QUESTIONS: EXPLOSION

In the early months of 1914, few people in Europe wanted war, and only Germany and France had made elaborate plans should a war begin. However, beginning with an assassination on June 28, 1914, the decisions of government leaders and the mood of the people ignited Europe into the Great War.

These questions will help focus your attention during the video. Answering them will help you understand this era and what the people thought, felt and did.

1. Define "instability" and describe at least five conditions or events that reflected the instability in Europe prior to the war.

2. Kaiser Wilhelm II was proud, insecure and unstable, but he wanted to appear strong. What three life experiences may have contributed to these personality traits?

3. Define "balance of power" and describe the role that Germany needed to play in the international scene to ensure that the balance of power was in its favor.

4. Identify at least five areas in which there was an imbalance during the prewar era between the "haves" and the "have nots," both within the nations of Europe and the U.S. and among the nations.

5. Describe specific ways that the activities and demands of the suffragettes in Britain and the laborers in Germany challenged the status quo and traditions in their respective nations.

6. The tsar was viewed as the "father" of his people and of Russia. What actions did Tsar Nicholas II take that might have weakened his image as a strong leader?
What failures to act might also have weakened his image?

7. Describe how the works and words of the German artist Ludwig Meidner represented his vision of the future of Europe.

8. Define "alliance obligations" and describe what it meant for the European nations to fulfill these obligations in the six weeks following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

9. Describe the public reactions to the decisions to mobilize for war. What do these reactions reveal about the mood of the people and about why war was an acceptable course of action in August 1914?

10. Identify the important events and attitudes that led Europe to explode into war in August 1914.

11. Identify at least three reasons the leaders of each of the five major nations sent their armies to war in August 1914.

Context and Overview of the Great War: EXPLOSION

The last major war in Europe before the Great War, the Franco-Prussian War, ended in 1871. It was followed by an explosion of industrialization that would profoundly affect the nature of fighting on the battlefield. Major changes in everyday life also began in the 1870s: These changes included new technology, faster communication, new pressure in local and international economics and new ideas about art, literature, the role of government, human origins and existence and the relationship of humans to their god or gods.

Meanwhile, the key industrialized European nations were expanding their economic wealth and influence in all parts of the world. They thought that this expansion required them to increase their military strength to protect their interests against other nations. The economic expansion resulted in envy and jealousy over the wealth and territory of some of these nations; the military expansion brought the fear that weaker nations might be taken over by more powerful nations.

Conditions in the years prior to the outbreak of the Great War were unstable. Many people realized that the traditional diplomatic policies of the past would no longer solve the problems Europe was facing. Fear and uncertainty grew, and the future was unclear. Even though Europe was experiencing social changes-the population was growing rapidly and becoming increasingly urban, and the people enjoyed substantial increases in their standard of living-many were now focusing their attention on international events.

The U.S. was experiencing similar changes, with the added pressures of enormous immigration rates. Labor unions were growing, and every industrial city had tenant housing and slums. Reform movements, such as the Populists and Progressives, emerged out of the unrest. Life in the U.S. was unstable and uncertain, and many Americans thought that they were isolated from the events of the rest of the world.

In many ways, the period before the war resembled a revolutionary age: There was no way to reconcile the differences between those people who insisted on traditions and those who insisted on changing the status quo. In such situations, the decisions that are made to settle the differences often destroy at least as much as they create. Unexpectedly high levels of destruction, death and suffering can result when actions are motivated by fear or revenge, by jealousy or desire (for power or wealth or security) or by patriotism.

The Great War was nondiscriminatory: The life of every person was affected by the declaration of war. Every combatant nation and region, people on every level of society and people in every occupation actively participated in the war effort and were killed, wounded, left widowed or orphaned. The "Lost Generation" not only refers to the millions who were killed and wounded, but also labels all those who were alive at the time. Before the next generation, the world would again be engaged in a war, a war that was many times more violent and more destructive than the First World War.

QUESTIONS

1. From this reading, what were the outstanding characteristics of life in Europe in the decades before the summer of 1914?

2. Why might people-both the general population and people in leadership-in the powerful nations of Europe have wanted war?

3. Given this reading, what effects might the war have had on the European civilians?

QUESTIONS

1. Maintaining a "balance of power" was key to preserving peace in the decades before the war, and Germany feared being encircled by its enemies. How did Germany's geographic location contribute to those fears? Were those fears justified?

2. The great powers were very aware of the treaty obligations each nation had to the others in July 1914. Imagine that you are the leader of one of these nations at this time. If you mobilized and began a war, what specific actions would you expect each of the other nations to take in response?

3. How did Europe's geography contribute to the situation in Europe and lead to war?

4. Imagine that you are the military leader of one of the five great powers of Europe in July 1914. In the event of war, what steps would you take to conclude hostilities at the earliest possible date?

5. Imagine that you were asked by the leaders of the major nations to settle the "July Crisis" before it exploded into war. Given what you know about this situation, what proposals might you have made? Why do you think your proposals would work?

STUDENT RESOURCE 1-D

Noteworthy Quotes: EXPLOSION

War involves people, not just nations. These quotes will help you understand the thoughts and feelings of some of the people involved in the Great War. After watching the video, you should be able to interpret each quotation in the context of the person speaking and the situation in which the statement was made. (Quotes marked with an asterisk are from the video.)


"When I was a little boy ...I admired the proud British ships. There awoke in me the will to build ships of my own like these some day, and when I was grown up to possess as fine a navy as the English."

Kaiser Wilhelm II*


"What will the future be like, when the billions now thrown away in preparation for war are spent on useful things to increase the well-being of people, on the construction of decent houses for workers, on improving transportation, on reclaiming the land? The fever of imperialism has become a sickness. It is the disease of a badly run society which does not know how to use its energies at home."

Jean Jaures, French Socialist Leader*


"Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans"will ignite Europe into war.

Otto von Bismarck*


"It is a job I have feared all my life."

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, 1894*

(Diary entry on the day of his coronation)