HIS 362G
Dr. Villalon
WORLD WAR I
Study Guide for Final Examination
General Information:
The Examination will be over the following material:
Topic 10 -- The Campaign of 1914: From Liege to Tannenberg and the Marne
Topic 11 -- Stalemate in the Trenches (1915-1917)
Topic 12 -- Attempting to Break the Stalemate
Topic 13 -- 1917: Year of Agony, Year of Hope
Topic 14 -- The Russian Revolutions of 1917
Topic 15 -- The Blockade, the Submarine, and America's Entry into the War
Topic 16 -- The Campaign of 1918: Germany's Final Gamble
Topic 17 -- The Peace Settlement and Seeds for the FutureCourse Readings:
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen, Nicht Neues)
Robert Graves, Goodbye To All ThatFilms:
Paths of Glory(Note: There are separate questions on the two books and the film that you need to be prepared to answer. Clicking on a title will carry you through to the questions.)
The examination is objective and will be taken on a scantron.
Since the exam utilizes a scantron, the student will be required to select an answer to all questions from lists supplied on the test booklet.
The exam will consist of four kinds of questions:
a. Matching sections
b. True-or-false
c. Place into chronological order
d. Fill-in-the-blank.
In the case of fill-in-the-blank and chronological order questions, you will be given a list from which to select the correct answer.
Read the examples with care since they are taken from the exams.
Warning: Exams are often printed on both sides of the page. Always
check the back of a page in order to be certain you are not skipping questions!!
I. Matching Questions: There will be a number of matching sections, each devoted to a separate topic (for the topics, see the list below.) At the beginning of each of these sections, there will be a list of names or terms. This will be followed by a number of descriptions. From the list, you are to select the name or term which best fits each description. (Usually, there will be a description for each term. You will therefore be able to match all of the terms with their descriptions.)
Battles: Liege, First Battle of the Marne, Ypres (sight of four major battles, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1918), Tannenberg, Gallipoli, Verdun, The Somme, Jutland, Cambrai, Second Battle of the Marne, The Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Military Leaders: Ferdinand Foch, Paul von Hindenburg, Limon von Sanders, Helmuth von Moltke "the Younger", Erich von Ludendorff, Erich von Falkenhayn, Joseph Gallieni, Douglas Haig, Diaz, Henri Petain, Edward Allenby, Brusilov, Black Jack Pershing, "Papa" Joffre , Sir John French, Alfred von Schlieffen
Treaties, agreements, conferences: Treaties of Paris, Versailles Treaty, Treaty of London, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of Bucharest, Doullens Conference, Rapallo Conference, Spa Conference, Balfour Declaration, McMahan Pledge
Innovators and Inventors: Charles Glidden, Wright Brothers, T. E. Lawrence, Von Lettow-Vorbeck, Billy Mitchell, Ludendorff, Otto von Hoffman, Winston Churchill, Emilio Douhet, E . P. Swinton, J. F. C. Fuller, Richard Gatling
Countries and the role they played in the war: Germany, France, Russia, England, Austria-Hungary, Turkey (Ottoman Empire), Italy, Serbia, Belgium, Japan
Important neutral countries and the role they played as neutrals:
Belgium, Turkey, Holland or Sweden, United States, Rumania, Mexico
II. Vocabulary: One purpose of any class is to increase knowledge of language - in this case, the meaning and derivation of words and common expressions. Consequently, there will be a section which will deal with vocabulary. A number of definitions will be given, each followed by a list of terms. You are to select the term which best fits each definition.
The following are words and terms you should now know:
Schlieffen Plan vrs. Plan XVII, Doctrine of the Attack, Elan vital,
BEF, Race to the Sea, Trench warfare, Hindenburg Line, No Man's Land
or Lechenfeld (field of corpses), Zero hour, Over the Top, Queen of battle,
Fog of War, Camoflage, Attrition, Tommie, Poilu or Hun, Neutral, Affair
of the Cruisers, Sacred Egoism, Creeping or rolling barrage, ANZAC,
April Theses, Blockade, Contraband, Embargo, War Zone, Convoy System, AEF,
the "Forgotten Peace," Infiltration, Big Four, Diktat of Versailles, Carthaginian
Peace, Blue Max
III. Chronological Order: Occasionally, a specific date will be required. Ordinarily, however, a rough understanding of the chronology will be sufficient. To test this understanding, there will be several chronological order questions on the exam. These questions require thinking carefully about the relationship between the different items; consequently, I would advise that you think carefully rather than just guess! (Since this tends to be most difficult part of the test for most students, there will only be a few such questions.)
Example:
1. Place in chronological order the following events:
1. Armistice
2. Schlieffen Plan
3. Verdun
4. American Entry into the War
5. Versailles Conference
Answers: a. 5-1-4-3-2 b. 2-3-4-5-1 c.
2-3-4-1-5 d. 1-2-3-4-5 e. 2-4-3-1-5
The answer is C. A and D can be immediately eliminated since they
put the Versailles Conference and the Armistice at the beginning, an obvious
error. B places the Versailles conference (which drew up the peace
treaty before the armistice that stopped the firing. E is the hardest
to eliminate, but its mistake lies in placing America's entry into the
war (1917) before the great trench battle of Verdun (1916).
There will also be a few questions in which you have to identify a period of time or even a specific year/month when something happening:
Examples:
1. (True or False) During the winter which followed the first year’s campaign, both sides dug into trenches which they expected to occupy for years to come given the balance which existed between their two forces.
The answer is False. When the two sides dug in in the winter of
1914, they expected to renew the war of motion when they resumed fighting
in the spring. Neither side envisaged a war in which they would occupy
virtually the same ground for years to come.
2. (True or False) When they first encountered the tank in combat, the Germans were not highly impressed by the new weapon.
The answer is True. The British threw a fairly early model of
the tank into the battle of the Somme without adequately trained crews
and ignoring the tactics designed for its the by man responsible for establishing
the tank program, Colonel Swinton. Not surprisingly, it made a poor
showing. The reports of German field officers were anything but complimentary.
Consequently, the Germans did not realize the full potential of this ultimately
decisive weapon.
V. Miscellaneous:
Topic 10 -- The Campaign of 1914: From Liege to Tannenberg and the Marne
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
How did von Moltke "the Younger" modify the Schlieffen Plan and why?
What was Plan XVII?
Which plan collapsed first?
Which plan came closest to success?
What were the realities which eventually negated each plan?
What major miscalculation did the French make at the very beginning of the conflict?
What was the Doctrine of the Attack and why did it prove so devastating the the French army in 1914?
What were the major British military problems on the ground in 1914?
What happened to the British army in its first battle with the Germans?
What battle fought northwest of Paris turned the tide on the Western Front in 1914?
What two new pieces of technology helped the Allies, first to plan the battle, then to move their troops to the battlefield?
What was the Race for the Sea?
How did the 1914 campaign end on the Western Front?
How did the Russians help disrupt the German timetable in the west?
What problems did the Russian army in World War I face from the start?
What battle victory grew out of the Russian invasion of East Prussia?
What strategy turned it into Germany's greatest victory of the war?
Against what ary did the Russians enjoy some success in 1914?
How did this establish a pattern for who beat whom on the Eastern Front?
Topic 11 -- Stalemate in the Trenches (1915-1917)
Had the two sides expected tench warfare to become the permanent state of affairs when digging in for the winter of 1914?
What were the prerequisites for the stalement in the trenches which developed during World War I?
On what other fronts did the conditions lead to the development of stalemated trench warfare?
What was the "grand illusion" of World War I generals on the Western Front?
What was the "artillery doctrine" which replaced the Docrine of the Attack?
Did it produce any better results?
How did the technology of battle in 1914 overwhelmingly favor the defensive over the offensive?
In 1914, where should the military leaders have looked to see the real precedents to trench warfare?
What were the two greatest trench battles of the war that together consumed most of 1916?
Which Allied power fought each of these battles?
During which of these battles does the action in Paths of Glory
probably take place?
Topic 12 -- Attempting to Break the Stalemate
What were some of the means adopted in an attempt to break the stalemate?
What were the names given the two sides during the war?
Why did Japan, with its strictly Asian-orientation, become involved in what was primarily a European war?
What factors motivated neutrals to joine one side or the other?
What were the two major European neutrals to enter the war after its outbreak and what side did each join?
What was the Affair of the Cruisers which brought in the Turks?
What motivated the Italians to enter?
Did the involvement of any neutral alte the balance decisively enought to make victory possible for one side or the other?
Which side the the most opportunity to open up new fronts and why?
What was the most famous (and costly) new front opened during the war?
Why can one refer to the Gallipoli campaign as a brilliant military concept badly bungled in its execution?
Which troops fought at Gallipoli?
What innovative Allied politician pushed for the Gallipoli campaign and then saw his political career badly damaged by its failure?
What new weapons and tactics were introduced in an attempt to break the stalemate?
Which of these greatly contributed to the stereotype of "the Savage Hun"?
Which two technological innovations ultimately combined to break the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front?
Why did the British introduction of the tank in 1916 fail to impress the Germans?
What was the silver lining of this failure from the Allied perspective?
How did the airplane first prove its worth?
How did this successful use of the airplane lead to the development of fighter planes in 1915?
What was the key breakthrough in the development of successful fighter planes and which side led the way?
Did either side control the skies of the Western Front for the entire war?
Topic 13 -- 1917: Year of Agony, Year of Hope
What nation began to refer to the year 1917 the year of anguish or agony?
Why was this an appropriate name for the year?
What basic problems did the belligerents face in 1917?
Why do I also call it the year of hope?
To what two possible events did the Central Powers pin their hopes?
Did either of those hopes materialize?
To what did the Allies pin their hopes?
Which power experienced a mutiny throughout most of its army?
Which power fought the last great trench battle in the mud of Flanders?
What was the political result of these events.
Which power saw its army disintegrate and retreat far into its on territory only to shore up the line with some help from Allied troops transferred from the Western Front?
What was the condition of Italy for most of the First World War?
By 1917, what was the condition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that
the Italians faced on their front?
Topic 14 -- The Russian Revolutions of 1917
Which major power collapsed into revolution in 1917?
What were the results of this revolution?
What recent warning had Russia had concerning the revolutionary results of an unsuccessful war?
What had been the Russian military record in World War I?
Why were the Russians repeatedly and severely defeated when facing the Germans?
How had the attitude of the population changed in Russia between 1914 and 1917?
During these years, where was the opposition to the inept and corrupt war effort primarily located?
What were the disastrous repercussions of Nicholas II’s decision to take personal command at the front?
What was the February/March Revolution and what groups within Russia did it bring to power?
Why is the March Revolution also known as the February Revolution and the November Revolution also known as the October Revolution?
What were the “soviets”?
Why did the liberal bourgeois parties and even the moderate socialist believe that they had to keep Russia in the war?
How did their war policy eventually lead to their downfall?
What radical party ultimately gained power in the November Revolution, largely through its insistence that Russia leave the war immediately?
Who was the leader of this radical party who, having returned to Russia through Germany in a “sealed boxcar” issued the April Theses calling for both peace and a socialist revolution immediately?
Why might one call the Verkovsky Proposals the last slim chance of saving
the moderate revolution and what happened to them?
Topic 15 -- The Blockade, the Submarine, and America's Entry into the War
What is a blockade?
What changes in modern warfare have rendered a successful blockading effort an increasingly decisive weapon?
What was the “double blockade” in World War I?
Which side was ultimately successful in its blockading efforts and which side was not?
What factors disposed the United States to sympathize with the Allies?
What was the issue that finally brought the United States in on the Allied side?
What gave the Allies the advantage on the seas?
How did the Central Powers try to compensate for their lack of seapower?
What is a “neutral” and how can a belligerent power try to employ “neutral rights” to restore its lost commerce?
What are a “paper blockade” and “contraband”?
How did the Allies “stretch” or even violate international law in their WW1 blockade?
What nations were supposed to function as Germany’s “neutral windows” on the world?
How did the Allies use the Doctrine of Continuous Voyage to close those windows?
During what war had what nation developed this critical doctrine later used by the Allies?
What one weapon could the neutrals (esp. the United States) have employed to force the Allies to accept a “neutral” interpretation of international law in the matter of blockade?
Why did the United State not take this extreme step?
What powers pioneered the military use of submarines?
Why did Germany not loose fullscale submarine warfare at the beginning of WW1?
How and why did the use of submarines decisively change the rules of warfare against commercial shipping?
When did the Germans first resort to the use of “unrestricted submarine warfare” and why did they backoff for a time for a time?
What was the Battle of Jutland and what did it demonstrate to the German High Command?
Why did they resume “unrestricted submarine warfare” in February 1917?
What was the reaction of the United States?
What was the Zimmermann Telegram and how did it add fuel to the call for war in America?
What very old system played a major role in defeating the German submarine attack on commercial shipping?
What small warship played a critical role in countering the submarine threat?
What hope was realized and what hope dashed as a result of the war at
sea?
Topic 16 -- The Campaign of 1918: Germany's Final Gamble
What were Germany’s three great gambles, each undertaken in order to strike a knock-out blow and thereby win a complete victory?
Did any of these gambles ultimately succeed?
What major event in on the Eastern Front made possible the German campaign of 1918? in the West?
What two German dictated peace treaties in the East, each of which was more a “diktat” than the Treaty of Versailles, demonstrated just how “unmerciful” Germany would have been had she won the war?
What did the Germans hope to accomplish in 1918?
How did they prepare for the campaign?
What great miscalculation did the Germans make as to their options in the event that the 1918 campaign failed to achieve its desired results?
What were the initial results of the campaign?
What factors accounted for each major German thrust stalling after a few weeks?
What technological insufficiency greatly hampered the German ability to supply their advancing troops?
What decisive technology did the Germans lack that might have helped them achieve breakthrough?
How did major military setbacks such as the battle of Caporetto (1917) and the German offensive of 1918 actually benefit the Allies from the point of view of their command structure?
What new and ultimately decisive factor was thrown into the balance in the spring and summer of 1918?
Why did President Wilson choose to become an “Associated” rather than an “Allied” power?
What major problems did the United States face when it entered the war in 1917?
How did the U.S. solve the first problem—the lack of manpower in the military?
How did the military strategy adopted by the U.S. violate longstanding tradition?
Why did the U.S. government and military believe it was important to establish an independent American Army rather than just feeding American manpower into the Allied armies?
What compromise solution was reached with the Allies concerning the allocation of American manpower—a solution that answered both the American concern for an independent military force and the Allies’ crying need for soldiers?
Who was placed in command of the AEF (American Expeditionary Force)?
What continuing problem of supply plagued the U.S. army throughout its participation in WW1?
What combination of tactics and technology now favored the war of motion and brought about an Allied victory in the period between July and November, 1918>
What was the longest and costliest battle in American history?
Why is the “stab in the back” theory put forward by German militarists after WW1—that the army never collapsed, but that defeat was due to traitors and radical elements on the homefront—historical nonsense?
What was the fate of Kaiser William II?
What was the Armistice?
What is the significance of the railroad car at Compiegne Forest?
Topic 17 -- The Peace Settlement and Seeds for the Future
In what city was the Peace Conference of 1919 held?
How many treaties embodied the settlement?
How did the treaties get their names?
Why is the Treaty of Versailles the most famous of the treaties, to such an extent that it often gives its name to the entire peace settlement?
Which of the treaties was largely superceded by events on the ground and therefore never enforced?
Which countries constituted the “Big Five”?
Which one of these countries played so little role in the conference that it fell to the “Big Four” to make most of the decisions?
Who led the delegations of each of the “Big Four”?
To which leader did the world primarily look in 1919?
In the American case, how did his presence again break longstanding precedent?
Which countries were excluded from the peace table?
Through what document did Woodrow Wilson advance the American agenda as a basis for the final settlement?
Did Wilson get all that he wanted from the peace?
What organization did he lobby for that he thought would repair any important errors and omissions in the treaties?
(Without worrying too much about details) what were the basic terms of the Peace Settlement of 1919?
What factors ultimately led to the glaring failings embodied in that settlement?
Why did the Germans regard it as a “diktat”?
How did the U.S. eventually react against it?
What is a Carthaginian Peace?
Who was John Maynard Keynes?
(According to that great historian, Andrew Villalon) why does Keynes’ famous designation for
the Treaty of Versailles not really fit the case?
That's All Folks!