WWI ID Terms

Triple Alliance

Consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy; formed May 20, 1882 and renewed periodically until 1915; made in attempt to isolate France from gaining any allies and nulling their threat

The Balkans

A geographical region in Southeast Europe with various cultural and historical identities; dubbed the powder keg when regarding WWI; Austria-Hungary wanted to prevent nationalism and liberalism in this area to prevent the destruction of its empire; Russia saw itself as the parent nation to this region regarding Pan-Slavism

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Pushed for a more aggressive foreign policy using colonies and a strong navy to compete with Britain; actions added to the growing tensions in pre-1914 Europe; last German Emperor and King of Prussia who ruled from 1888 until his abdication at the end of World War I in 1918; policies contributed significantly to tensions leading up to World War I; fired Otto von Bismarck to take a more active role in German foreign policy

Triple Entente

Consisted of Russia, France, and Britain; partly a response to the aggressive foreign policies of Kaiser Wilhelm II

King Edward VII

King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British dominions and emperor of India from 1901; immensely popular and affable sovereign and a leader of society; main interests lay in the fields of foreign affairs and naval and military matters; reinvented royal diplomacy by numerous state visits across Europe

Franz Joseph of Austria

Served as the ruler of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, each of which had its own parliament; Emperor of Austria-Hungary from 1848 to 1916; during his long reign he took small steps to address the democratic and nationalist aspirations of his people

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I; assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia

Gavrilo Princip

Member of a terrorist organization called The Black Hand; murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife; wanted to set Bosnia free from Austria-Hungary; assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand; part of the Black Hand group

The Black Hand

Secret Serbian society formed in 1901 with an aim to unite all South Slav territories into one state; known for its role in orchestrating the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; Serbian terrorist group that planned to assassinate Franz Ferdinand; part of the Pan-Slavism nationalist movement, intending to unite all of the territories containing South Slav populations (Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenes, etc) annexed by Austria-Hungary; Serbian nationalist/terrorist group responsible for the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand which resulted in the start of World War I

The “Blank Check”

Germany agreed to fiscally support Austria-Hungary in the event of war with Serbia; seen as Germany wishing to provoke war between the two states causing WWI; promise of support from Germany to Austria-Hungary after Ferdinand's assassination; Austria-Hungary sought reprisals against Serbia

Schlieffen Plan

German war plan in First World War, developed by Prussian General; in the likely event of war with Russia, Germany would first launch a devastating offensive against France via neutral Belgium, to take France out of the war, because allied Russia and France surrounded Germany; plan to avoid Germany fighting a war on two fronts; invade France before it has time to mobilize, secure victory in 42 days so that German soldiers can invade and fight Russia before it finished mobilization

French Plan XVII

Plan based on the offensive and the “fighting spirit” or elan; failed as French morale plummeted; plan was to retake Alsace-Lorraine from Germany and then win the rest of the war through spirit

Allied Powers

Consisted of France, Russia, Britain, and later the United States and Italy; fought against the Central Powers in WWI

Central Powers

Consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria; fought against the Allied Powers in WWI

1st Battle of the Marne

A significant battle during World War I that took place in France in September 1914; marked the end of the German sweep into France and the beginning of trench warfare; Allied victory against the German Army, caused Germans to retreat, and set the stage for trench warfare

Trench Warfare

During WWI, troops began digging to protect themselves from enemy fire; became a whole new way of war; both sides would dig elaborate trenches; warfare in which the opposing forces attack & counterattack from a relatively permanent system of trenches protected by barbed wire; type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other; often leads to stalemate situations

War of Attrition

Goal was to break down the enemy; military strategy in which one side tries to wear down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and material; battles in which armies attempt to continually wear down the enemy

Eastern Front

In WWI, the region along the German-Russian Border where Russians and Serbs battled Germans, Austrians, and Turks; battle line between the Central Powers and Russia during World War I; stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south; the largest and deadliest military operation in history; included Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, and other areas

Paul Von Hindenburg

President of the Weimar Republic of Germany who appointed Hitler Chancellor in 1933; German military officer who served as President of Germany during most of the Weimar Republic; appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in 1933

The Lusitania

Cruise ship that was sunk by the German army because it was thought that weapons were being transported on it; the sinking of this ship led to the US joining WWI; British ship sunk by a German submarine in May 1915, killing over 1,200 civilians, including Americans

Unrestricted submarine warfare

German response to British Naval Blockade, involved sinking all ships with its U-boats; most important reason for U.S. entry into the war; Using U-boats, the German Navy was able to effectively limit British shipping capacity; a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules

Winston Churchill

Greatest wartime leader; rallied the British with speeches, infectious poise, and bulldog willpower; led British during World War II

The Sussex Pledge

A promise given by the German Government, to the then neutral United States, not to sink any more passenger ships and that Merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of weapons had been established and provisions made for the safety of passengers and crew; said that the Germans would not attack merchant ships and would give those on merchants ships passage off if the ship was searched and found to contain war materials; aimed to give the US government an assurance that merchant ships would not be attacked

Propaganda

a form of communication that is aimed towards influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument; biased or misleading information used to promote a specific point of view or influence public opinion; aims to persuade people towards certain beliefs or actions

Zimmerman Note

sent on January 1917 from the German Foreign Office to Heinrich von Eckardt, the German ambassador to Mexico; intended use was to make sure that Germany was victorious in Europe by keeping America out of World War I; a coded message sent to Mexico, proposing a military alliance against the United States; the obvious threats to the United States contained in the telegram inflamed American public opinion against Germany and helped convince Congress to declare war against Germany in 1917; Germany offered Mexico USA territory if they joined Germany's side in the war, brought USA into war; a secret diplomatic communication issued by the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico if the United States entered World War I against Germany

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

A peace treaty signed in 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers during World War I; ended Russia's involvement in the war but required them to give up significant territory and resources; treaty in which Russia lost substantial territory to the Germans; ended Russian participation in the war; signed agreement between Russia and the Central Powers when Russia withdrew from the War; Russia surrendered Poland, the Ukraine and other territory to Germany in order to exit the war

14 Points

The war aims outlined by President Wilson in 1918, which he believed would promote lasting peace; called for self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, end to secret agreements, reduction of arms and a league of nations; a statement given by President Woodrow Wilson declaring that World War I was being fought for a moral cause and proposing specific principles for peace in Europe; primarily supported the idea of lasting peace; focused on: trade equality, ending of secret treaties, and alliances, freedom of the seas, and the establishment of the League of Nations

Woodrow Wilson

President of the United States and the leading figure at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919; was unable to persuade the U.S. Congress to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations; led America through World War I and proposed his Fourteen Points plan as a basis for peace negotiations after the war

Paris Peace Conference

A meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set peace terms for the defeated Central Powers; took place in Paris during 1919 and its most important outcome was the Treaty of Versailles; led to the creation of the League of Nations and a major redrawing of Europe's map

War Guilt Clause (Article 231)

part of the Treaty of Versailles and stated that Germany and Austria were responsible for starting World War I and had to pay reparations; a provision in the Treaty of Versailles that held Germany responsible for starting World War I and required them to accept full blame for the conflict

Treaty of Versailles

signed on June 28, 1919, ending World War I; imposed harsh terms on Germany; had the unintended consequence of creating political and economic upheavals that led to the rise of dictatorships; an unstable peace would last only two decades

Italia Irredenta

meaning "unredeemed Italy"; Italian-speaking areas that had been left under Austrian rule at the time of the unification of Italy; about the regions where Italians were numerous, or the lands that were waiting for their turn to be incorporated in the Kingdom of Italy; means the demand, on nationalistic grounds, for annexation of regions beyond one's own frontiers; Austrian and Balkan territory, and some German colonies and Turkish territories

League of Nations

An organization of nations formed after World War I to promote cooperation and peace; Germany and Russia were not included; U.S. Senate failed to ratify, resulting in U.S. isolationism; born as a mere shadow of what it had originally been intended to achieve; an international organization created by the Treaty of Versailles to provide a permanent forum for international cooperation and peace; suffered early blows to its credibility with the United States refusing to join and Germany not being allowed to join for several years

All Quiet on the Western Front

a novel written by Erich Maria Remarque illustrating the horrors of World War I and the experiences of veterans and soldiers; extremely popular, but also caused a lot of political controversy when it was first published, and was banned in Germany in the 1930s; best seller by Erich Maria Remarque that helped defuse wartime hatred by showing life shared by soldiers on all sides; offers a gripping and realistic portrayal of World War I from the perspective of a young German soldier; it portrays the brutalities and dehumanizing effects of war