What was/were the primary cause/s of World War I?

ESSAY QUESTIONS
Please remember that the Essay should be no more than 8 pages in 12-point Times New Roman font (this
does not include the bibliography, which must also be provided). Information should be cited in Chicago
Style. A minimum of 5-6 Scholarly Secondary Sources must be consulted. All direct quotes, paraphrasing, and
words that are not your own must be cited (footnote/endnote). Please note that you can choose an alternate
topic but that it must be approved by the TA.
1. Did Napoleon realise or abandon the ideals of the French Revolution?
2. Victor Hugo referred to Romanticism as “liberalism in literature” was Romanticism in fact
more of a conservative or liberal movement?
3. Choose either Britain, Prussia, Russia or Austria and assess the country’s goals at the
Congress of Vienna.
4. What led to the failure of the Revolutions of 1848? [please choose one example, ex. Prussia,
Hungarian Revolution etc.]
5. What role did women play in the Revolutions of 1848?
6. Why did the national unification of Italy owe more to Cavour and Piedmont-Sardinia and
not Mazzini and Young Italy?
7. Why did German unification ultimately resemble the Kleindeutschland and not Grossdeutschland
model?
8. What role did Nationalism play in the unification of either Germany or Italy? (choose one)
9. What did it mean to be “middle class” in nineteenth century Europe?
10. What were the causes and consequences of the Crimean War?
11. How did the rise of nationalism and national awakenings affect Austria?
12. How was imperialism ‘justified’ by the European Powers?
13. What ideas inspired the racial thinking and violence of European Imperialism?
14. What impact did industrialisation have on rural life in the second half of the nineteenth
century?
15. Why did Marxism prove more popular than earlier utopian socialisms?
16. Examine either France and the Dreyfus Affair or Austrian Vienna under Karl Lueger to
explain what led to the growth of anti-semitism in late nineteenth century Europe.
17. How did late nineteenth century European art, literature, and culture reflect the anxieties of
the period?
18. Why did the British Suffragette movement turn toward more militant means?
19. Why were the Balkans referred to as a “tinderbox” and why did the conflicts there ultimately
have such a large impact on the rest of Europe?
20. What was/were the primary cause/s of World War I?