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Allies
Allies, formerly known as The Triple Entente, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. -
Central Powers
Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the Ottoman Empire, were known as the Central Powers. -
1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
In June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austrian throne, was visiting the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. As the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie. Princip was a member of the Black Hand, an organization promoting Serbian nationalism. -
Shlieffen Plan
On August 3rd 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, following a strategy called the Shlieffen 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. -
Bolshevik Revolution
At first, the Russians surprised the Germans by mobilizing rapidly. Throughout 1915, the Russians endured defeats and continued to retreat. By the end of 1915 they had suffered about 2.5 million casualties. In November, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky, overthrew the provisional government. They set up a Communist state and sought peace with the Central Powers. -
Sinking of British liner Lusitania
One of the worst disasters of the German sea blockade, was the sinking of the British liner Lusitania. 1,198 people were lost/killed, 128 of those 1,198 were Americans. The German's excuse was that the liner contained ammunition. -
Sinking of British liner Arabic
In August 1915, a U-boat sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. -
Sinking of French passenger liner Sussex
The Germans promised the Americans that they wouldn't sink anymore ships after the liner Arabic but in March 1916, thye broke their promise and sank a french ship, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, and about 80 passengers, including Americans, were killed or injured. Once again the United States warned that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics. Germany agreed again. -
Germany blockades the North Sea
Germany responded to the british blockade by a counter blockade in which they would sink british ships using Submarines. Germany sank one of the boats and of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans. 3 months later, they sunk another boat an two more american lives were lost. America told Germany to stop and they promised they wouldn't sink anymore boats. But in March 1916 Germany broke its promise. They sank the Sussex. 80 passengers including americans were killed and injured. -
Battle of Somme
The first battle of Somme was on July 1st 1916, and it lasted until mid-November. On the first day, the british suffered 60000 casualties. The total casualties of the whole battle was 1.2 million. -
Trench Warfare
The Trench Warfare was a trench in which armies fought for mere yards of ground. -
Wilson's "Peace without victory speech"
In a speech before the Senate in January 1917, the president called for “a peace without victory. . . . a peace between equals,” in which neither side would impose harsh terms on the other. Wilson hoped that all nations would join in a “league for peace” that would work to extend democracy, maintain freedom of the seas, and reduce armaments. -
Zimmerman note
Zimmermann note was 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.” -
Second battle of the Marne
When Russia pulled out of the war in 1917, the Germans shifted their armies from
the eastern front to the western front in France. In July and
August, they helped win the Second Battle of the Marne. The tide had turned
against the Central Powers. In September, U.S. soldiers began to mount offensives
against the Germans at Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne area -
anti-german sentiment in America
The main targets of these attacks were
Americans who had emigrated from other nations, especially those from
Germany and Austria-Hungary. The most bitter attacks were directed against the
nearly 2 million Americans who had been born in Germany, but other foreignborn
persons and Americans of German descent suffered as well -
Selective Service Act of 1917
The Selective Service Act was passed in May of 1917 by the congress to meet the government's need of more. The act required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service. By the end of 1918, 24 million men had registered under the act. -
369th infantry regiment
The all-black 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front lines than any other American regiment. Two soldiers of the 369th, Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, were the first Americans to receive France’s highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre—the “cross of war.” -
espionage and sedition acts
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, profane,
or abusive about the government or the war effort. -
Emma Goldman
The anarchist Emma Goldman received a
two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine for organizing the No
Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to
Russia -
Big Bill Haywood and the IWW
“Big Bill” Haywood and other leaders of the Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW) were accused of sabotaging the war effort because they
urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher pay. Haywood
was sentenced to a long prison term. (He later skipped bail and fled to
Russia.) Under such federal pressure, the IWW faded away. -
convoy system
The convoy system was a system in where a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. -
Eugene V.Debs arrest
The Espionage and Sedition Acts targeted socialists and labor leaders.
Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten-year prison sentence for speaking out
against the war and the draft. -
American Expiditionary Force and General John J. Perishing
The AEF was led by John J. Perishing and included men from widely separated parts of the country. -
Wilson's Fourteen Points
On January 18, 1918, he
delivered his now famous Fourteen Points speech before
Congress. -
Establishment of the German Republic
The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France (the "Western Zones"). -
Food Administration
FOOD ADMINISTRATION To
help produce and conserve food,
Wilson set up the Food Administration
under Herbert Hoover.
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.” Restaurants
removed sugar bowls from the
table and served bread only after
the first course -
Raising money for the war
The United States spent about $35.5 billion on the war effort.
The government raised about one-third of this amount through taxes, including
a progressive income tax (which taxed high incomes at a higher rate than low
incomes), a war-profits tax, and higher excise taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury
goods. -
Committee on Public Information and the "four minute men"
To popularize the war, the government
set up the nation’s first propaganda agency, the Committee on Public
Information (CPI). Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to
influence people’s thoughts and actions. -
Shell shock, trench foot, and trench mouth
Shell shock is a term coined during World
War I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered. Trench foot was caused by standing in cold wet trenches for too long, feet would turn red or blue, become numb. They would have to amputate. Trench mouth was a painful mouth and throat disease the soldiers would get. -
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is a person who opposes warfare
on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” -
Austria-Hungary surrenders to the Allies
Y On November 3, 1918, AustriaHungary
surrendered to the Allies. That same day, German sailors
mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly.
Everywhere in Germany, groups of soldiers and workers organized revolutionary
councils. On November 9, socialist leaders in the capital,
Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne. -
Cease-fire and armistice
There were no Allied soldiers on German territory and no truly
decisive battle had been fought, the Germans were too exhausted to continue
fighting. 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. -
National War Labour Board
To deal with disputes between management and labor, President Wilson established
the National War Labor Board in 1918. Workers who refused to obey board
decisions could lose their draft
exemptions. “Work or fight,” the
board told them. However, the
board also worked to improve factory
conditions. It pushed for an
eight-hour workday, promoted
safety inspections, and enforced
the child labor ban -
War Industries Board
The main regulatory body was the War
Industries Board (WIB). It was established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918
under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch (bE-rLkP), a prosperous businessman.
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. -
Agreements made in the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles established
nine new nations. It carved five areas out of the Ottoman Empire
and gave them to France and Great Britain as mandates, or temporary colonies.The treaty barred Germany from maintaining an army. -
Reparations and the War Guild Clause
First, the treaty humiliated Germany. It contained a war-guilt clause
forcing Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting World War I. Although
German militarism had played a major role in igniting the war, other European
nations had been guilty of provoking diplomatic crises before the war.
Furthermore, there was no way Germany could pay the huge financial
reparations. Germany was stripped of its colonial possessions in the Pacific, which
might have helped pay reparations bill. -
Victor Burger
