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The World Wars
Causes, Turning Points & Treaties
How both wars began, turned and were settled.
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In which year did the First World War begin?
The First World War
The First World War is often remembered as a single stretch of trench line in northern France. It was also fought at sea, in the mountains of northern Italy and across the Middle East.
About this topic
Almost everything about the First World War was a surprise to the people who started it. The plans on all sides assumed a short campaign settled by movement, and within three months the Western Front had frozen into a line that barely shifted for years. The rest of the war was an argument about how to break it. This quiz follows that argument: the opening plan and where it failed, the battles that came to stand for the whole thing, the naval stand-off in the North Sea, and the collapse of the Eastern Front. The dates and places here are the ones worth carrying around, and each answer explains why it mattered.
Questions & answers
The First World War: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire fought the war as which grouping?
- A The Triple Entente
- B The Allied Powers
- C The Grand Alliance
- D The Central Powers Correct
Answer: D. The Central Powers
Why: They were called the Central Powers for their position in the middle of Europe, with enemies on both sides. Bulgaria joined them in 1915, making four.
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2The German plan for a rapid opening attack on France through Belgium is named after which chief of staff?
- A Erich Ludendorff
- B Helmuth von Moltke
- C Alfred von Schlieffen Correct
- D Paul von Hindenburg
Answer: C. Alfred von Schlieffen
Why: Schlieffen retired in 1906, years before the plan bearing his name was used in a modified form. The advance was halted on the Marne in September 1914, and the war of movement ended there.
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3Which battle of 1916 ran from February to December and became the defining ordeal of the French army?
- A Cambrai
- B Verdun Correct
- C The Somme
- D Passchendaele
Answer: B. Verdun
Why: The German attack aimed to draw the French into defending a fortified salient at any cost, and both sides paid a terrible price for very little ground. The single road carrying supplies into the city became known as the Voie Sacrée.
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4Which country left the war by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918?
- A Russia Correct
- B Italy
- C Romania
- D Bulgaria
Answer: A. Russia
Why: The new Bolshevik government accepted severe terms, giving up territory across the western edge of the former empire, in order to stop fighting. The peace released German divisions for one last offensive in France that spring.
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5Which 1916 encounter in the North Sea was the largest fleet battle of the war?
- A Dogger Bank
- B Heligoland Bight
- C Coronel
- D Jutland Correct
Answer: D. Jutland
Why: The British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet met off the Danish coast at the end of May 1916. Britain lost more ships, but the German fleet spent most of the rest of the war in harbour.
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6Which country abandoned its pre-war alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary to join the Allies in 1915?
- A Bulgaria
- B Greece
- C Italy Correct
- D Romania
Answer: C. Italy
Why: Italy had been a member of the Triple Alliance but stayed out in 1914, then joined the Allies under the secret Treaty of London. Most of its war was fought against Austria-Hungary along the Isonzo river and in the Alps.
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7The sinking of which passenger liner in 1915 turned American opinion sharply against Germany?
- A The Aquitania
- B The Lusitania Correct
- C The Mauretania
- D The Olympic
Answer: B. The Lusitania
Why: The Cunard liner was torpedoed off the south coast of Ireland in May 1915 while crossing from New York. The United States did not declare war for another two years, after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare.
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8The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 was an attempt to force a passage through which strait?
- A The Dardanelles Correct
- B The Bosphorus
- C The Strait of Otranto
- D The Strait of Messina
Answer: A. The Dardanelles
Why: Control of the strait would have opened a supply route to Russia through the Black Sea. The landings became a stalemate on the cliffs above the beaches and the peninsula was evacuated by January 1916.
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9On what date did the armistice on the Western Front take effect?
- A 11 October 1918
- B 28 June 1919
- C 11 November 1919
- D 11 November 1918 Correct
Answer: D. 11 November 1918
Why: The agreement was signed in a railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne early that morning and came into force at eleven o'clock. The same carriage was brought out for the French surrender to Germany in 1940.
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10Which weapon did the British first send into battle on the Somme in September 1916?
- A Poison gas
- B The machine gun
- C The tank Correct
- D The flamethrower
Answer: C. The tank
Why: A few dozen Mark I tanks went forward at Flers-Courcelette, and most broke down or became stuck before reaching the German line. The name came from a cover story that the hulls were mobile water tanks.
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