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Allies
The Triple Entente, later known as the Allies, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. -
Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungar (as well as the Ottoman Empire) were the central powers. -
1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Ferdinand was the heir bto the Austrian throne. During this time, he visited the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. As he was driven through the city, a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, stepped from the crowd and shot Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Princip was apart of the Black Hand, an organization promoting Serbian nationalism. -
Schlieffen Plan
Germany invaded Belgium on this day. 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 British liner Lusitania
A U-Boat (german underseaboat) sank the british boat off of the coast of Ireland. There were 1,198 people on the boat, and 128 were Americans. -
Sinking of British liner Arabic
A U-boat sank another british ship drowning two Americans. This occured three months after the sinking of Lusitania. After this, Germany promised not to sink any more ships. -
Sinking of Frenmch Passenger liner Sussex
Germany broke its promise during this time. They torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer. The Sussex sank, and about 80 passengers, including Americans, were killed or injured. -
Battle of the Somme
This battle lasted until mid-November. The British suffered
60,000 casualties on the first day. The final number of casualties totaled to about 1.2 million, but only about seven miles of ground was covered. -
Zimmermann Note
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.” Next came the sinking of four unarmed American merchant ships, with a loss of 36 lives. -
Selecitve Service Act of 1917
This act required men to register with the government in order to be selected for the military. By the end of 1918, 24 million men had registered. Of this number, almost 3 million were called up. About 2 million troops reached Europe before the truce was signed, and three-fourths of them saw actual combat. -
War Industry Board
It was established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch, 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. -
Second Battle of the Marne
This was from July to August. The Germans shifted their armies from the eastern front to the western front in France. By May they were within 50 miles of Paris. America arrived just in time to help stop Germany advance at Cantigny in France. U.S. troops played a major role in throwingback German attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood. The tide had turned against the Central Powers. -
Convoy System
By fall of 1917, 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. -
National War Labor Board
President Wilson created this board. It stated that 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 -
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. -
Espionage and Sedition Acts
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. -
Austria-Hungary Surrenders 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 -
Establishment of the German Republic
socialist leaders in the capital, Berlin, established a German republic -
Cease-Fire and Armistice
Although 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. -
Committee on Public Information
nations first propaganda committee to popularize war. Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to infuence people’s thoughts and actions. The head of the CPI was a former muckraking journalist named George Creel.
