USH - Unit 9: Growth of the US into a World Power

Alfred Mahan

Urged government officials to build up the American navy so to compete with other nations

Dollar Diplomacy

the use of a country's financial power to extend its international influence.

Great White Fleet

16 American battleships, painted white, sent around the world to display American naval power

imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Panama Canal

Ship canal cut across the isthmus of Panama by United States

Roosevelt Corollary

Addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting America's right to intervene in Latin American affairs

Spanish-American War

a conflict between the United States and Spain, in which the U.S. supported the Cubans' fight for independence

USS Maine

American battleship that exploded and led to the Spanish American war

Yellow Journalism

type of sensational, biased, and often false reporting for the sake of attracting readers

American Expeditionary Force

US military forces in Europe during World War I

Allied Powers (WWI)

Britain, France, Russia, and the United States

Central Powers (Triple Alliance)

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire

John J. Pershing

Commander of American Expeditionary Force of over 1 million troops who insisted his soldiers fight as independent units so US would have independent role in shaping the peace

Lusitania

British boat that was sunk by the German U-boats; made America consider entering WWI

Zimmerman Note

Message proposing an alliance between Germany and Mexico, made America consider entering WWI

Eddie Rickenbacker

Famous "ace" pilot who downed 26 enemy fighters in WWI

Espionage & Sedition Acts

Two laws enacted to impose harsh penalties on anyone interfering with or speaking against U.S participation in WW1

Alvin York

killed 25 machine-gunners and captured 132 German soldiers when his soldiers took cover; won Congressional Medal of Honor

Spanish Flu

Pandemic that spread around the world in 1918, killing more than 50 million people

Treaty of Versailles

the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans

League of Nations

An organization of nations formed after World War I to promote cooperation and peace.

Wilson's Fourteen Points

President Wilson's Peace proposal in 1918 stressed national self-determination, the rights of the small countries, freedom of the seas, and free trade.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's military plan at the outbreak of World War I, according to which German troops would rapidly defeat France and then move east to attack Russia.

No Man's Land

A strip of land beween the trenches of opposing armies along the Western Front during WW1

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

the use of submarines to sink without warning any ship (including neutral ships and unarmed passenger liners) found in an enemy's waters.

Doughboys

nickname for American troops in Europe

Armistice

An agreement to stop fighting

Harlem Hell Fighters

African American infantry unit that fought with the French Army in World War I

War Industries Board

US agency established during WWI to increase efficiency & discourage waste in war-related industries.

Propaganda

Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause.

Reparations

payment for damages after a war

Selective Service Act

act passed by Congress in 1917 authorizing a draft of men for military service

Total War

the channeling of a nation's entire resources into a war effort

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, started World War I.

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism

MAIN causes of WWI