Sample Quiz Questions: War & Revolution

Topic 1:World War I: Origins

1. Given the growing diplomatic tensions in late 19th-c. Europe, there were good grounds for a closer relationship between ............. and ................, especially as this would give to ................. a sense of security by suggesting to Germany the potential threat of war on two fronts which the latter was desperately anxious to avoid
2. Their common interests in Europe suggested a new friendship between ............... and ........... . This was sealed in 1904 with the so-called Entente Cordiale, an agreement that gave .......... a free hand in Egypt and promised British support for a French move into ........
3. In the years prior to 1914 the great powers stood three against three; a firmly forged Triple Alliance of ............. , ............. and ................ against a looser Triple Entente of .............. , ............. and ...........
4. Among the periodic crises which in the years after the turn of the century brought the great powers closer and closer to war were the ............. of 1908 concerning . . . . . . . . . and . . .. . . . . . . .and the two crises of 1905 and 1911 over ...... that worsened relations between ......... and ......... .
5. The alliance between France and Russia in 1894 seemed to bring to nought the life's work of the late chancellor Bismarck in keeping these two nations apart. By the terms of that alliance, Russia promised France to employ all her forces against ......... if France should be attacked by her, while France in turn promised to fight alongside Russia should she be assailed by ............ supported by ..........
6. From the Germans' standpoint the keystone of the Bismarckian system of international alliances was the one concluded in 1879 with ..............
7. The Balkans became the focal point for the interplay of the forces of European nationalism and power politics. Out of this cauldron emerged the conflicting claims of Austria-Hungary and the Russian-backed small power ............
8. By 1914 the Triple Alliance of Austria-Hungary, Italy and .......... was opposed to that of the Triple Entente composed of Britain, ......... and ...........
9. After 1900 the German naval-building program became a prime source of concern to ............. , a factor that was not without significance in the latter's decision to conclude a friendly agreement with .............. in 1904
10. This small country became the center of South Slav nationalist agitation in the Balkans. Its government conceived of their small nation as the nucleus around which a new national state of the ......... people could be formed at the expense of .............
11. Ever mindful of the dangers of nationalism among her ethnic minorities, ......... decided to strengthen her position in 1908 by annexing Bosnia which she had occupied under agreement with Turkey since 1878. As a result of this, her relations with ........... deteriorated
12. Among the fears that troubled European politics before 1914 were: (a) the British fear that ....... might establish a hegemony over Europe that would place at risk her security, and (b) the German fear that the disintegration of ........... would result in an enormous enhancement of Russian power
13. In the pre-1914 years, nationalism, the arms race and imperialist rivalries contributed to the acute state of international tension. However, it was the ............ that provided the spark for the war that erupted in 1914
14. The Dual Alliance between .......... and Germany was defensive in nature but clearly aimed against ...........
15. The crises over Morocco in 1905 and 1911 set ....... against ..... and resulted finally in a compromise that recognized ............ in return for .............
16. She had long been content with no permanent alliances with other powers, a policy was magisterially dubbed 'splendid isolation.' Until 1902 she was the only uncommitted power. This is a reference to ...........
17. One of the more enduring alliances of the pre-1914 period was the Dual Alliance of 1879 between ................. and ........................ .The adherence of Italy converted this into the Triple Alliance in 1882. That change arose over the hostility felt by Italy toward ............. who had occupied territory in Africa that the Italians had regarded as their sphere of interest
18. Germany's program of Weltpolitik brought her into contention with France owing to Germany's desire to .........
19. The activities of the so-called Black Hand society were directed against ............ because .............
20. Although the Germans probably had the strongest single nation in the world before 1914, they felt 'encircled' after 1907 by the apparent hostility of ......... , ......... and .........
21. The growing demand for national self-determination in the Balkans was directed against those two powers in the region by whom Slavic peoples were ruled, namely, ......... and .......
22. "It seems to me futile to entertain the hope of a real and sincere reconciliation with France so long as we have no intention of giving up .......... ," wrote the German chancellor, Prince von Bülow
23. What dealt a mortal blow to Admiral Tirpitz's hope of gaining a lever against the British empire through the establishment of a ............. was the determination of ...... to ......................
24. The Russians were never left in doubt about the determination of the German government to support ......... through thick and thin , as was made absolutely clear in March 1909 when the recognition of Austria's recent ............. was practically extorted from ..............

(b) The July Crisis:

1. In the headlong rush to war after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June 1914, it was ........... which began the process of escalation in late July by mobilizing prematurely; but it was .............. which bore the responsibility for precipitating the inevitable slide to a wider conflict
2. The German strategy, with its planned invasion of neutral ........ at the very outset, led to Germany being labeled the aggressor and also determined the entry into the war in August 1914 of ............
3. The basic idea of the Schlieffen Plan was for the forces of ............. to first ............. and then ......... The Plan, in other words, looked to the violation of the neutrality of .........................
4. Unrestricted submarine warfare not only failed to bring the British to their knees but, also, as anticipated, caused .............. to throw in her lot with the Allies
5. The conspiracy to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand of ....... was organized by a secret society popularly known as the Black Hand. That group aspired ultimately to create.............
6. When the Austrians followed up the Sarajevo assassination with a severe ultimatum to ........... , the latter country agreed to nearly all the terms. It drew the line, however, at the unprecedented and fatal Austrian demand that ............
7. It was the system of alliances and the changing balance of military power in Europe that converted a Balkan dispute into a world war. One of these alliances was durable enough for ......... to promise its support to .......... by means of the famous 'blank check' of July 1914
8. After .......... refused to respect the neutrality of ........, war was declared on ....... by ........on Aug.4, 1914
9. In the July crisis of 1914 it was clear that ......... would not move without German support and equally clear that Serbia's hope resided in support from .........
10. Place in chronological order, marking 4 for the most recent in occurrence to 1 for the earliest:
    Germany's declaration of war on France ....
    Austria'a receipt of the 'blank check' ....
    Russian mobilization ....
    Britain's ultimatum to Germany ....
11. By July 29, 1914 everyone recognized that Britain might be drawn into the conflict(choose one):
     if Germany violated Belgrade's neutrality
     if Germany invaded Russia
     if Germany marched into Belgium

12. In the war that finally broke out in the summer of 1914, the line-up of great power belligerents was:
    Central powers:..................... , ......................
    The Allies: ......................, ......................... and ................

Complete the following story:
The outrage at Sarajevo in June 1914 was by no means the work of the ......... government as the Austrians alleged, but rather originated in a plot hatched by .......... which had been working to ............... . As events unfolded, it became clear that .......... would stand firm against any infringement of the sovereign ty and integrity of ............ , the focus of South Slav nationalism in the Balkans. Thus, Austria could not dare begin a war without the support of ............. which thereupon issued the famous 'blank check' that promised ....... . This left Austria free to adopt the tactic on July 23 of first .................. . This, as planned at Vienna, proved to be unacceptable to Serbia because ................... . As war loomed, Britain on July 26 proposed to mediate the crisis via ........... , but this foundered on the non-cooperative stance of the ....... government. ........... 's declaration of war followed on July 28, to be followed in turn by ............'s mobilization, a developmen t that brought an immediate hostile reaction from .......... who, it might be said, hoped for such reaction on the grounds that her own aggressive response might now seemed justified to her people. At the same time, Britain sent enquiries to aris and Berlin to discover whether these governments were prep ared to respect ............... . Again, .............. demurred. In any event, large-scale extension of hostilities became inevitable when on August 1, Germany issued an ultimatum to ............ which received no reply. Two days later, having failed to obtain France's promise of neutrality, .............. declared war on her, even though she had played only an indirect part in the enti re crisis. But according to German military logic, this action was necessitated by the need to implement the Schlieffen Plan, a strategy that brought about the invasion of .............. and, on August 4, the entry of ........ into the war

Topic 2:World War I: Course & Consequences

1. When the war began, the major goal of both the British and German fleets was to strangle their enemy's supply lines. The failure of the Germans in this regard finally led the German government to rely on a tactic that almost broke the British blockad e of the continent, namely, . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. In relation to the territory of Poland, President Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918) affirmed that ............
3. President Wilson's Fourteen Points program for ending the war called for (circle the one correct answer):
   in reference to France:..........................
   in reference to Austria-Hungary:.................
   in reference to peacekeeping: ...................
   in reference to colonial matters:................
4. Some modern weapons used for the first time and other innovative components of warfare made their appearance during World War I. Among these were ................... , ....................... and ....................
5. The best known of the various peace proposals offered during WWI was President Wilson's Fourteen Points. Among those points referring to international cooperation was the suggestion that .............................
6. The spring of 1917 saw two events that were to change the whole character of the war, breaking the deadlock and bringing renewed hope of victory to both camps: the first of these was the defection of ............. from the Triple Entente and the second was the entry of ........... on the side of the Allies
7. The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany in Feb. 1917 when the latter again resorted to .............. . Public opinion became more and more interventionist until in April of that year .........................
8. In October 1918 Germany appealed to President Wilson of .............. for an armistice on the basis of his .......... announced to the world earlier in that year. Later they were shocked to learn that peace was to be based instead on .......
9. In April 1917 the U.S. declared war on Germany. One reason for her entry on the side of the Allies was .........
10. The great Battle of the Marne and the resistance of the Verdun fortress signified a valiant and successful defense of the homeland by .............. in the face of the ........ attack
11. What decisively tipped the scales in favor of Allied victory in the war against imperial Germany was ........... in April 1917
12. In the winter of 1916-17 Germany's military position appeared increasingly desperate. The British blockade kept tightening and people were in great distress. Germany, as a consequence, took the all-out gamble of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , a tactic that provoked . . . . . . . . . . to . . . . . . . . . . . . . .in April 1917
13. In order to stop Britain maintaining control on the high seas, thus blockading Germany from foreign supplies, Germany:
     offered to withdraw her forces from Belgium
     made secret delivery arrangements with the U.S.
     initiated unrestricted submarine warfare

(b)Consequences:

1. The war seriously weakened Europe's economic domination of the rest of the world. Now, economically and diplomatically, the margin of power in world affairs was passing to .......... , who emerged from the war as the world's foremost creditor nation
2. At the end of WWI the victorious Allies insisted on including in the peace treaty a clause (Art. 231) by which ......................
3. Having started the war to preserve a multi-ethnic, dynastic empire in Europe, . . . . . . . perished in the attempt. In its place now stood independent republics such as . . . . . . . . . .. ,. . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . .
4. Among the territorial settlements after WWI was the return of ............. to France and the creation of the independent state of ........... on Germany's eastern border
5. The financial clauses of the treaty of Versailles required that the Germans pay reparations for the damage caused by their armies. And should they even question why they were paying the costs, there was Art. 231 of the treaty which, to remind them, said .........................
6. Among the post-war settlements the creation of what came to be known as the 'Corridor' cut off the province of East Prussia from the rest of the ............ state
7. Under the terms of the treaty of Versailles, Germany was required to: (circle the one correct answer)
   in colonial matters, ........................
   in reference to Poland, .....................
   in military terms, ..........................
   in economic terms, ..........................

8. According to the treaty of Versailles:
   the Rhineland was ..............................
   the Saar region was ............................
   part of eastern Germany was ....................
   the German army was ............................
9. The treaty of Versailles also incorporated the charter of the League of Nations (one of the Fourteen Points). The main objectives of the League were ................................
10. Article 231 of the treaty of Versailles was a particularly sore point for the Germans because it required that .............................
11. The concern of the French at the peace conference in 1919 was to reduce Germany's offensive military capacity by............................ and weakening her economy by ...........................
12. The real powers at the Versailles conference in 1919, the so-called Big Three, were ........... , ........ and ........
13. Although Germany's territorial losses within Europe were relatively minor at the peace conference, she did, of course, lose .......... to France
14. Among the military clauses of the treaty of Versailles was the requirement that ........................... and, in order to allay French fears for her future security, ...........
15. The U.S. Senate rejected President Wilson's handiwork of 1919. It failed to ratify the .............. and also rejected the article creating the .................. . It chose instead to champion the new-found gospel of isolationism
16. he famous book by the British economist J.M. Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, was aimed at warning European statesmen about the political and economic dangers brought about by .....................
17. The most burdensome of all the terms of the treaty of Versailles as these applied to defeated Germany was the issue of ........................
18. The Great War of 1914-18 swept away four former empires, three of which were ..................... , ........................ and ................

Topic 3:The Russian Revolution:

1. As a direct consequence of the revolution in Russia in 1905, the tsar issued is so-called October manifesto promising a constitution, civil liberties and a ..............
2. The Provisional government had a competitor from the outset, for the February revolution in Russia had produced not one but two self-constituted authorities aspiring to control events. The other contender was ......................
3. Throughout the summer of 1917 the Bolsheviks adapted their program to what most aroused elements of the population seemed to want. Lenin concentrated on four points of Bolshevik policy, two of which were .......................... and ..........................
4. Their strength was that they were the only party uncompromised by association with the bourgeoisie and the February regime; the one most fully identified with the idea of workers' power and armed uprising. This is a reference to the ............ led by ..........
5. "All power to the soviets was the effective slogan coined by ........ during the course of the revolutionary situation in ....... in 1917
6. For the patriotic Kerensky, as for the moderate socialists in the Provisional government, the ............. was still the all-important duty. There would be plenty of time later, they felt, for such crucial reforms as..........
7. Upon his return to Russia in 1917, Lenin rejected all cooperation with the Provisional government. His slogans were radical in the extreme: they were: ...................... ,................. and ..............
8. In 1921 Lenin took, as he said, "one step backward" in order to move "two steps forward." This is a reference to his economic recovery program, the ............ , one establishing ............ on a rather small scale in an attempt to rebuild industry and agriculture after the horrors of the civil war
9. Throughout the months leading to October 1917, soldiers committees bombarded the government and the soviet authorities in Petrograd with demands for a solution to .............. without waiting for the proposed constituent assembly
10. The Bolshevik revolutionary Lenin arrived in Russia from his exile abroad in April 1917. To the great astonishment of his followers in Petrograd, he rejected all cooperation with what he described as the 'bourgeois' government and counseled instead: ......................... and .....................
11. The increase in class consciousness in Russia at the turn of the century brought with it the emergence of new political parties. Among these were the Social Democrats (soon to be dubbed Mensheviks) and a splinter socialist group (dubbed Bolsheviks) who favored a program of ...................... as a solution to Russia 's ills. The most eminent spokesman of the Bolsheviks was ............
12. While hoping for revolution in the West, the new Bolshevik rulers of Russia were determined to do what the Provisional government had failed to accomplish, that is, to ................... . The terms under which this became possible were agreed with ............. in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918
13. Only after the ....................... in 1917 did communism become an organized reality in European politics
14. The first Russian revolution in 1917 was the signal for Lenin's return from exile. With his relentless logic he had grasped the two flaws that would eventually prove fatal to Kerensky's Provisional government; namely, the fact that the government had not hastened to either .................... or ..................... ...

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