The International System & Long-Term Causes
This diplomatic principle aimed to prevent any single European power from dominating the continent before 1914.
What is the balance of power?
This 1884–85 meeting formalized the rules for European colonization of Africa.
What is the Berlin Conference?
This 1914 assassination triggered the diplomatic crisis that led directly to World War I.
What is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
This system of fortified positions stretched from the North Sea to Switzerland by late 1914.
What is trench warfare?
This failed 1915 campaign aimed to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war and open a supply route to Russia.
What is the Gallipoli Campaign?
This network of binding agreements turned a regional conflict into a continent-wide war in 1914.
What is the alliance system?
This crisis in 1898 nearly led Britain and France to war over colonial influence in Africa.
What is the Fashoda Crisis?
This German promise of unconditional support encouraged Austria-Hungary to act aggressively toward Serbia.
What is the “blank check”?
This weapon accounted for roughly three-quarters of World War I battlefield casualties.
What is artillery?
This 1916 battle was intended to “bleed France white” and became a symbol of endurance and sacrifice.
What is the Battle of Verdun?
This term describes the growing belief that military strength was the most important measure of national power before World War I.
What is militarism?
This type of nationalism sought to reclaim “lost” territory and strongly influenced French attitudes toward Germany.
What is revanchism?
These rigid military timetables made diplomacy nearly impossible once they were put into motion.
What are mobilization schedules?
This heavily defended area between opposing trenches became one of the war’s deadliest spaces.
What is no man’s land?
This economic strategy sought to weaken Germany by restricting access to food and raw materials.
What is the British naval blockade?
This naval competition between Britain and Germany symbolized prewar tensions and accelerated military spending.
What is the Anglo-German arms race?
This nationalist movement promoted unity among Slavic peoples and increased Russian involvement in the Balkans.
What is Pan-Slavism?
This violation of Belgian neutrality brought Britain into World War I.
What is Germany’s invasion of Belgium?
This term describes the strategy of wearing down the enemy through sustained losses rather than decisive victory.
What is attrition?
This term describes the mobilization of entire societies—including civilians and economies—for war.
What is total war?
Despite growing political tensions, this economic trend led many Europeans to believe war would be unlikely or brief.
What is economic interdependence?
This unstable region earned the nickname “Europe’s powder keg” due to ethnic tensions and great-power rivalry.
What are the Balkans?
By early August 1914, this failure ensured that the conflict could no longer be contained.
What is the failure of diplomacy?
This psychological condition revealed the mental toll of industrial warfare on soldiers.
What is shell shock?
As a result of World War I, global financial power shifted from this European city to this American one.
What is London to New York?