Setting the Stage
This is the government practice of compulsory military service for all eligible men, often referred to as "The Draft."
What is Conscription?
This small nation in the Balkans was supported by Russia in its endeavor to unite all of the Slavic speaking people into one nation - something that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not prepared to allow.
What is Serbia?
Although both sides anticipated a swift victory and end to the war, it became apparent soon after the Germans invaded France that this war would not be fought in a conventional and traditional European fashion. Instead, both armies (in France and elsewhere) literally dug-in for this type of ongoing battle.
What is "Trench Warfare"?
As the ruler of Russia and member of the Romanov dynasty, this leader felt it his duty to personally direct the war effort both in terms of military strategy and command - placing him in the midst of his army's combat missions. This proved to be a severe mistake because he had no formal training as a military commander or tactician.
Who was Tsar Nicholas II?
This individual was elected President of the U.S. in 1912, and was initially committed to U.S. neutrality. He won re-election in 1916 on the campaign slogan, "He kept us out of the war." Yet when circumstances demanded U.S. involvement, he helped lead the nation in the "total war" effort and even traveled to Paris at the conclusion of the war to assist in the peace negotiations.
Who was Woodrow Wilson?
What is Militarism?
This Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was assassinated along with his wife as they rode in an open motorcade in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 by a Bosnian Serb nationalist.
Who was Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
As the war progressed and widened, the nations of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire and their armies became collectively known as this.
What were the "Central Powers"?
Born to a peasant family in Siberia, he became a self-proclaimed holy-man and mystic and gained considerable trust and influence over the family of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Tsarina Alexandra who believed that he had the power to heal their hemophiliac son. He was murdered on December 30, 1916 in a conspiracy by Russian nobles who resented his influence on governing authority.
Who was Rasputin?
This luxury British steamship was sunk off the coast of Ireland by a torpedo from a German U-boat (submarine) on May 7, 1915 killing almost 1200 passengers and crew, including more than 100 U.S. civilians. Outrage over this action tended to sway public opinion in favor of U.S. involvement in World War I.
What was the Lusitania?
It was originally composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
What was the "Triple Alliance"?
This young man was the Bosnian Serb nationalist and revolutionary who fired the fatal shots of June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo that ignited the events that led to the outbreak of World War I.
Who was Gavrilo Princip?
As the war progressed and widened, the nations of France, Russia, Great Britain, Italy and Japan (later joined by Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.) and their armies became collectively known as this.
What were the "Allied Powers"?
In March of 1917, the factory workers of this city went on a general strike which shut down all production. As crowds of protesters gathered in the streets, Tsar Nicholas II order the army to disperse them by firing live ammunition into the crowd.
What is "Petrograd"?
This secret telegram from the German Foreign Office to the government of Mexico, inviting them to join in an alliance against the U.S. in exchange for the return of territories it lost after the Mexican-American War, was intercepted by British Intelligence, decoded and given to the U.S. This was considered an act of war and led to the U.S. declaration of war against Germany.
What was the "Zimmerman Note"?
It was originally composed of Russia, France and a somewhat reluctant Great Britain.
What was the "Triple Entente"?
This German ruler pleaded with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary to delay declaring war on Serbia, but his military high commander Helmuth von Moltke contradicted his wishes and sent a telegram to the Austro-Hungarian ruler giving full support to his army's mobilization and promising Germany's cooperation and military assistance.
Who was Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany?
Although originally a part of the "Triple Alliance," this nation defected when France gave it promises of acquiring additional territories from the Ottoman Empire. Even so, this nation's army was so poorly led that it quickly proved itself to be ineffective in the war effort.
What was Italy?
He arrived back to Russia from exile in April 1917 and quickly became the leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Marxist Social Democratic Party. He would continue to lead them through the Russian Civil War and become the first leader of the Communist Party.
Who was Lenin?
Because it was several months from the U.S. declaration of war against Germany in 1917 until the deployment of U.S. forces to Europe in the spring of 1918, this military unit finally reached the Western Front of the European combat theater in the summer of 1918.
What was the AEF (American Expeditionary Force)?
This was the plan German generals had hatched (and named for the prominent German military leader who devised it) to force a quick surrender by France in the early stages of a potential war - the idea being that, with France out of the way, the German military could focus all of its efforts against Russia to the east.
What was the "Schlieffen Plan"?
Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia on July 28, 1914 immediately brought this nation and its formidable army into the war as Serbia's ally.
What is Russia?
Because the magntiude of modern warfare and weaponry took such a toll on the emotional and psychological health of the soldiers fighting at the front lines due to continuous bombardment, disorders not previously known arose was were dubbed this (now known as PTSD).
What are "combat fatigue" or "shell shock"?
After the Bolsheviks took over the Provisional Government the previous November, this separate peace agreement was signed with Germany on March 3, 1918 and Russia officially withdrew from the First World War and forfieted its territories in Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic provinces.
What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
The treaty formally ended World War I when it was signed in June 1919 at the conclusion of the Paris Peace Conference.
What was the Treaty of Versailles?