World War I

WWI allies

Main Allied powers included Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States.

WWI Central Powers

Main Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

Lusitania

British passenger ship sunk by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans were among those killed, increasing tensions between Germany and the United States.

Liberty Bonds

Government bonds sold to Americans to help the government raise money to finance World War I.

Schenck v. United States

1919 Supreme Court case that upheld wartime restrictions on speech and established the "clear and present danger" standard.

Spanish Flu

Worldwide influenza pandemic beginning in 1918 that caused millions of deaths around the world.

Paris Peace Conference

Meeting after World War I where the victorious Allied powers negotiated the peace settlement.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson's plan for peace after World War I, including ideas such as self-determination and an international organization to maintain peace.

League of Nations

International organization created after WWI to prevent future wars and settle disputes between countries. The United States never joined.

Eugenics / Race Science

Belief that human populations could be improved through selective breeding based on supposedly desirable or undesirable traits.

Scopes Monkey Trial

1925 trial of teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution in Tennessee. It became a major conflict between religious fundamentalism and modern science/civil liberties.

Margaret Sanger

Birth-control activist who promoted contraception and women's control over reproduction.