| Word or Person |
Definition |
| nationalism | Pride in one's nation, fueled the tension. In 1870s, European nationalists demanded freedom and self-government. They believed that people with a common language and culture should throw off foreign rule and form their own countries. |
| militarism | The policy of building up strong armed forces to prepare for war. |
| Triple Alliance | Made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy |
| Triple Entente | France, Russia and Britain |
| Franz Ferdinand | Heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. He was assasinated and this sparked WWI. |
| mobilize | To prepare for war. |
| kaiser | German emperor |
| stalemate | A deadlock in which neither side is strong enough to defeat the other. |
| trench warfare | Soldiers spent all day after day shelling the enemy. It only happened in WWI and it was fought in trenches. |
| propaganda | The spreading ideas that help a cause or hurt an opposing cause. |
| U-boat | A Fleet of German submarines. These boats attacked any ship that entered or left British ports. |
| World War 1 | Caused by the singing of the Lusitania and the assassination of archduke. |
| Central Powers | Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman or Turkish Empire. |
| Allied Powers | France, Britain, and Russia |
| Lusitania | Torpedoed by a German submarine on May 7, 1915 |
| warmonger | A person who tries to stir up war. |
| czar | Russian emperors who had ruled with absolute power |
| Zimmermann telegram | Instructed the minister to urge Mexico to attack the United States if the United Sates declared war on Germany. |
| draft | A law requiring people of a certain age to serve in the military. |
| illiterate | Unable to read or write |
| Jeannette Rankin | The first woman elected to Congress (from Montana) |
| Selective Service Act | Passed on May 18th; Required all young men from age 21 to 30 to register for the military draft. |
| Herbert Hoover | He headed the Food Adminstration. His job was to boost food production. |
| Liberty Bonds | By buying these, American citizens were lending money to the goverment to pay for the war. |
| bureaucracy | is a system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials |
| pacifists | people who refuse the fight in any war because they believe war is evil |
| socialist | believes that the people as a whole rather than private individuals should own all property and share the profits from all businesses. They argued that the war benefited factory owners but not workers. |
| armistice | agreement to stop fighting |
| abdicate | to give up power |
| epidemic | rapid spread of a contagious disease among large numbers of people |
| Bolsheviks | In November 1917, this group seized power from the Provisional Government. |
| V.I. Lenin | under his rule, the Bolsheviks wanted to bring a communist revolution to Russia. He embraced the ideas of Karl Marx. He opposed the war, arguing that it benefited only the ruling class. |
| Treaty of Brest-Litovsk | signed by Germany and Russia in March 1918. |
| John J. Pershing | General who commanded the American Expeditionary Force. Led American troops into Mexico in 1916 to hunt for Mexican rebel leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa. |
| Harlem Hell Fighters | Among the first American units attached to the French Army. This African American Unit was the 369th United States Infantry. |
| Battle of Belleau Wood | Raged for three weeks. On June 25, General Harbord passed along the good news: "Wood now exclusively U.S. Marine Corps." |
| Ferdinand Foch | French Marshal and commander of Allied forces who ordered attacks along a line from Verdun to the North Sea. |
| self-determination | The right of national groups to their own territory and forms of government. |
| reparation | cash payments, for losses they had suffered during the war. |
| isolationist | people who wanted the United States to stay out of world affairs and opposed the League of Nations. |
| Fourteen Points | Wilsons peace plan made in January 1918. Was meant to prevent international problems from causing another war. |
| League of Nations | A "general association of nations". Called for by the fourteenth point. Its job was to protect the independence of all countries-large or small. Goal was justice for all people and nationalities, equal terms of liberty and safety. |
| Big Four | Key issues were decided by them: Woodrow Wilson of the United States, David Llyod George of Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Vittorio Orlando of Italy. |
| Treaty of Versailles | Was ready by June of 1919. Under this treaty, Germany had to take full blame for the war. It had to pay the Allies huge reparations, uncluding the cost of pensions for Allied soldiers or their widows and children. Other provisions weakened Germany. |
| Henry Cabot Lodge | A Republican from Massachusetts. Was chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He accepted the idea of the League of Nations. |
