MAIN Causes & Spark
This “spark” event on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo set off the chain reaction that became World War I.
What is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
This pre‑war partnership included France, Russia, and the United Kingdom and was sometimes called the Entente.
What is the Triple Entente?
This U.S. foreign policy meant avoiding involvement in other countries’ affairs before 1917.
What is isolationism?
This term describes fighting from fortified ditches that dominated the Western Front.
What is trench warfare?
This 1919 peace agreement punished Germany heavily and helped set the stage for World War II.
What is the Treaty of Versailles?
This Serbian nationalist and member of the Black Hand fired the shots that killed the Archduke.
Who is Gavrilo Princip?
On August 4, 1914, Germany invaded this neutral country, drawing Britain into the war.
What is Belgium?
This opposite policy describes using pressure or force to get involved in another nation’s affairs.
What is intervention?
This concept describes WWI as a conflict where the lines between soldiers and civilians blurred and whole societies were mobilized.
What is total war?
These payments, demanded from a defeated country to cover war costs, crashed the German economy.
What are reparations?
This MAIN cause is defined as “extreme pride in your nation and the belief your nation is better than others.”
What is nationalism?
Germany, Austria‑Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire fought together under this name.
What are the Central Powers?
President Wilson cited this German naval policy against merchant ships as the main reason the U.S. entered the war.
What is unrestricted submarine warfare?
During WWI, this type of communication spread biased messages to shape public opinion and rally support.
What is propaganda?
After the war, the Ottoman Empire was broken apart, and Britain and France gained territories in this region, especially around Palestine and the Mediterranean.
What is the Middle East?
This acronym is often used for the long‑term causes of WWI: militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism.
What is MAIN?
This German war plan aimed to defeat France quickly by attacking through Belgium and then turning east against Russia.
What is the Schlieffen Plan?
In May 1915, the sinking of this British passenger ship with Americans on board helped turn U.S. opinion against Germany.
What is the Lusitania?
WWI became global in part because imperial powers drew in these people from places like India, Africa, and the Pacific to fight and labor for them.
Who are colonial troops (or colonial subjects)?
After WWI, Germany ignored military limits and rebuilt its forces, feeding this emotion that many Germans felt toward the treaty.
What are hatred and resentment (or contempt)?
Before WWI, these early 1910s conflicts weakened the “sick man of Europe” and made Serbia more confident in challenging Austria‑Hungary.
What are the Balkan Wars?
Germany courted this empire for strategic access to the Mediterranean and Middle East and to help fight the British and Russians.
What is the Ottoman Empire?
This intercepted German message encouraged Mexico to attack the United States and helped push America toward war.
What is the Zimmerman Telegram?
One devastating effect of total war on civilians was this campaign of mass killing against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
What is the Armenian Genocide?
This concept, promoted by Woodrow Wilson, said that peoples should be able to choose their own government and political status.
What is self‑determination?