World War I: Causes, Warfare, and Major Battles

Vocabulary flashcards covering the underlying and immediate causes, trench warfare technologies, major battles involving Canadian forces, and the final offensives of World War I.

Militarism

The building of a country's military to make it stronger in terms of weapons, equipment, and armies, creating competition for military status.

Alliances

Groups of people, countries, or states that join together in mutually beneficial political, economic, or military agreements; intended to create certainty and stability, but resulted in distrust and suspicion.

Imperialism

The policy where powerful, industrialized nations sought to expand their power, wealth, and control around the world by acquiring colonies for raw materials and manpower.

Nationalism

Having a deep loyalty to one's own country or nation, which can manifest positively as patriotism or negatively.

Underlying causes

Pre-existing conditions or circumstances that set the stage for an event.

Immediate causes

Causes that are more directly connected to an event.

Trigger

A stimulus that starts a reaction.

The Dreadnought

A naval battleship that symbolized the naval race between Great Britain and Germany as both sought mastery of the seas.

Slavic Nationalism

The nationalist movement centered on the independent kingdom of Serbia that sought to unite Slavic peoples living within the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Black Hand

A Serbian military group that supported pan-Slavic independence.

No Man’s Land

The area between two opposing trenches filled with landmines, barbed wire, and bomb craters.

Going over the top

The act of soldiers exiting their trenches to advance across no man's land and attempt to capture the enemy's trench.

Creeping Barrage

A military tactic using heavy artillery fire over no man’s land to protect advancing troops until they reached enemy trenches.

Machine Guns

Rapid-fire weapons capable of firing 400-500 rounds per minute that served as the primary defense of trenches and rendered older tactics like cavalry charges obsolete.

Chlorine Gas

A chemical warfare agent that attacked the respiratory system and caused blindness and skin issues.

Second Battle of Ypres

An April and May 1915 battle where French and Canadian troops held the line and experienced gas warfare for the first time despite its 1899 ban.

Battle of the Somme

A disastrous offensive from July 1 to November 18, 1916, resulting in over one million casualties for Allied and Central Powers and only 8 km of mud gained.

Battle of Vimy Ridge

A battle launched at 0530 on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, where the C.E.F. successfully captured a strategically vital ridge using leapfrogging and creeping barrage tactics.

Passchendaele: Third Battle of Ypres

A July to November 1917 battle with little strategic significance fought in heavy mud and rain, where the C.E.F. reaffirmed its reputation as a superior fighting force.

Silly Bishop

Canada’s top flying ace, credited with 72 victories.

Spring Offensive

Germany's final offensive on the Western Front in the spring of 1918 that advanced to within 75 km of Paris before halting due to supply shortages and lack of fresh troops.

The Hundred Days

The final Allied offensive following the Spring Offensive, during which Canadian forces spearheaded breakthroughs, capturing territory, equipment, and prisoners while defeating one-fourth of the German army.