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Module 3: Nationalism and World War I

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do I reason about cause and effect, turning points, and continuity and change on the exam?

Apply chronological reasoning and causation (Social Studies Practice B): distinguish long-term and immediate causes from effects, identify and explain turning points, and analyze continuity and change over time.
An exam-skills answer for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: how to reason about cause and effect (long-term versus immediate causes), how to identify and explain a turning point, and how to analyze continuity and change over time, with worked exam questions.
11 min answer →

What long-term forces and immediate spark caused World War I?

Explain the causes of World War I: militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism (the long-term causes) and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the spark) (Framework Key Idea 10.6).
A Framework-level answer on the causes of World War I for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the long-term causes of militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism, and the immediate spark of the assassination at Sarajevo, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How was World War I fought, and how did it reshape the world and sow the seeds of the next war?

Explain how World War I was fought (total war, new technology, trench warfare) and its consequences: massive casualties, the fall of empires, the Treaty of Versailles, and the conditions that led to future conflict (Framework Key Idea 10.6).
A Framework-level answer on how World War I was fought and its consequences for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: total war and new technology, trench warfare, the collapse of empires, and the Treaty of Versailles, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How did nationalism unify some peoples into nation-states while dividing multi-ethnic empires?

Explain nationalism and its effects: how it unified Germany and Italy into nation-states and how it strained multi-ethnic empires, fuelling competition and conflict (Framework Key Idea 10.5).
A Framework-level answer on nationalism for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: what nationalism is, how it unified Germany (Bismarck) and Italy, and how it both unified and divided multi-ethnic empires such as Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans, with worked exam questions.
11 min answer →

How did World War I help cause the Russian Revolution, and what kind of state did it create?

Explain the causes and outcome of the Russian Revolution: how war, hardship, and inequality led to the fall of the tsar and the Bolshevik seizure of power, creating the world's first communist state (Framework Key Ideas 10.6 and 10.7).
A Framework-level answer on the Russian Revolution for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the causes (war, hardship, inequality, weak tsar), the 1917 revolutions, Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and the creation of the first communist state, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →