World War Havoc Trivia Quiz

Answer: Black Hand

In May 1911, ten men in Serbia formed the Black Hand Secret Society. The main objective of the Black Hand was the creation, by means of violence, of a Greater Serbia. Its stated aim was: "To realize the national ideal, the unification of all Serbs. This organisation prefers terrorist action to cultural activities; it will therefore remain secret."

Answer: The Order of the White Feather

In August 1914, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald founded the Order of the White Feather. The organisation encouraged women to give out white feathers to young men who had not joined the British Army. One young woman remembers her father, Robert Smith, being given a feather on his way home from work: "That night he came home and cried his heart out. My father was no coward, but had been reluctant to leave his family. He was thirty-four and my mother, who had two young children, had been suffering from a serious illness. Soon after this incident my father joined the army."

Answer: Flying Circus

The group was nicknamed the Flying Circus because of the pilots decision to paint their aircraft bright colours. Placed under the command of Manfred von Richthofen, the Flying Circus was made up of four elite fighter squadrons (12 aircraft per squadron at full stength).

Answer: Maria Bochkareva

In May 1917, Maria Bochkareva, persuaded Alexander Kerensky, Russia's new leader, to allow her to form a Women's Battalion. Initially, Bochkareva had 2,000 women under her command, but after fighting for three months on the front-line, numbers had fallen to 250. It was said that some of the girl-soldiers had been thrown from the windows into the street, most of the rest had been violated, and in addition many had committed suicide as a result of the horrors they had gone through.

Answer: 24th December

The approach of the first Christmas of the First World War was marked in places in the Western Front by spontaneous local truces, and both sides met in No Man's Land. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the guns were silent in these sectors of the front.

Answer: East Prussia

In 1910 General Yuri Danilov of the Russian Army developed what became known as Plan 19. Danilov argued that on the outbreak of war in Europe the German Army would concentrate its forces against France. Danilov therefore suggested that four of its armies (19 corps) should immediately invade East Prussia.
Some leading members of the Russian Army disagreed with the tactics of Plan 19. They argued that Austria-Hungary represented a greater threat to Russia than Germany. In 1912 it was decided to substantially alter Plan 19. Only two armies were now to attack East Prussia with the rest concentrating on defending Russia from the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Answer: USA

With a population of over 100,000,000, the USA had the potential to decide the outcome of the First World War. However, in 1914, the country had no overseas alliances and on 19th August, President Woodrow Wilson declared a policy of strict neutrality. The war helped the USA economy, with exported goods to Allied countries increasing from $825 in 1914 to $3.2 billion in 1916. This made it possible for Britain and France to keep fighting the war against the Central Powers and this influenced Germany's decision to announce its unrestricted submarine warfare policy. Opinion against Germany hardened after the sinking of the The Lusitania, the largest passenger vessel on transatlantic service, which had left New York harbour for Liverpool on 1st May, 1915. On this journey the ship carried 1,257 passengers and 650 crew.
On 31st January, 1917, Germany announced a new submarine offensive. Wilson responded by breaking off diplomatic relations with Germany. The publication of the Zimmerman Telegram, that suggested that Germany was willing to help Mexico regain territory in Texas and Arizona, intensified popular opinion against the Central Powers.
On 2nd April, Woodrow Wilson asked for permission to go to war. This was approved in the Senate on 4th April by 82 votes to 6, and two days later, in the House of Representatives, by 373 to 50. Still avoiding alliances, war was declared against the German government (rather than its subjects). War against Austria-Hungary was not declared until 7th December, 1917.

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson was President of the USA from 1913 to 1921.

Answer: A mobile howitzer

In 1900 Alfred Krupp's armaments factory at Essen, Germany, began building a 350-mm howitzer that could fire an 800lb shell over 10,000 yards. In 1908 the German Army asked Gustav Krupp to build an improved version of this gun with the capability of destroying the heaviest fortification. By 1914 company had produced a mobile howitzer called Big Bertha (named after Gustav Krupp's wife).

This 43 ton howitzer could fire a 2,200 lb shell over 9 miles.

Answer: Versailles, St Germain, Trianon, Neuilly and Serves

The Paris Peace Conference opened on 12th January 1919, meetings were held at various locations in and around Paris until 20th January, 1920. Leaders of 32 states representing about 75% of the world's population, attended. However, negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central Powers: the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan. Important figures in these negotiations included Georges Clemenceau (France) David Lloyd George (Britain), Vittorio Orlando (Italy), and Woodrow Wilson (United States).

Eventually five treaties emerged from the Conference that dealt with the defeated powers. The five treaties were named after the Paris suburbs of Versailles (Germany), St Germain (Austria), Trianon (Hungary), Neuilly (Bulgaria) and Sevres (Turkey). However, under the leadership of Kemal Atatürk, the Turks in effect reversed many of the provisions of the Treaty of Sevres, and a new treaty - that of Lausanne - was negotiated in and signed in 1923.