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The Western Experience, 8/e

Mortimer Chambers, University of California - Los Angeles
Barbara Hanawalt, Ohio State University
Theodore Rabb, Princeton University
Isser Woloch, Columbia University
Raymond Grew, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

World War I and the War it Created

Problems for Analysis

I. The Coming of World War


1		1. Trace the breakdown of the Bismarckian system and the development of a new system of alliances between 1878 and 1914. 2. Assess the relative importance of diplomacy, imperialism, and nationalism in causing World War I. 3. Historians argue that this was an unwanted war, yet its outbreak was almost universally greeted with joy. How do you explain this contradiction? Does it point to domestic tensions as a major cause for the war, or was this reaction simple patriotism?

II. The Course of the War


2		1. Characterize the military strategy applied in World War I. How does this strategy compare with the technical effectiveness of the offense and the defense? 2. Why did the Allies win the war? 3. Analyze the nonmilitary effects of the war. How was the role of government changed? What social and psychological changes resulted?

III. The Peace


3		1. What were the main goals of the Paris Peace Conference? How much agreement was there on these goals? 2. Evaluate the treaties. How well did they meet the problems they were designed to deal with? Was there cause by 1920 to be optimistic about the treaties? Explain.

IV. Postwar Democracy


4		1. In what ways might the years after World War I be considered a triumph for liberalism? 2. What trends of the postwar period might now, in retrospect, seem problem-filled and ominous?

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