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Allies
The Allies consisted of Britain, France and Russia and was one of the two major defense alliances in Europe. They were formerly known as the Triple Entente. -
Central Powers
The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. 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. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
When Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand drove through the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie. Princip, part of the Black Hand, the organization promoting Serbian nationalism caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia on July 28. -
Schlieffen Plan
This was Germany's plan for invading Belgium. 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. As German
troops swept across Belgium, thousands of civilians fled in
terror. -
Germany blockades the North Sea
Britain blockaded the German coast to prevent weapons and other military supplies from getting through. However, the British expanded the definition of contraband to include food and extended the blockade to neutral ports and mined the entire North Sea. American ships carrying goods for Germany refused to challenge the blockade and seldom reached their destination, angering the US. Germany found it increasingly difficult to import foodstuffs and fertilizers for crops, causing famine and death. -
Sinking of British Liner Lusitania
A U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans. The Germans defended their action on the grounds that the liner carried ammunition. Despite Germany’s explanation, Americans became outraged with Germany because of the loss of life. American
public opinion turned against Germany and the Central Powers. -
Sinking of British Liner Arabic
Despite this provocation, President Wilson ruled out a military response in favor of a sharp protest to Germany. Three months later, in August 1915, 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. -
Battle of 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. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million,yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands.This bloody trench warfare, in which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued for over three years. Elsewhere, the fighting was just as devastating and inconclusive. -
Trench Warfare
Military operations in which the opposing forces attack and counterattack from systems of fortified ditches rather
than on an open battlefield. Bloody trench warfare, in which armies fought for mere yards of ground. -
Sinking of French passenger liner Sussex
Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed
French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, killing or injuring 80, including Americans. Once again the United States warned that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics. Again Germany agreed, but if the United States could not persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers, Germany would consider renewing unrestricted submarine warfare. -
369th infantry regiment
Most African Americans were assigned to noncombat duties, although there were exceptions. 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.” -
Wilson's Peace without victory speech
After the election, Wilson tried to mediate between the warring alliances. The attempt failed. 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
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
The war also caused massive bread shortages in Russia.
Revolutionaries ousted the czar in March 1917 and established a provisional government. 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
To meet the government’s need for more fighting power, Congress passed the Selective Service Act. 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. Of this number, almost 3 million were called up. Most of the inductees had not attended high school, and about one in five was foreign-born. -
Convoy system
German U-boat attacks on merchant ships in the Atlantic were a serious threat to the Allied war effort .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. -
American Expeditionary Force and General John J. Pershing
The American Expeditionary Force, led by General John J. Pershing, included men from widely separated parts of the country. American infantrymen were nicknamed doughboys. Most doughboys had never ventured far from the farms or small towns where they lived. Doughboys were also shocked by the unexpected horrors of the battlefield and astonished by the new weapons and tactics of modern warfare.Under Pershing, American forces helped to stop the German advance, capturing important enemy positions. -
Shell shock, trench foot, and trench mouth
Constant bombardments and other experiences often led to battle fatigue and “shell shock,” 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 caused the toes would turn red or blue, then they would become numb, and finally they would start to rot. A painful infection of the gums and throat,called trench mouth, was also common among the soldiers. -
Second Battle of Marne
U.S. troops played a major role in throwing back German attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood. 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. -
Conscientious objector
O During the fighting in the Meuse-Argonne area, one of America’s greatest war heroes, Alvin York, became famous. A redheaded mountaineer and blacksmith from Tennessee, York sought
exemption as a conscientious objector, a person who opposes warfare on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” -
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 foreign born persons and Americans of German descent suffered as well. German music, language, and books were stopped. People even resorted to violence against German Americans, flogging them or smearing them with tar and feathers. -
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. -
Committee On Public Information and the four minute men
To popularize the war, the government set up the nation’s first propaganda agency. The head of the CPI,George 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: the draft, rationing, bond drives, victory gardens, and topics such as “Why We Are Fighting” and “The Meaning of America.” -
War industries board
It was the main regulatory body, reorganized by Bernard M. Baruch.The board encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products.The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials.Under the WIB, industrial production in the United States increased by about 20 percent. However, the WIB applied price controls only at the wholesale level, causing retail prices to almost double what they were before 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. -
Establishment of the German Republic
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. German sailors mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly. -
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. -
National War Labor 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. -
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.”Homeowners planted “victory gardens” in their yard and children spent free time planting. As a result of these and similar efforts, American food shipments to the Allies tripled. -
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. It raised the rest through public borrowing by selling “Liberty Loan” and “Victory Loan” bonds.
The government sold bonds through tens of thousands of volunteers. -
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. These laws clearly violated the spirit of the First Amendment. 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. -
Victor Berger
The House of Representatives refused to seat Victor Berger, a socialist congressman from Wisconsin, because of his antiwar views.
Columbia University fired a distinguished psychologist because he opposed the war. A colleague who supported the war thereupon resigned in protest, saying, “If we have to suppress everything we don’t like to hear, this country is resting on a pretty wobbly basis.” -
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. The next eight points dealt with boundary changes. Groups that claimed distinct ethnic identities were to form their own nation-states or decide for themselves to what nations they would belong.The fourteenth point called for the creation of an international organization to address diplomatic crises like those that had sparked the war. -
Agreements made in the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty established nine new nations and shifted the boundaries of other nations.It carved five areas out of the Ottoman Empire and gave them to France and Great Britain temporary colonies until they could self-rule.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. -
Reparations and the War Guilt Clause
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 it pay its reparations bill of $33 billion.
