A political orientation of a people or a government to maintain a strong military force and to be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests
Militarism
A form of warfare in which opposing armies fight each other from trenches dug in the battlefield.
Trench Warfare
German submarines used in World War I
U-boats
Heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, started World War I.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Created by the leaders victorious allies Nations and 1)stripped Germany of all Army, Navy, Airforce. 2) Germany had to repair war damages 3) Germany had to acknowledge guilt for causing WWI 4) Germany could not manufacture any weapons.
Treaty of Versailles
A line of trenches and fortifications in World War I that stretched without a break from Switzerland to the North Sea. The scene of most of the fighting between Germany, on the one hand, and France and Britain, on the other.
Western Front
When two or more nations agree to protect each other or attack a common enemy
Alliances
Territory between rival Trenches, very dangerous
No Man's Land
Long, slender airships similar to modern blimps used by Germany to drop bombs
Zeppelins
The American President during World War I. After the war, he sought to reduce the risk of a new war by writing the Fourteen Points that influenced the creation of the League of Nations.
Woodrow Wilson
Clause in the Treaty of Versailles that blamed Germany for starting World War I
War Guilt Clause
In WWI, the region along the German-Russian Border where Russians and Serbs battled Germans, Austrians, and Turks.
Eastern Front
A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically through diplomacy or military force.
Imperialism
Warfare that relies on machines powered by gasoline and diesel engines. Heralded by inventions such as tank and the airplane.
Mechanized Warfare
These new mechanized weapons used during WWI increased loss of life from previous wars.
Machine guns
The most decorated United States combat pilot in World War I
Eddie Rickenbacker
An international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations; suggested in Wilson's Fourteen Points. The US did not join.
League of Nations
A battle fought between French and German armies from February to December 1916; more than 700,000 people died - one of the most costly battles of the WWI.
Battle of Verdun
A sense of national pride to such an extent of exalting one nation above all others.
Nationalism
Cut off an area by means of troops or warships to stop supplies or people from coming in or going out; to close off a country's ports
Blockade
Heavy armored vehicle which could travel over barbed wire and across enemy trenches
Tanks
Britain's prime minister at the end of World War I whose goal was to make the Germans pay for the other countries' staggering war losses
David Lloyd George
Woodrow Wilson's peace plan: included: self-determination, no imperialism, free trade, no secret pacts, freedom of the seas, arms reduction, the creation of world organization/League of Nations.
14 Points
In 1917 Germany sent this to Mexico instructing an ambassador to convince Mexico to go to war with the U.S. It was intercepted and caused the U.S. to mobilized against Germany, which had proven it was hostile
Zimmerman Note
In World War I the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary and other nations allied with them in opposing the Allies.
Central Powers
merchant ships sail in groups protected by an armed naval escort. The system was used to combat threat of unrestricted submarine warfare
Convoy System
A toxic war gas with sulfide based compounds that raises blisters and attacks the eyes and lungs
Mustard Gas
French prime minister in last years of WWI and during Versailles Conference of 1919. Pushed for heavy reparations from Germans. Wanted to make Germans suffer and help break Germany up.
George Clemenceau
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.
War Reparations
A battle between German and British forces. It ended in a stalemate. the bitter three-month conflict is notable for the high number of casualties- 1.25 million men killed or wounded - and the first use of tanks in warfare.
Battle of the Somme
A military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia in the years preceding World War I.
Triple Entente
A policy that the Germans announced on January 1917 which stated that their submarines would sink any ship in the British waters
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
Russian Czar during WWI; unpopular with Russian people; overthrown in March 1917; executed by Bolsheviks after November Revolution (1917)
Czar Nicholas II
A situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible
Stalemate
A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.
Lusitania
A war that involves the complete mobilization of resources and people, affecting the lives of all citizens in the warring countries, even those remote from the battlefields.
Propaganda
He was the Leader of Germany at the time of the First World War and reigning from 1888-1918. He pushed for a more aggressive foreign policy by means of colonies and a strong navy to compete with Britain. His actions added to the growing tensions in pre-1914 Europe.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
A strategy that was drawn up by Germany to avoid fighting a war on two fronts. The plan was to go through Belgium then German troops would rapidly defeat France and then move east to attack Russia.
Schlieffen Plan