The Spark & Causes
Extreme loyalty or devotion to the interests and culture of one’s own nation.
What is nationalism?
The barren expanse of mud and land situated between opposing sets of trenches.
What is "no man's land"?
U.S. law requiring men to register for potential random selection into military service.
What is the Selective Service Act?
The original alliance formed by France, Great Britain, and Russia.
What was the Triple Entente (or the Allies)?
Ocean liner sunk by a German submarine in 1915, killing 128 Americans and shifting U.S. opinion.
What is the Lusitania?
The aggressive development of armed forces and their active use in diplomacy.
What is militarism?
Germany's strategy to quickly defeat France before turning its full military force toward Russia.
What is the Schlieffen Plan?
Main regulatory body set up in the U.S. to oversee and manage war production.
\What is the War Industries Board (WIB)?
The wartime coalition composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.
Who were the Central Powers?
Incumbent Democratic president who won reelection in 1916 against Republican Charles Evans Hughes.
Who was Woodrow Wilson?
This European nation considered itself the official protector of all Slavic peoples.
What is Russia?
Naval tactic where destroyers escorted merchant ships across the Atlantic to defend against U-boat attacks.
What is the convoy system?
Muckraking journalist who headed the Committee on Public Information to influence public opinion.
Who was George Creel?
Mass movement of Southern Black Americans migrating to Northern cities for employment and safety.
What was the Great Migration?
Intercepted message proposing a military alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States.
What was the Zimmermann note?
This nickname was given to the Balkan Peninsula due to tense ethnic conflicts and foreign competition.
What is the "powder keg of Europe"?
American soldier who killed 25 German troops and captured 132 prisoners almost single-handedly.
Who was Alvin York?
These two pieces of U.S. legislation imposed harsh penalties and fines on antiwar speech and interference.
What are the Espionage and Sedition Acts?
British naval strategy that blocked supplies, food, and fertilizer from reaching Germany, resulting in famine.
What was the British blockade?
President Wilson stated the primary reason for asking Congress to declare war was to make the world safe for this.
What is democracy?
His assassination by a Serbian nationalist directly triggered the outbreak of World War I.
Who was Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
Two major technological innovations introduced during World War I that transformed combat.
What are tanks, airplanes, poison gas, or observation balloons?
The U.S. raised $35.5 billion for the war using these two major funding mechanisms.
What are taxes and war bonds?
Devastating global health crisis that struck near the end of the war, killing up to 30 million people worldwide.
What was the 1918 flu epidemic (Spanish flu)?
Commander who led the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) upon arrival in Europe.
Who was General John J. Pershing?