World War I

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. The Alliance System: Bismarck's Legacy and the Triple Entente. By 1907, Europe had split into the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, two rival blocs bound by defensive commitments.
2. Nationalism and the Balkan Powder Keg. Serbian nationalism and the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 turned the Balkans into a "powder keg" primed for wider crisis.
3. Imperial Rivalry, the Naval Race, and Militarism. Colonial rivalry, the Anglo-German naval race, and rigid war plans like the Schlieffen Plan deepened prewar tension.
4. The Sarajevo Assassination and the July Crisis. Franz Ferdinand's assassination on June 28, 1914, triggered a month-long crisis ending in general war by August.
5. 1914: From the War of Movement to the Trenches. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan at the Marne turned a war of rapid movement into entrenched stalemate by 1914's end.
6. A Global War: New Fronts, 1915-1917. The war spread from Gallipoli to Verdun and the high seas, drawing in new fronts as casualties mounted with no decision.
7. Total War, the Home Front, and America's Entry. Total war mobilized entire societies and economies, and U.S. entry in April 1917 began to tip the balance.
8. 1917-1918: Crisis, Collapse, and Armistice. Mutinies and revolution in 1917 gave way to Germany's final gamble in 1918 and its collapse that November.