WWI Alliances
There was the Central Powers. They had Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the
Ottoman Empire. The other guys, or the Allies, were the U.K., France, Russia, the U.S.,
and all of the European colonies in Africa. The Allies had allies like Portugal, Italy,
Greece, Rumania, Serbia, and Libya too.
Armistice
agreement to stop fighting
Black Hand
Serbian nationalist/terrorist group responsible for the assassination of Austrian
Archduke Franz Ferdinand which resulted in the start of World War I.
Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire
Conscription
a military draft
Gavrilo Princip
The assassin of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria, a member of the Black Hand
Imperialism
A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries poitically, socially,
and economically.
League of Nations
International organization founded in 1919 to promote world peace and cooperation but
greatly weakened by the refusal of the United States to join. It proved ineffectual in
stopping aggression by Italy, Japan, and Germany in the 1930s.
Militarism
a political orientation of a people or a government to maintain a strong military force and
to be prepared to use it aggresively to defend or promote national interests
Mustafa Kemal
Turkish statesman who abolished the caliphate and founded Turkey as a modern
secular state (1881-1938)
Nationalism
Political ideology that stresses people's membership in a nation-a community defined by
a common culture and history as well as by territory. In the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, nationalism was a force for unity in western Europe
No Man's Land
A strip of land beween the trenches of opposing armies along the Western Front during
WW1
Pan-Slavism
It was a movement aimed to unite and promote independence of Slavic people. Its
focus was in the Balkans where South Slavs were ruled by other territories, such as the
Ottoman Empire.
Powder Keg
Europe, called this because one spark could cause the whole continent to errupt into
warfare.
Propaganda
, ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause
Ration
restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity, as during war
Reparations
As part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was ordered to pay fines to the Allies to
repay the costs of the war. Opposed by the U.S., it quickly lead to a severe depression
in Germany.
Schleiffen Plan
plan by Germany to take France quickly before Russia could mobilize by violating
Belgian neutrality; made Britain enter the war
Self- Determination
Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.
Stalemate
a situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
treaty in which Russia lost substantial territory to the Germans. This ended Russian
participation in the war. (WWI)
Treaty of Versailles
the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War
I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans
U-Boats
German submarine, taken from the German 'Unterseeboat'
Vladimir Lenin
Founder of the Russian (Bolshevik) Communist Party, this man led the November
Revolution in 1917 which established a revolutionary soviet government based on a
union of workers, peasants, and soldiers.
War or Attrition
a war based on wearing the other side down by constant attacks and heavy losses
Woodrow Wilson
After World War I, this United States president sought to reduce the risk of war by
writing the Fourteen Points that influenced the creation of the League of Nations.
Zeppelins
airships; used by Germans to bomb Allied cities
Zimmerman Note
Written by Arthur Zimmerman, a german foreign secretary. In this note he had secretly
proposed a German- Mexican alliance. He tempted Mexico with the ideas of recovering
Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The note was intercepted on March 1, 1917 by the
U.S. government. This was a major factor that led us into WWI.
Antisemitism
prejudice against Jews
Blackshirts
Members of Italian fascists before WWII. It was led by Mussolini. Helped solidify
Mussolini's control
Bolshevik Revolution