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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Schlieffen’s plan was derived from what ancient general at what ancient battle?

2. What state were the Belgian troops in when war was declared?

3. What did Foch say was the first condition of victory?

4. What did the book The Great Illusion try to prove?

5. Why did the French insist that Russia attack by the 15th day of war, regardless of its readiness?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was unique about the thoughts of the American Minister in Brussels about what the Belgian king’s 12-year-old son was thinking as he watched his father reject the German ultimatum?

2. What was the day called Der Tag?

3. Who controlled the area of Alsace when the war began, and who had controlled it before that?

4. What did King Albert decide regarding calling for help from Britain and France at the end of Chapter 8?

5. What were the two parts of Britain’s ultimatum to Germany, of which only the second part was truly an ultimatum?

6. Why, right up until the invasion actually happened, did many still believe that the German armies would not actually invade Belgium?

7. What ultimatum did Germany send to Brussels?

8. Why did Britain and France create joint military plans in 1905 after Russia was defeated by the Japanese on the other side of the world?

9. In the beginning of Chapter 2 it is revealed that the alliances and counter-alliances of the various powers of Europe had created a “heap of swords piled as delicately as jackstraws” (18). How does this complex web of alliances help lead to the outbreak of war in 1914?

10. How did Belgium, and King Albert, finally decide to respond to the ultimatum from Germany?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the views of President Woodrow Wilson and the overall attitude of the United States towards the war and how the United States should be involved.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the various stages and evolution of the Schlieffen Plan as broken down in Chapter 2 (pages 20-21).

Essay Topic 3

What did Paris look like in Chapter 20, with the German invasion force nearly at the gates?

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