General
Which 1870–1871 war ended with the Prussian victory at Sedan, the unification of Germany, and the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine?
The Franco-Prussian War.
What was the only African nation (besides Liberia) that remained independent after defeating the Italian army at the Battle of Adwa (1896)?
Ethiopia
What nickname was given to the declining Ottoman Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries?
"The sick man of Europe"
Which German Chancellor was the primary architect of the European alliance system between 1871 and 1890?
Otto von Bismarck
Which country invaded neutral Belgium in 1914, prompting Great Britain to immediately enter the war?
Germany
What key factor—fueled by cheap mass media—led European populations in 1914 to enthusiastically support entering the war, believing it would be brief and glorious?
Tabloid press
What British colonial status was applied to colonies with a high white population (like Canada or Australia), granting them self-government?
Dominions
What was the name of the radical Serbian nationalist organization, led by "Apis," responsible for plotting the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?
The Black Hand
Signed in 1904, what was the name of the agreement between Great Britain and France that resolved their colonial disputes in Africa?
The Entente Cordiale
What type of brutal, static warfare dominated the Western Front between late 1914 and 1916?
Trench Warfare
How did the Industrial Revolution fundamentally change the nature of warfare prior to 1914?
It enabled mass production of heavy artillery, machine guns, chemical weapons, and mechanized transport.
Which European ruler governed the "Congo Free State" as a personal enterprise, causing the death of over 10 million people?
King Leopold II of Belgium
Which political ideological movement led by Russia sought to unite all Slavic peoples under its protection in the Balkans?
Pan-Slavism
What was the alliance formed in 1872 between Kaiser Wilhelm I, Tsar Alexander II, and Emperor Franz Joseph I?
The League of the Three Emperors
What two key events in 1917 prompted the United States to abandon neutrality and join the Allied powers?
Unrestricted submarine warfare and the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram
What concept, inherited from the aristocracy, made nations view diplomatic retreat or compromise as an intolerable humiliation rather than prudence?
The code of "Honor" / "Loss of prestige"
What is the Boxer rebellion
An anti-colonial and ultra-nationalist uprising in China (1900–1901) against imperialist powers that was put down by an Alliance of Eight Nations
Why did Archduke Franz Ferdinand's plan to create a "United States of Greater Austria" pose a direct threat to Serbian nationalist ambitions?
Because it proposed creating a trialist monarchy (giving autonomy to South Slavs/Croats within Austria), undermining Serbia's ambition to unite all South Slavs.
Name the emperor who signed The League of the Three Emperors
Kaiser Wilhelm I, Tsar Alexander II, and Emperor Franz Joseph I
What was the treaty that officially ended Russia’s participation in WWI and ceded vast Baltic/Eastern territories to Germany?
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Which Spanish royal candidate provoked Napoleon III to declare war on Prussia?
Leopold Hohenzollern
What US foreign policy stance, aggressive foreign policy under Theodore Roosevelt, justified US intervention in Latin America?
The "Big Stick" policy
Explain the Congress of Berlin
International meeting in 1878 that recognized the independence of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, and allowed Austria to occupy Bosnia.
Why did Germany think Russia would never join an anti-German alliance after 1890, and what changed to make it happen?
Colonial tensions between Russia, the UK and Japan.
The Russo-japanese war
Name the specific post-war peace treaties signed with Austria, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire respectively.
Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Austria), Trianon (Hungary), and Sèvres (Ottoman Empire).