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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. How many years had Belgium been independent?

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

3. Were the French unaware of the possibility of an attack from the German right wing?

4. The German ultimatum to what country expired at noon on Saturday, August 1?

5. What did Kaiser William II mean when he said, “If only someone had told me beforehand that England would take up arms against us!” (120)?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who said this and what did they mean: ”Some Damned Foolish thing in the Balkans” (71)?

2. How was the news of war received in France?

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

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

5. What is Grey’s speech before the House in Chapter 9 about and how was it received?

6. While the Germans had defeated the French in the Franco-Prussian war that ended in 1870, what condition was France in when World War I began just over 40 years later?

7. Contrast the differences between the Elder von Moltke’s view of the next war being a long war and the general opinion of the younger generation who thought the next war would not feasibly last very long at all.

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

9. Contrast Schlieffen’s bold plan of a right wing attack with his successor General von Moltke’s will to carry it out.

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the psychological effect that the Russian had on Germans, summarized by the short phrase “ ‘Kosaken kommen!’ (The Cossacks are coming!)” (270) in Chapter 15.

Essay Topic 2

Break down and explain the statement in Chapter 7, “Britain’s “predicament resulted from a split personality evident both within the Cabinet and between the parties” (90).

Essay Topic 3

Describe the way that the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand sparked the outbreak of World War I.

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