World War I and the Russian Revolution Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary review set covering essential concepts, terms, figures, and policies of World War I and the Russian Revolution based on Topic 7 notes.

Triple Alliance

A defense agreement made in 1882 between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy promising mutual support if attacked.

Triple Entente

A partnership formed between Britain, France, and Russia that served as the primary rival to the Triple Alliance.

Militarism

The policy of glorifying military power and maintaining a standing army that is constantly prepared for war.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered World War I.

Balkan Powder Keg

A nickname for southeastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to intense ethnic tensions, political instability, and nationalist rivalries.

Blank Check

Germany's pledge of unconditional political and military support given to Austria-Hungary in July 1914 following the assassination of the archduke.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's military strategy designed to rapidly defeat France by invading through neutral Belgium before turning east to fight Russia.

Trench Warfare

A form of land warfare on the Western Front where opposing troops fought from fortified parallel ditches, leading to prolonged stalemates.

No Man's Land

The hazardous, barren territory covered in barbed wire between opposing enemy trench lines.

Lusitania

A British passenger liner torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915, killing over a thousand passengers including Americans and provoking international outrage.

Total War

A conflict requiring a state to mobilize all available societal resources, industrial capability, and population to support the war effort.

Zimmermann Telegram

A intercepted secret message from Germany proposing a military alliance with Mexico against the United States in exchange for lost American territory.

Fourteen Points

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's post-war peace proposal emphasizing free trade, open diplomacy, self-determination, and a League of Nations.

Self-Determination

The principle that a national or ethnic group has the right to determine its own political status and government.

Big Three

The dominant Allied leaders at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference: Woodrow Wilson (U.S.), David Lloyd George (Britain), and Georges Clemenceau (France).

Reparations

Mandated financial payments imposed on Germany to compensate Allied nations for damage caused during World War I.

Mandate System

A legal status under which former colonies of defeated German and Ottoman empires were placed under the administration of Allied powers.

League of Nations

An international diplomatic group established after World War I to promote international cooperation and prevent future global conflicts.

Grigory Rasputin

A Russian mystic who gained significant authority over the Russian royal family before his assassination in December 1916.

Soviets

Grassroots representative councils composed of workers and soldiers formed across Russian cities during the 1917 revolutions.

V. I. Lenin

The leader of the radical communist Bolshevik faction who spearheaded the takeover of the Russian government in November 1917.

Peace, Land, and Bread

The core political promise made by Lenin and the Bolsheviks to address popular dissatisfaction among soldiers, peasants, and workers.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

An early 1918 peace treaty between Bolshevik Russia and the Central Powers that officially withdrew Russia from WWI at the cost of substantial land.

Cheka

The Bolshevik secret police organization established to eliminate internal political opposition during the Russian Civil War.

War Communism

An emergency economic system instituted by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War featuring state control over industries, banks, and agricultural output.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

An economic reform launched by Lenin in 1921 reintroducing temporary private trade and small enterprise to stimulate recovery.

Joseph Stalin

The Communist Party official who consolidated power following Lenin's death in 1924, defeating rivals like Leon Trotsky to become dictator.

Alsace and Lorraine

Disputed border provinces lost by France to Germany in 1871 and returned to France in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles.

Comintern

An international organization created by Soviet Russia designed to promote Communist revolutions worldwide.

Command Economy

An economic system in which production goals, resource allocation, and prices are directly planned and regulated by a central state authority.

Dardanelles

A vital sea strait connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean that became the site of Allied military operations against the Ottoman Empire.

Gulag

A network of government-administered forced-labor penal camps established across the Soviet Union.

Kulak

A category of wealthier Russian peasant farm owners targeted by Soviet political policies.

Proletariat

The industrial working class that forms the foundation of Marxist socialist theory.

Conscription

A government policy mandating compulsory enrollment of citizens into military service.

Propaganda

Selective or biased information disseminated by authorities to shape public opinion and strengthen commitment to a cause.