline of the Ottoman Empire?
a. financial trouble and increasing debt
b. warfare on its eastern front
c. nationalism spurring revolts and loss of territory
d. factional politics within the Empire that caused turmoil among its top ministers

9. What did Germany think would happen when it approached Belgium en route to France?
a. that it would have to violently invade Belgium
b. that Britain would immediately enter the war
c. that Russia would immediately enter the war
d. that Germany would be allowed to pass through Belgium easily

10. Why did the United States initially stay neutral in the war?
a. The United States did not want to fight either France or Germany, its long-standing allies.
b. The United States had historically stayed out of European affairs.
c. The United States had agreed to follow Canada’s lead and stay out of the war.
d. The United States hoped the war would be quick and it could take over European colonies in the Caribbean when the war ended.

11. Why did Germany sink the RMS Lusitania?
a. because it had a large number of British passengers
b. because it was transporting troops bound for Europe
c. because it carried ammunition bound for the British army
d. because it was heavily armed and sailing through the war zone to France

12. What new type of military technology was introduced in World War I by the British?
a. Big Bertha
b. machine gun
c. submarine
d. tank

13. Which battle was designed to annihilate as many French troops as possible?
a. the Battle of the Somme
b. the Battle of Verdun
c. the Battle of Vimy Ridge
d. the Battle of Tannenberg

14. Troops from which two countries sustained heavy casualties at Gallipoli?
a. France and Germany
b. Germany and Italy
c. Australia and New Zealand
d. Austria-Hungary and Canada

15. What group suffered genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks?
a. the Kurds
b. the Shiite Muslims
c. the Armenians
d. the Croatians

16. Who was deported from the United States to Lithuania because of opposition to the draft?
a. Käthe Kollwitz
b. Wilfred Owen
c. Emma Goldman
d. Eugene V. Debs

17. What was the “shell crisis” in Britain?
a. the public’s outrage over the closure of munitions factories
b. the political crisis over whether enough shells were being produced for the war effort
c. the problem of artillery shells that exploded during loading, causing the deaths of thousands of troops on the western front
d. the problems caused by Russia’s lack of military supplies for its armies

18. What was extended to women in several countries in the wake of the war as a reward for their war work?
a. the right to attend college
b. the right to become homeowners
c. the right to vote
d. the right to serve in combat

19. Who began the Easter Rising?
a. Irish Unionists
b. Irish Nationalists
c. British troops
d. Catholic clergy

20. How did the tsarist government react to the events of Bloody Sunday?
a. The tsar began holding regular meetings with the workers in St. Petersburg.
b. The tsar began an oppressive crackdown and imposed martial law on the city.
c. The tsar agreed to the creation of a legislature, the Duma, that included elected politicians.
d. The tsar declared war against Germany for the shootings of Russian people.

21. How did Lenin seize power in Russia?
a. the 1905 Revolution
b. the October Revolution
c. the assassination of the leader of the provisional government
d. a takeover of the Duma

22. What territory did Germany gain from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
a. Poland and the Baltic states
b. Turkey
c. Sweden
d. Austria and Hungary

23. What disease was spreading around the world at the end of the war?
a. smallpox
b. influenza
c. food poisoning
d. bubonic plague

Check Your Understanding Questions

1. Why did the United States and Britain have much smaller armies than Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, and Russia?
2. Why did Germany come to believe it was encircled by hostile nations and needed to be ready to fight them?
3. What happened after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?
4. In what ways did U.S. trade favor the Allies in the early days of the war, despite its intended neutrality?
5. What new types of weapons were available during World War I, and how did they affect the combat?
6. How were colonial troops used in the war?
7. What caused food shortages in Germany and Austria-Hungary during the war?
8. What new powers did the U.S. government assume during World War I?
9. How had Russia tried to cope with revolutionary activity in the early twentieth century?
10. What territory did Russia hand over to the Central powers under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918? Why did Russia feel it was worth it to do this?

Application and Reflection Questions

1. How did the struggle for colonies around the world divide the nations of Europe?
2. What factors led to the development of two major blocs of alliances in Europe?
3. Did the alliances that developed across Europe encourage the outbreak of war? Why or why not?
4. Did the threat of war lead to the buildup of army and navy forces in Europe, or did the buildup of these forces encourage war to break out? Explain your answer.
5. Why did the Ottoman Empire join the Central powers? What factors played a role in its decision to ally with Austria-Hungary, an empire to which it had lost land?
6. What role did nationalism play in the buildup to World War I?
7. Which country do you think was at fault for starting World War I? What evidence points to your choice?
8. How did the countries that became the Allied powers and the Central powers react to the prospect of war in late July and early August of 1914? Trace each major combatant’s reaction.
9. Why might World War I be considered the first “modern” war?
10. How did the colonial attitudes of European powers affect the execution and outcomes of World War I?
11. In what ways were the war roles women played quite traditional? In what ways did women’s participation in the war change expectations about their roles in society?
12. Is it acceptable for a government to suspend protections for civil liberties during wartime, as the United States did in World War I? Why or why not?
13. Do you think the Allies should have agreed to an armistice, or should they have insisted upon a German surrender? Why? If Germany had been asked to surrender, is it likely it would have? Why or why not?
14. How might the outcome in Russia have been different if the provisional government had agreed to peace with the Central powers and focused on solving Russia’s problems? Would this have undermined support for Lenin and the Bolsheviks?