AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION 1
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1–6. This question is
designed to test your ability to apply several historical-thinking skills simultaneously—i.e.,
contextualization, historical causation, and appropriate use of relevant historical evidence. Your response
should be based on your analysis of the documents and your knowledge of the topic.
Write a well-integrated essay that does the following:




States an appropriate thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question.
Supports the thesis or an appropriate argument with evidence from all or all but one of the
documents AND your knowledge of European history beyond/outside the documents.
Analyzes a majority of the documents in terms of such features as their intended audience,
purpose, point of view, format, argument, limitations, and/or social context as appropriate to the
argument.
Places the arguments in the context of broader, regional, national, or global processes.
1. Evaluate changes in warfare during the First World War (1914-1918) and analyze the impacts of
these changes.
Learning Objective
Main Historical
Thinking Skills
Key Concepts in the
Curriculum
Framework
SP-13 Evaluate how the emergence of new weapons,
tactics and methods of military organization changed
the scale and cost of warfare, required the
centralization of power, and shifted the balance of
power.
Contextualization
4.1.I.B
SP-14 Analyze the role of warfare in remaking the
political map of Europe and in shifting the global
balance of power in the 19th and 20 centuries.
SP-18 Evaluate how overseas competition and
changes in the alliance system upset the Concert
of Europe and set the stage for World War I.
IS-8 Evaluate how the impact of war on civilians
has affected loyalty to and respect for the nationstate.
ANSWER
Thesis
Historical
Causation
Appropriate Use
of Relevant
Historical
Evidence
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Possible thesis statements could include the following:


Changes in modern warfare made World War I a horrific development in the history of mankind.
Changes in warfare during World War I continued the pattern of modernization of conflict that
had begun in the mid-nineteenth century and culminated in World War II.
Analysis of Documents
To earn full credit for analysis of documents, responses must offer at least one of the following for all or
all but one of the documents: intended audience, purpose, historical context, author’s point of view. The
analyses must also support the stated thesis or a relevant argument.
Document 1
Source: Graphs depicting the use of animals by the military during World War I
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: Students of World War I
Purpose: to illustrate the use of horses and other modes of transport during World War I
Historical context: Although World War I was in many ways the first modern war, it still relied
largely upon antiquated means of transportation and supply.
Author’s point of view: N/A
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Document 2
Source: Fritz Kreisler, Austrian soldier, Four Weeks in the Trenches, The War Story of a Violinist, 1915
In the western area of the theater of war, . . . such trenches become an elaborate affair, with extensive
underground working and wing connections of lines which almost constitute little fortresses and afford a
certain measure of comfort. But where we were in Galicia at the beginning of the war, with conditions
utterly unsteady and positions shifting daily and hourly, only the most superficial trenches were used. In
fact, we thought ourselves fortunate if we could requisition enough straw to cover the bottom. That
afternoon we had about half finished our work when our friend the [Russian] aeroplane appeared on the
horizon again. This time we immediately opened fire. It disappeared, but apparently had seen enough, for
very soon our position was shelled. By this time, however, shrapnel had almost ceased to be a source of
concern to us and we scarcely paid any attention to it. Human nerves quickly get accustomed to the most
unusual conditions and circumstances and I noticed that quite a number of men actually fell asleep from
sheer exhaustion in the trenches, in spite of the roaring of the cannon about us and the whizzing of
shrapnel over our heads.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: The civilian readers at home who were curious about the realities of the war
Purpose: to explain the realities of World War I warfare
Historical context: In the early stages of the war, the impact of new weapons and technology was
still being grappled with and adapted to. Warfare on the Eastern Front remained more fluid than
the static Western Front.
Author’s point of view: Kreisler stresses the dangers and violence of modern warfare and its
impact on the human psyche.
Document 3
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Source: Anonymous Account of French troops being gassed at Ypres, April 1915
Utterly unprepared for what was to come, the [French] divisions gazed for a short while spellbound at the
strange phenomenon they saw coming slowly toward them.
Like some liquid the heavy-coloured vapour poured relentlessly into the trenches, filled them, and passed
on.
For a few seconds nothing happened; the sweet-smelling stuff merely tickled their nostrils; they failed to
realize the danger. Then, with inconceivable rapidity, the gas worked, and blind panic spread.
Hundreds, after a dreadful fight for air, became unconscious and died where they lay - a death of hideous
torture, with the frothing bubbles gurgling in their throats and the foul liquid welling up in their lungs.
With blackened faces and twisted limbs one by one they drowned - only that which drowned them came
from inside and not from out.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: the reading public
Purpose: to illustrate the horrors of German use of gas as a weapon
Historical context: To break the deadlock of trench warfare, both sides turned to poisonous gas as
a means to incapacitate enemy forces.
Author’s point of view: The author presents the horrors of gas warfare.
Document 4
Source: Official German Press Report citing French use of chemical weapons at Ypres in April 1915,
published June 1915
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
For every one who has kept an unbiased judgment, the official assertions of the strictly accurate and
truthful German military administration will be sufficient to prove the prior use of asphyxiating gases by
our opponents.
On April 16th the French were making increased use of asphyxiating bombs. But let whoever still
doubts, consider the following instructions for the systematic preparation of this means of warfare by the
French, issued by the French War Ministry, dated February 21, 1915:
Remarks concerning shells with stupefying gases:
The so-called shells with stupefying gases that are being manufactured by our central factories contain a
fluid which streams forth after the explosion, in the form of vapours that irritate the eyes, nose, and
throat.
There are two kinds: hand grenades and cartridges. . . .
Here we have a conclusive proof that the French in their State workshops manufactured shells with
asphyxiating gases fully half a year ago at least.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: The German public, specifically, and the international community, in general
Purpose: to justify German use of poison gas based upon French development and deployment of
such weapons
Historical context: Both sides developed various means to break the deadlock in World War I,
including poison gas. However, by most accounts the Germans were the first to employ this
deadly new weapon on a large scale.
Author’s point of view: The German military is attempting to justify its use of poison gas based
upon the French use of similar weapons.
Document 5
Source: Richard Haigh, British tank commander, Life in a Tank, written during World War I
Although one is protected from machine-gun fire in a tank, the sense of confinement is, at times, terrible.
One does not know what is happening outside his little steel prison. One often cannot see where the
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
machine is going. The noise inside is deafening; the heat terrific. Bombs shatter on the roof and on all
sides. Bullets spatter savagely against the walls. There is an awful lack of knowledge; a feeling of blind
helplessness at being cooped up. One is entirely at the mercy of the big shells. If a shell hits a tank near
the petrol tank, the men may perish by fire, as did Gould, without a chance of escape. Going down with
your ship seems pleasant compared to burning up with your tank. In fighting in the open, one has, at least,
air and space.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: presumably intended for the home front audience curious about the new weapons of
World War I, particularly the tank
Purpose: to explain the realities of tank warfare
Historical context: Tanks were introduced as a means to defeat trench warfare; however, the
relatively new technology had severe flaws and was not well incorporated into the larger military
strategy.
Author’s point of view: Haigh presents service in a tank as unpleasant and deadly.
Document 6
Source: Captain Manfred von Richthofen, Prussian nobleman and fighter pilot known as the Red Baron,
The Red Battle Flyer, 1918
In Russia our battle squadron did a great deal of bomb throwing. Our occupation consisted of annoying
the Russians. We dropped our eggs on their finest railway establishments. . . . The aeroplanes were ready
to start. Every pilot tried his motor, for it is a painful thing to be forced to land against one's will on the
wrong side of the Front line, especially in Russia. The Russians hated the flyers. If they caught a flying
man they would certainly kill him. That is the only risk one ran in Russia for the Russians had no
aviators, or practically none. If a Russian flying man turned up he was sure to have bad luck and would be
shot down. The anti-aircraft guns used by Russia were sometimes quite good, but they were too few in
number. Compared with flying in the West, flying in the East is absolutely a holiday.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: written to entertain the readers on the German home front
Purpose: intended as a means of propaganda to garner support for the war effort
Historical context: By later years of the war, the air war had expanded in importance and
deadliness. Aerial combat was one of the aspects of World War I which gained the interest and
imagination of the civilian public.
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4

Author’s point of view: Richthofen presents air combat in both a somewhat romantic as well as
deadly light.
Analysis of outside examples to support thesis/argument
Possible examples of information not found in the documents that could be used to support the stated
thesis or a relevant argument could include the following:



New technologies before and during the War introduced more deadly and wide-spread warfare
into the events of World War I.
o Continued improvements in machine guns made casualty rates particularly high.
o The use of more advanced artillery, coupled with TNT, made artillery the most deadly
aspect of World War I artillery.
o The development of aerial bombardment throughout the course of World War I opened
civilians to the horrors of bombardment as well as the troops.
o The use of the submarine extended the war far beyond the front lines and across the high
seas.
The alliance system was the factor that truly made World War I so costly.
o The real change in modern warfare was the implementation of larger alliance systems
which drew increasing numbers of countries and soldiers into the conflict.
The biggest change in World War I was the implementation of “total war” in mobilizing all the
resources of countries and empires in the conflict.
o The expansion of the size of armies required the recruitment and drafting of ever greater
numbers of soldiers and resulted in huge numbers of women and children being pressed
into industrial work to support the war effort.
Contextualization
Students can earn a point for contextualization by accurately and explicitly connecting historical
phenomena relevant to the argument to broader historical events and/or processes. These historical
phenomena may include, but are not limited to, the following:

The horrors of World War I were part of the continued development of industry and government.
o World War I was, in many ways, a sign of the automation and greater efficiency of
modern industrial society applied to warfare.
o World War I allowed the continuation of the increasing involvement of governments in
overseeing and commanding the population, industry and economy of countries.
Synthesis
Students can earn the point for synthesis by crafting a persuasive and coherent essay. This can be
accomplished by providing a conclusion that extends or modifies the analysis in the essay, by using
disparate and sometimes contradictory evidence from primary and/or secondary sources to craft a
coherent argument, or by connecting to another historical period or context. Examples could include, but
are not limited to, the following.
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4

World War I continued the trend of greater mobilization of the population and resources of a
country for warfare.
o This trend can be seen beginning in France during the Napoleonic Wars and later in the
U.S. Civil War.
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION 2
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1–6. This question is
designed to test your ability to apply several historical-thinking skills simultaneously—i.e.,
contextualization, historical causation, and interpretation. Your response should be based on your analysis
of the documents and your knowledge of the topic.
Write a well-integrated essay that does the following:




States an appropriate thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question.
Supports the thesis or an appropriate argument with evidence from all or all but one of the
documents AND your knowledge of European history beyond/outside the documents.
Analyzes a majority of the documents in terms of such features as their intended audience,
purpose, point of view, format, argument, limitations, and/or social context as appropriate to the
argument.
Places the arguments in the context of broader, regional, national, or global processes.
2. Analyze the extent to which the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia represent the larger problems
of ethnicity and nationalism in post-1989 eastern Europe.
Learning Objective
Main Historical
Thinking Skills
Key Concepts in the
Curriculum
Framework
SP-17 Explain the role of nationalism in altering the
European balance of power, and explain attempts
made to limit nationalism as a means to ensure
continental stability.
Contextualization
4.1.VI
IS-7 Evaluate how identities such as ethnicity, race,
and class have defined the individual in relationship to
Interpretation
Historical
Causation
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
society.
IS-10 Analyze how and why Europeans have
marginalized certain populations (defined as “other”)
over the course of their history.
ANSWER
Thesis
Possible thesis statements could include the following



The turmoil in Kosovo and Bosnia is symptomatic of the ethnic tensions which divide much of
eastern Europe.
The turmoil in the former Yugoslavia is a product of the unique ethnic make-up and tensions of
that region of the Balkans.
The uncertainty and instability of the years following the end of Communism brought the
opportunity for ethnic conflict throughout eastern Europe, but it was the unique factors of
Yugoslavia that led to turmoil there as opposed to other regions.
Analysis of Documents
To earn full credit for analysis of documents, responses must offer at least one of the following for all or
all but one of the documents: intended audience, purpose, historical context, author’s point of view. The
analyses must also support the stated thesis or a relevant argument.
Document 1
Source: Speech by Slobodan Milosevic, delivered to 1 million people at the central celebration marking
the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, held at Gazimestan on 28 June, 1989.
Let the memory of Kosovo heroism live forever!
Long live Serbia!
Long live Yugoslavia!
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: a largely Serb nationalist crowd honoring the anniversary of a historic Serb victory
Purpose: to promote the unity and greatness of Serbia
Historical context: Given in the midst of the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, this
speech commemorated a medieval Serb victory over the Turks.
Author’s point of view: Milosevic viewed the history and destiny of Serbia and Kosovo to be
identical.
(Continued at the top of the next page)
Document 2
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Source: Stefan Wolff, Ethnic Minorities in Europe: The Basic Facts. Centre for International Crisis
Management and Conflict Resolution
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: students of modern eastern Europe
Purpose: to illustrate the ethnic diversity and complexity existing in eastern Europe in the modern
age
Historical context: compiled to show the shifting ethnic minorities of eastern Europe through the
period of the fall of communism
Author’s point of view: N/A
Document 3
Source: UN Security Council Resolution 1199 (1998) concerning Kosovo
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
Gravely concerned at the recent intense fighting in Kosovo and in particular the excessive and
indiscriminate use of force by Serbian security forces and the Yugoslav Army which have resulted in
numerous civilian casualties and, according to the estimate of the Secretary-General, the displacement of
over 230,000 persons from their homes,
Deeply concerned by the flow of refugees into northern Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other
European countries as a result of the use of force in Kosovo, as well as by the increasing numbers of
displaced persons within Kosovo, and other parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, up to 50,000 of
whom the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated are without shelter and other
basic necessities,
Reaffirming the right of all refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes in safety, and
underlining the responsibility of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for creating the conditions which
allow them to do so,
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: leaders and policies makers throughout the world
Purpose: to voice the United Nation’s concerns about the conflict in Kosovo and the well-being
of refugees from the conflict
Historical context: In the midst of the conflict in Kosovo in the late 1990s the human toll caused
the U.N. to attempt to intervene to end the fighting.
Author’s point of view: The resolution blames the violence and refugee problem on the
Serbian/Yugoslav military and police.
Document 4
Source: William W. Hagen, “The Balkans’ Lethal Nationalisms,” Foreign Affairs, July/August 1999
Balkan ethnic strains are neither as ancient as time nor as recent as the rise to power of Slobodan
Milosevic; rather, they are about as old as the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of
nationalism. To a historian, today's Balkan crises are rooted in, above all, the crippling dependence of all
Balkan peoples on the ideology and psychology of expansionist nationalism. With the West now drawn
deeper than ever into the struggle between Serbs and Albanians, we must better understand the roots of
their passions.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: students of foreign affairs and eastern Europe
Purpose: to attempt to explain the source of tensions in the Balkans
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
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Historical context: Written in the midst of the Kosovo conflict after the years of fighting in
Bosnia that had torn the Balkans, this document attempts to place these conflicts into the
historical context of centuries of national turmoil in the Balkans.
Author’s point of view: Historically, the rivalries and conflicts in the Balkans are a result of
relatively recent events in the historical record.
Document 5
Source: Interview with the Yugoslav 3rd Army General, Commander Nebojsa Pavkovic, Frontline, PBS
I think that the whole world knows what Kosovo means to Serbia . . . it is its cradle. . . .Serbia is in
Kosovo, and Kosovo is in Serbia. Serbian roots are in Kosovo, and everything that is connected to the
Serbs throughout the past centuries is there. Every Serb is intimately connected to it.
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: addressing the western public
Purpose: to explain Serb views on the origin of the Kosovo conflict
Historical context: In the wake of the Kosovo war, Pavkovic attempted to justify his actions and
those of the Milosevic government in the Kosovo conflict.
Author’s point of view: Pavkovic argues that Kosovo was an integral, essential part of Serbia.
Document 6
Source: Yugoslav 1981 Census
Breakdown of Yugoslav population, 1981
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
5.4%
2.6% 1.9%
Serbs
6.0%
Croats
36.3%
7.7%
Muslims
Slovenes
7.8%
Albanians
8.9%
19.8%
Macedonians
"Yugoslavs"
Montenegrins
Hungarians
Components of document analysis may include the following:
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Audience: students of the Balkans and its people
Purpose: to illustrate the ethnic diversity of Yugoslavia prior to the fall of communism
Historical context: The population of Yugoslavia was extremely segmented and diverse long
before the fall of communism, leading to the explosion of ethnic tensions that erupted in the
aftermath of the end of communism and disrupted the region throughout the 1990s.
Author’s point of view: N/A
Analysis of outside examples to support thesis/argument
Possible examples of information not found in the documents that could be used to support the stated
thesis or a relevant argument could include the following:


The tensions and strife in the former Yugoslavia are a product of the resentment of minorities
who were alienated by decades of Serb domination of the country.
o The conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina was a result primarily of Serbs attempting to
maintain control of an area in which Croat and Muslim minorities sought to establish
their independence.
o The conflict in Kosovo was a result of large Albanian minorities attempting to free
themselves from Serb domination.
Factors specific to Yugoslavia caused it to fall into turmoil while other eastern European
countries avoided the same fate.
o The variety and numbers of ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia increased the
likelihood of tensions and conflict.
AP European History DBQ ANSWERS Period 4
o

The fact that no single group was a true majority in the country prevented any group from
dominating the region following the demise of communism.
o Other countries, such as Slovakia, Hungary, or Poland had fewer and less populous
minority groups which prevented such a conflagration in the wake of the collapse of
communist regimes.
Recent tensions in eastern Europe shows that the factors that tore Yugoslavia apart can erupt in
other locations.
o Tensions between ethnic Russians and the majority groups of former Soviet republics
continue to be a source of conflict in the modern age, such as in Ukraine.
Contextualization
Students can earn a point for contextualization by accurately and explicitly connecting historical
phenomena relevant to the argument to broader historical events and/or processes. These historical
phenomena may include, but are not limited to, the following:


The tensions in the Balkans are the same ethnic tensions that contributed to the start of World
War I and to ethnic cleansing policies in World War II.
The conflicts in the Balkans are a modern manifestation of the nationalist tensions that have
plagued Europe for centuries.
Synthesis
Students can earn the point for synthesis by crafting a persuasive and coherent essay. This can be
accomplished by providing a conclusion that extends or modifies the analysis in the essay, by using
disparate and sometimes contradictory evidence from primary and/or secondary sources to craft a
coherent argument, or by connecting to another historical period or context. Examples could include, but
are not limited to, the following:

The conflicts in the former Yugoslavia parallel other modern conflicts over changes in politics
and economics such as were seen with the rise of communism throughout Eastern Europe earlier
in the twentieth century. Thus, it is fitting that it was also the fall of communism that allowed
such ethnic tensions to reignite.