Flashcards · 0470 · Topic 3

Depth Studies flashcards

33 cards on Topic 3, subtopics 3.1 to 3.5. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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3.1 Depth Study A: The First World War, 1914–18

Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail in 1914?: Belgian resistance slowed the German advance, Britain entered the war, Russia mobilised faster than expected, and the Germans were halted at the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914.
Why was there stalemate on the Western Front?: Machine guns, barbed wire and artillery gave defenders a huge advantage over attackers crossing open ground, so offensives brought massive casualties for little ground after the race to the sea.
Verdun vs the Somme (1916): Verdun: a German attack from February 1916 meant to bleed the French army. Somme: a British and French offensive from 1 July 1916 under Haig, partly to relieve Verdun. Both cost hundreds of thousands of casualties.
How did new weapons try to break the stalemate?: Gas (from 1915), tanks (first used on the Somme in 1916), aircraft and better artillery tactics such as the creeping barrage. None was decisive alone until combined late in the war.
In what ways was it a world war?: Indian and Canadian troops fought on the Western Front, there were campaigns in German East and South West Africa, Japan besieged Tsingtao, and the Arab Revolt (1916) fought the Ottoman Empire.
Why was the Gallipoli campaign (1915-16) a failure?: It aimed to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war and open a route to Russia, but poor planning and strong Turkish defence led to stalemate and evacuation.
How important was the war at sea?: Jutland (1916) was indecisive but kept the German fleet in port. The British blockade starved Germany, while unrestricted U-boat warfare (1917) helped bring the USA into the war and was beaten by convoys.
Why did Germany ask for an armistice in 1918?: The Spring Offensive failed, American troops strengthened the Allies, and the Allied advance pushed Germany back. At home, the Kiel Mutiny and revolution led to the Kaiser’s abdication; the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918.

3.2 Depth Study B: Germany, 1918–45

What were the weaknesses of the Weimar constitution?: Proportional representation produced many parties and short-lived coalitions, and Article 48 let the president rule by decree in an emergency.
How did Weimar recover under Stresemann (1923-29)?: A new currency, the Rentenmark, ended hyperinflation; the Dawes Plan (1924) eased reparations with American loans; and the Locarno Treaties (1925) and League membership (1926) improved Germany’s standing.
What happened in the Munich Putsch (1923), and what did Hitler learn?: Hitler’s attempt to seize power in Munich failed and he was imprisoned, where he wrote Mein Kampf. He decided to win power legally, through elections.
How did the Depression help the Nazis?: Mass unemployment and the failure of coalition governments drove voters to extremes. By July 1932 the Nazis were the largest party in the Reichstag, and Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933.
How did Hitler consolidate power in 1933-34?: The Reichstag fire decree, the Enabling Act (March 1933), banning trade unions and other parties, the Night of the Long Knives (June 1934), and becoming Führer when Hindenburg died (August 1934).
How did the Nazis control German society?: Terror through the SS and Gestapo; propaganda under Goebbels; control of young people through the Hitler Youth and schools; and persecution of Jewish people through the Nuremberg Laws (1935) and Kristallnacht (1938).

3.3 Depth Study C: Russia, 1905–41

Why did Tsarism survive the 1905 Revolution?: The October Manifesto split the opposition by promising a Duma, the army stayed loyal, and peace with Japan freed troops to restore order.
Why did the Tsar fall in February 1917?: War defeats, food and fuel shortages, and Nicholas II’s decision to take personal command, leaving government to the Tsarina and Rasputin. When troops in Petrograd joined strikers, he abdicated.
How were the Bolsheviks able to seize power in October 1917?: The Provisional Government stayed in the war and delayed land reform; Lenin’s slogan "Peace, Bread, Land" won support; and Trotsky organised the Red Guards to take Petrograd.
Why did the Reds win the Russian Civil War (1918-21)?: They held the central cities and railways, Trotsky built a disciplined Red Army, War Communism supplied it, and the Whites were divided and spread around the edges of Russia.
Why did Lenin introduce the New Economic Policy in 1921?: War Communism had caused famine and revolt, including the Kronstadt rising. The NEP allowed small private businesses and trade in surplus grain to revive the economy.
What were the effects of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and collectivisation?: Heavy industry grew fast from 1928, but collectivisation from 1929 destroyed the kulaks, cut food output and caused a famine in 1932-33 that killed millions.
What were the purges?: Stalin’s terror of the 1930s, intensified after Kirov’s murder (1934): show trials of old Bolsheviks, purges of the army and party, and millions arrested, shot or sent to the Gulag.

3.4 Depth Study D: The United States, 1919–41

What caused the US economic boom of the 1920s?: Mass production (such as Ford’s assembly line), new consumer goods, hire purchase and advertising, low taxes and tariffs that protected American industry.
Which groups did not share in the 1920s boom?: Farmers, hit by overproduction and falling prices, workers in older industries such as coal and textiles, and many Black Americans.
Why did Prohibition fail?: Alcohol was banned from 1920, but illegal speakeasies and bootlegging flourished, gangsters such as Al Capone grew rich and police were bribed. It was repealed in 1933.
How was intolerance shown in 1920s America?: The Red Scare and Palmer Raids (1919-20), the Sacco and Vanzetti case, the revived Ku Klux Klan, immigration quotas (1921 and 1924) and the Scopes trial (1925).
Why was Hoover blamed for the Depression?: He believed the economy would recover by itself and that direct federal relief would weaken self-reliance. Shanty towns of the homeless were called Hoovervilles.
How effective was the New Deal?: Roosevelt’s alphabet agencies gave relief and jobs and restored confidence in the banks, but unemployment stayed high until rearmament for war. The Supreme Court and critics such as Huey Long opposed it.

3.5 Depth Study E: The Second World War in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, 1939–c.1945

What was Blitzkrieg?: "Lightning war": fast, concentrated attacks by tanks and aircraft, followed by infantry, used to defeat Poland (1939) and France (1940) quickly.
Why was the Battle of Britain (1940) important?: The RAF stopped the Luftwaffe winning control of the air, so Hitler postponed the invasion of Britain, which stayed in the war as a base for later attacks.
Why did Operation Barbarossa fail to defeat the USSR?: Germany invaded in June 1941 but did not take Moscow before the winter. Soviet industry moved east, and defeat at Stalingrad (1942-43) and Kursk (1943) turned the war in the east.
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941)?: To cripple the US Pacific Fleet so that Japan could seize resources in South-East Asia after the USA cut off oil exports. It brought the USA into the war.
Why was the Battle of Midway (June 1942) a turning point?: The US Navy sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, ending Japan’s advance in the Pacific. The USA then used island hopping to move towards Japan.
How did the war end in Europe and the Asia-Pacific?: After D-Day (6 June 1944) and the Soviet advance, Germany surrendered in May 1945. Atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August) and Soviet entry led Japan to surrender in August 1945.