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Allies
Triple entente- consisted of France, Britain and russia.
Triple alliance- consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy -
Central powers
Germany and Austria-Hungary together with the Ottoman Empure-an empire of mostly middle eastern lands controlled by the turks- were later known as the central powers. -
1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
He visited the Boston capital Sarajevo. As the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip stepped out from the crowd and shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie. The assassination touched off a diplomatic crisis. -
Schlieffen 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 British liner Arabic
a U-boat sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. Again the United States protested, and this time Germany agreed not to sink any more passenger ships. But in March 1916 Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer, the Sussex. T -
Sinking of British Liner Lusitania
A U-boat sank the british liner, Lusitania. Americans became outraged with Germany Because of the loss of life. American public opinion turned against Germany and the central powers. -
trench warfare
a type of war where armies fought for mere yards of ground -
Germany blockades the North Sea
Germany responded to the British blockade with a counter blockade by U-boats. Any British or Allied ships found in the waters around Briains would be sunk British's previous blockade, caused a two fold. American ships carrying goods for Germany refused to challenge the blockade. Germany found it difficult to import foodstuffs and fertilizers for crops. A famine struck the country and an estimated 75000 Germans starved to death. -
sinking of the French passenger liner Sussex
Germany torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer. 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.
Again Germany agreed, but there was a condition: if the United States could not persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers, Germany would consider renewing unrestricted submarine warfare -
Battle of the Somme
the first battle that lasted until mid November- The British suffered 60000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million yet only seven miles of ground changed hands. -
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).
Creel persuaded the nation’s artists and advertising agencies to create thousands of paintings, posters, cartoons, and sculptures promoting the war. He recruited some 75,000 men to serve as “Four-Minute Men,” who spoke about everything relating to the war -
Wilson's "peace without victory speech"
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. -
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.” -
Bolshevik Revolution
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. -
selective service act of 1917
The act required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service. -
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.” -
Convoy system
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. -
American Expeditionary Force and General John J. Pershing
the U.S. forces, led by General John Pershing, who fought with the
Allies in Europe during World War I. -
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
Many Americans with German names lost their jobs. Orchestras refused to play the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Some towns with German names changed them. Schools stopped teaching the German language, and librarians removed books by German authors from the shelves. -
Shell shock, trench foot and trench mouth
Shell shock: a term coined during World War I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered.
Trench foot: caused by standing in cold wet trenches for long periods of time without changing into dry socks or boots. First the toes would turn red or blue, then they would become numb,
and finally they would start to rot.
Trench mouth: . A painful infection of the gums and throat -
War industries Board
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. The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials. -
Conscientious objector
a person who opposes warfare on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” -
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. -
National war Labor Board
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 Administaration
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 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. It raised the rest through public borrowing by selling “Liberty Loan” and
“Victory Loan” bonds. -
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. Their passage led to over 2,000 prosecutions for loosely defined antiwar activities; of these, over half resulted in convictions. -
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. -
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. -
Wilson's fourteen points
the points were divided into three groups. The first five points were issues that Wilson believed had to be addressed to prevent another war: no secret treaties, freedom on seas, tariffs should be lowered, arms should be reduced and Colonial policies should consider the interests of the colonial peoples. The next eight points dealt with boundary changes. The fourteenth point called for the creation of an international organization to address diplomatic crises like those
that had sparked the war. -
Austria-Hungary surrenders to the allies
On November 3, 1918, Austria-Hungary 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. -
Establishment of the German republic
socialist leaders in the capital, Berlin, established a German republic. -
Victor Berger
The House of Representatives refused to seat Victor Berger, a socialist congressman from Wisconsin, because of his antiwar views. -
Agreements made in the treaty of Versailles
established nine new nations—including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia—and shifted the boundaries of other nations. It carved five areas out of the Ottoman Empire and gave them to France and Great Britain as mandates, or temporary colonies.
Those two Allies were to administer their respective mandates until the areas were ready for self-rule and then independence. -
reparations and the war guilt clause
The treaty barred Germany from maintaining an army. It also required Germany to return the region of Alsace-Lorraine to France and to pay reparations, or war damages, amounting to $33 billion to the Allies.
forced 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.
