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Allies
By 1907 there were two major defense alliances in Europe.
The Triple Entente, later known as the Allies, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Ital -
Central powers
Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the Ottoman Empire—an empire of
mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks—were later known as the
Central Powers. -
1914 assassination of archduke Franz fredinand
In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to
the Austrian throne, visited the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. As
the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nationalist
Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the
Archduke and his wife Sophie. -
THe Schlieffan plan
This plan called
for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick
drive through Belgium to Paris; after France had fallen, the
two German armies would defeat Russia. -
sinking of the british liner Lusitania
One of the worst disasters occurred on May 7, 1915, when a U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans. -
sinking of the british liner arabic
in August 1915, a U-boat sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. -
sinking of the french liner sussex
in March 1916 Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, and about 80 passengers, including Americans, were killed or injured. -
Battle of the somme
During the First Battle of the Somme—
which began on July 1, 1916, and lasted until mid-November—the British suffered
60,000 casualties the first day alone. -
Zimmermann notes
, a telegram from
the German foreign minister to the
German ambassador in Mexico that was
intercepted by British agents. The
telegram proposed an alliance between
Mexico and Germany and promised
that if war with the United States broke
out, Germany would support Mexico in
recovering “lost territory in Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona.” -
committee of public information
to popularize the war, the government set up the nation’s first propaganda agency, the Committee on Public
Information (CPI). -
selective service
To meet the government’s need for more
fighting power, Congress passed the Selective Service Act in
May 1917. The act required men to register with the government
in order to be randomly selected for military service. -
Espionage and sedition act
in June 1917 Congress passed the Espionage Act, and in May 1918 it passed the Sedition Act. Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts a person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, pro-fane, or abusive about the government or the war effort. -
second battle of the marne
In July and August, they helped win the Second Battle of the Marne. The tide had turned against the Central Powers. -
convoy system
American Vice Admiral William S. Sims convinced the
British to try the convoy system, in which a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. By fall of 1917, shipping losses had been cut in half -
war industries board
The board encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products—for instance, by making only 5 colors of typewriter ribbons instead of 150. The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials. -
national war labor board
Wages in most industries rose during the war years. Hourly wages for blue-collar workers—those in the metal trades, shipbuilding, and meatpacking, for example—rose by about 20 percent. A household’s income, however, was largely undercut by rising food prices and housing costs. -
Austria-Hungary surrender to the allies
On November 3, 1918, AustriaHungary surrendered to the Allies. -
cease fire and armistice
So at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month of 1918, Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed the armistice, or truce,
that ended the war. -
Establishment of the german republic
On November 9, socialist leaders in the capital,
Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne. -
food administration
Instead of rationing food, he called on people to follow the
“gospel of the clean plate.” He declared one day a week “meatless,” another “sweetless,” two days “wheatless,” and two other days “porkless.”
