AP* World History Study Guide and Graphic Organizers – Unit 5: The Modern World, 1914 CE – present
1. World War I Students are required to know the causes, major events, and consequences of WWI
1) Causes
a) Imperialism
i) No new lands to expand into – some nations didn’t have many colonies (Germany, Italy) ii) Rivalries as nations competed for colonies iii) Sometimes armed conflict in colonial lands for control over resources
b) Nationalism
i) Pride in one’s nation, want one’s nation to be the best and most powerful ii) Fostered conflict as nations competed to be the best iii) Justified imperialism, militarism iv) Caused disruptions in multi-ethnic nations (Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire); rebellions, revolts against foreign rule
c) Militarism
i) Build up of a country’s military; keeping a large standing army ii) Nations expanded their militaries as a show of power iii) Arms race: each nation needed to have a standing army because their neighbors had standing armies
d) Alliances
i) Bismarck: German chancellor behind alliance system in Europe ii) Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy allied; France, Great Britain, Russia allied
2) Events
a) Assassination of Archduke Frantz Ferdinand: Serbian terrorists kill the Austrian duke and his wife as they honeymooned in Sarajevo
i) Austria demands Serbian submission ii) Russia offers to back Serbians in defying Austrians iii) Austria and Germany declare war on Serbia and Russia (along with Russia’s allies)
b) Schlieffen Plan
i) Germany knows Russia will take longer to mobilize, so plans to attack France first and then loop back through Germany to meet Russian troops ii) Germany begins invasion by first cutting through Netherlands and Belgium iii) Great Britain outraged at Germany’s attack on neutral nations, begins to mobilize for war iv) Conquest of Belgium takes longer than planned, by the time