Ch. 4 Over the Brink

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Ch. 4 -- Over the Brink (Black Book)

1. Provide some details of the Great War from the 1st paragraph.
2. Discuss widespread illusions and what there were no illusions about.
3. Discuss the situation surrounding the Black Hand and the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand on 28 of June 1914.
4. Explain the misunderstanding and dispute between Russia and Austria-Hungary in the July crisis.
5. What were the three obstacles to Austria-Hungarian hostility toward Serbia?
6. What were the German fears about Austria-Hungary just two years before the war?
7. Describe Bethmann Hollweg's calculations of "ifs" regarding other European powers.
8. What is the "blank cheque"? And how did the Dual Monarchy use the "blank cheque"?
9. How did the Kaiser react to the news of Serbia's reply to the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum?
10. Discuss the tension for European powers between the desire to "localize" the crisis and the fear of "partial mobilization." What role does the Schlieffen Plan play in "localization" and "partial mobilization"?
11. Why must the responsibility for starting the conflict in July and August rest primarily on the shoulders of Germany and Austria-Hungary? And why not the other European powers?

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