Food for Thought

Week 12: Thursday, April 14

After you have completed the reading, take a look at the web gallery.

Focus on Paxton at the expense of Perry. I cannot remember exactly which pages I gave to you from Paxton's book, but I want you to pay especially close attention to the sections covered by the food for thought questions. That being the case, you probably ought to skim certain parts that are not as important as others. Look below for my recommendations:

pp. 43-53: Origins of the War
pp. 53-60: Escalation of the War (skim)
pp. 60-65: General Causes of the War (skim)
pp. 99-102: Austria-Hungary and the War
pp. 141-146: Disintegration of Austria Hungary
pp. 157-167: Peace Settlement (skim)
pp. 172-181: Eastern Settlement

I have also included President Wilson's Fourteen Points in the reading so that you may look up the various points mentioned in Paxton.

Everyone is responsible for the following questions:

1) How did problems associated with Balkan nationalism contribute directly to the outbreak of World War I?

2) How did the national feeling associated with the major European powers contribute to the outbreak of the conflict.

3) Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrate during World War I?

4) According to Paxton, what were the different considerations and forces that helped determine the peace settlement (namely the territorial arrangments) in Eastern Europe after World War I? (A list would be sufficient.)

5) What were the difficulties the victorious powers encountered while drawing up a settlement in Eastern Europe?