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What are the three time-layers of causes in the war framework?
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All Flashcards in Topic 11.1
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11.1.112 cards
What are the three time-layers of causes in the war framework?
Long-term (underlying) causes, short-term causes, and the catalyst (spark) that triggers the war.
Define a long-term (underlying) cause of war.
A deep pressure — rivalry, religious hatred, economic need — that builds over decades and makes war likely, but doesn't fix the exact timing.
Define the catalyst (spark) of a war.
The single triggering event that turns tension into fighting, such as the 1618 Defenestration of Prague.
What launched the Reformation, and when?
Martin Luther's challenge to the Catholic Church in 1517, which split Western Christianity into Catholics and Protestants.
What is the Counter-Reformation?
The Catholic revival and fightback against Protestantism during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Name the great dynastic rivalry that dominated Early Modern Europe.
The Habsburgs (Spain and Austria) versus the French Bourbon and Valois kings.
How did the Sunni–Shia divide cause war?
It shaped conflict in the Islamic world, above all the long wars between the Sunni Ottoman Empire and the Shia Safavid Empire of Persia.
Give three economic or territorial causes of Early Modern wars.
Control of trade routes and resources, seizing strategic frontiers and fortified borderlands, and dynastic states seeking territorial expansion.
What does 'absolutist' mean?
A system where the monarch holds near-total, centralised power, as under Louis XIV of France.
What is gloire, and why did it cause wars?
The glory and prestige a ruler won through success; monarchs like Louis XIV went to war to boost their reputation.
How did individuals and alliances widen wars?
Ambitious rulers and ministers made bold choices, and shifting coalitions dragged outside powers in, turning local disputes into multi-state wars.
Contrast dynastic and religious causes of war.
Dynastic causes are about which family should rule (rival claims, marriages); religious causes are about which faith should win (Catholic–Protestant, Sunni–Shia). They often overlapped.
11.1.212 cards
When was the Thirty Years' War?
1618–1648, mostly fought within the Holy Roman Empire but drawing in much of Europe.
What was 'cuius regio, eius religio'?
'Whose realm, his religion' — the Peace of Augsburg rule (1555) letting each prince choose his land's faith.
Why was the Peace of Augsburg (1555) unstable?
It recognised only Catholics and Lutherans and excluded the growing Calvinists, who were left angry and unprotected.
Who was Ferdinand II and what did he want?
The Habsburg emperor who wanted to reassert Catholic and imperial authority over the semi-independent German princes.
What was the Defenestration of Prague (1618)?
Bohemian Protestant nobles threw Ferdinand's Catholic officials from a castle window, triggering the revolt and the war.
Why did the Bohemians revolt in 1618?
They rejected the Catholic Ferdinand II as their King of Bohemia and refused to accept his rule.
In what order did foreign powers join the war?
Bohemia (1618), then Denmark (1625), then Sweden (1630), then France (1635).
Who was Gustavus Adolphus?
The Protestant king of Sweden who invaded in 1630, won major victories, and was killed in battle in 1632.
Why did Catholic France fight the Catholic Habsburgs?
Dynastic rivalry — France (Bourbon) feared Habsburg 'encirclement' and wanted to break their power.
Habsburg vs Bourbon — who ruled what?
Habsburgs ruled Austria and Spain; Bourbons ruled France. Their rivalry widened the war.
Long-term vs short-term causes of the war?
Long-term: religious instability, Ferdinand's ambition, dynastic rivalry, economic motives. Short-term: the 1618 Bohemian revolt.
How did a local revolt become a European war?
Religion, dynastic ambition and foreign intervention pulled in Denmark, Sweden and France, spreading the fighting across the continent.
11.1.312 cards
Which two empires fought the Ottoman–Safavid Wars, and what dates?
The Sunni Ottoman Empire and the Shia Safavid Empire (Persia), fighting recurring wars from 1514 to 1639.
What was the religious cause of the wars?
The Sunni–Shia divide: Sunni Ottomans and Shia Safavids saw each other as heretics, and Safavid propaganda spread Shia loyalty among Ottoman subjects.
Who were the Qizilbash?
Turkmen tribes loyal to the Safavid shah, whose name means 'red-heads' after their red caps; a feared pro-Safavid group inside Ottoman lands.
What was the dynastic cause of the wars?
Sultan Selim I and Shah Ismail I both claimed to be the rightful leader of the whole Islamic world, making it a personal contest for supremacy.
Which lands were fought over (territorial cause)?
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and above all the frontier city of Baghdad.
What was the economic cause of the wars?
Rivalry over the lucrative east–west trade routes — especially the Persian silk trade — passing through the contested borderlands.
What was the immediate trigger of the wars?
The Battle of Chaldiran (1514), where Ottoman firearms and cannon defeated the traditional Safavid cavalry charge.
Why did the Ottomans win at Chaldiran?
They used gunpowder weapons — muskets and artillery — while the Safavids relied on their Qizilbash cavalry charge.
Who was Shah Ismail I?
The founder of the Safavid Empire in 1501, who made Shia Islam the state religion and was defeated by Selim I at Chaldiran.
What treaty ended the wars, and when?
The Treaty of Zuhab (also called Qasr-e Shirin) in 1639, which fixed the Ottoman–Safavid border.
What was the long-term character of the conflict?
Recurring frontier warfare for over a century, with Baghdad and Caucasus fortresses changing hands until the border was fixed in 1639.
How should you structure a Paper 2 essay on these causes?
Separate long-term causes (religion, dynasty, territory, trade) from the short-term trigger (Chaldiran, 1514), link them together, and reach a judgement.
11.1.412 cards
What are the three motives historians use to summarise Spanish conquest?
God, gold, and glory — religious mission, wealth, and personal fame.
Who led the Spanish invasion of the Aztec Empire, and when?
Hernán Cortés, 1519–1521.
Who led the Spanish invasion of the Inca Empire, and when?
Francisco Pizarro, from 1532 (fighting continued to 1572).
What was the Requerimiento?
A legal/religious document read to indigenous peoples demanding they accept Spanish rule and Christianity, or face war.
Why did the Tlaxcalans ally with Cortés?
They resented paying tribute to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, and saw Cortés as a way to break free of Aztec rule.
What was the Inca succession war, and who fought it?
A civil war between Huascar and Atahualpa over the Inca throne, fought just before Pizarro's arrival; Atahualpa had just won it.
Where and when was Atahualpa captured?
At Cajamarca, in 1532, by Pizarro's forces.
Why was capturing the emperor such an effective trigger in both conquests?
Both empires were centred on a single ruler with near-total authority, so removing him caused political collapse and chaos.
What economic prize funded the Spanish empire for two centuries after the conquests?
Silver, especially from the Potosí mines in the Andes.
Compare the Aztec and Inca causes of collapse.
Aztec: subject-people tribute resentment (Tlaxcalans) exploited by Cortés. Inca: a succession war (Huascar vs Atahualpa) left the empire divided before Pizarro arrived.
How does this case study fit the long-term/short-term/spark framework?
Long-term: religious mission and hunger for gold. Short-term: political division inside each empire. Spark: capture of the emperor (Moctezuma II, 1519; Atahualpa, 1532).
In an exam answer using two regions, how should you open when using this case study?
Name both wars and regions cleanly in the opening line, e.g. the Thirty Years' War (Europe) and the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires (Americas).
Topic 11.1 study notes
Full notes & explanations for Causes of conflicts
History exam skills
Paper structures, command terms & tips
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