Block 1 Key Terms

Jena-Auerstadt

(1806) a crushing defeat inflicted on the Prussian Army by Napoleon’s forces, it led to the collapse of Prussian military power and the kingdom’s subjugation by the French Empire until the rise of the Sixth Coalition in 1813.

German General Staff

(est. unofficially 1806, officially 1814) originally the Prussian General Staff, it was the world’s first permanent military staff organization; as the professional brain of the German Army, it was responsible for the continuous study of warfare and the development and review of mobilization and campaign plans.

Auftragstaktik

“mission-type tactics,” a German military command philosophy emphasizing decentralized decision-making by subordinate leaders to use initiative to achieve the commander’s intent, rather than relying on detailed orders.

Franco-Prussian War

(1870–1871) although France declared war and invaded German territory first, the rapid mobilization of the Prussian-led German Confederation led to a series of decisive victories, including the capture of Napoleon III at Sedan and the Siege of Paris. The Second French Empire collapsed, France surrendered, and the German Confederation unified to form the German Empire.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

US Navy officer and historian best known for The Influence of Sea Power upon History, he championed naval professionalization and modernization. Although personally ambivalent about colonialism, his ideas became a key justification for American imperial expansion overseas.

Yellow Journalism

a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over factual accuracy to boost circulation. In the lead-up to the Spanish-American War, publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer inflamed public opinion by exaggerating Spanish atrocities in Cuba.

USS Maine

a US battleship that mysteriously exploded and sank in Havana Harbor on 15 February 1898, killing 268 sailors. Its destruction became a rallying cry—“Remember the Maine!”—for America’s war against Spain.

Spanish-American War

(1898) US intervention in the Cuban Revolution led to victory over Spain, resulting in a US protectorate over Cuba and the acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The war ended nearly four centuries of Spanish colonial presence in the Americas and the Pacific.

Battle of Manila Bay

(1 May 1898) In the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War, Commodore George Dewey’s American Asiatic Squadron destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron. One of the most decisive naval battles in history, it marked the beginning of the end of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines.

Philippine-American War

(1899-1902) After annexing the Philippines following the Spanish-American War, the US faced armed resistance from Filipino nationalists who had declared independence. By late 1899, Filipino forces shifted from conventional to guerrilla warfare. The capture of Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo on 23 March 1901 crippled the resistance, and the US declared the war officially over on 4 July 1902.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Filipino revolutionary who fought against Spanish rule in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), allied with US forces during the Spanish–American War (1898), and then led resistance against American occupation in the Philippine–American War (1899–1901). He served as the first president of the Philippines until his capture by US forces in 1901.

Russo-Japanese War

(1904-1905) fought between the Russian and Japanese empires over rival ambitions in Manchuria and Korea, the war began with a surprise Japanese attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur, followed by a successful siege. Following Japan’s victories at Mukden and Tsushima, US President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated an end to the war with the Treaty of Portsmouth, marking Japan’s rise as a global power and signaling the decline of imperial Russia.

Battle of Mukden

(20 February to 10 March 1905) fought in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War, it resulted in a Japanese victory over Russia. One of the largest land battles in history prior to the Great War, it foreshadowed the scale and brutality of industrialized warfare to come.

Battle of Tsushima

(27-28 May 1905) a decisive naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War in which the Japanese Navy, under Admiral Togo, destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Louis Bleriot

French aviator, inventor, and engineer who developed the first successful powered, piloted monoplane and made the first flight across the English Channel in 1909.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by ethnic-Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip triggered the July Crisis and ultimately led to the outbreak of the Great War.

July Crisis

(1914) a series of diplomatic and military escalations among European powers following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, culminating in Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on Serbia on 28 July and the outbreak of the Great War.

Central Powers

a coalition of nations during the Great War primarily consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria, opposed to the Allied Powers.

Allied Powers

a coalition of nations during the Great War primarily composed of Britain, France, and Russia—later joined by the United States—in opposition to the Central Powers.

Great War

(1914-1918) a global conflict between the Allies and the Central Powers, sparked by militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. Characterized by trench warfare and stalemate, it saw the development of chemical weapons, tanks, and aircraft. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated thirty million casualties, it ended with an armistice on 11 November 1918 following the Allied Hundred Days Offensive that broke the German lines.

Schlieffen Plan

(1905) plan developed by German Chief of the General Staff Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen for a rapid, decisive offensive against France by invading through neutral Belgium, bypassing the heavily defended Franco-German border. The plan aimed to quickly defeat France before turning east to confront Russia.

First Battle of the Marne

(6-12 September 1914) pivotal battle during the Great War in which Allied forces halted the German advance on Paris, ending hopes for a quick German victory.

Field Marshal Douglas Haig

commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the Great War. Nicknamed “Butcher Haig” for the high casualties under his command during battles such as the Somme and Passchendaele.

Battle of the Somme

(1 July-18 November 1916) Fought along the Somme River in France, this massive Allied offensive involved British, French, and German forces. Despite minimal territorial gains, the battle resulted in over one million casualties, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

Battle of Verdun

(February-December 1916) a major German offensive against the fortified French town of Verdun which devolved into a costly stalemate and one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Great War.

Gallipoli

(19 February 1915-9 January 1916) a failed British-led campaign, principally involving Australian and New Zealand troops, aimed at knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war by seizing the Dardanelles Strait. The operation began with an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula but devolved into a costly stalemate, ending in a full Allied withdrawal.

Arab Revolt

(10 June 1916-25 October 1918) a rebellion led by Sherif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca against the Ottoman Empire, aiming to secure Arab independence. Supported by the British, the revolt succeeded in capturing key Ottoman strongholds such as Damascus and Aleppo.

T.E. Lawrence

known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” he was a British Army intelligence officer who served as an advisor and liaison to Emir Faisal, son of Sherif Hussein, during the Arab Revolt.

Zeppelin

a rigid, lighter-than-air airship developed by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, used during the Great War for strategic bombing and reconnaissance.

Oswald Boelcke

pioneer flying ace credited with 40 aerial victories, regarded as the father of air combat. He codified early air combat tactics in the Dicta Boelcke, the first fighter tactics manual, and was one of the first two German fighter pilots awarded the Pour le Merite, or “Blue Max.”

Raoul Lufbery

French-American flying ace of the Great War credited with 17 aerial victories. He led the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of American volunteers serving in the French Air Force, and later commanded the 94th Aero Squadron after the US entered the war.

Eddie Rickenbacker

former racecar driver who became America’s top-scoring fighter ace of the Great War, credited with 26 confirmed aerial victories and awarded the Medal of Honor.

William “Billy” Mitchell

commander of all American air combat units in France during the Great War, later appointed deputy director of the Air Service. A passionate advocate for airpower, he famously demonstrated that bombers could sink battleships. His outspoken criticism of military leadership led to his court-martial for insubordination in 1925.

Battle of St Mihiel

(12-15 September 1918) the American Expeditionary Forces and 110,000 French troops under the command of Gen John J. Pershing and 1,481 aircraft led by Brig Gen Mitchell launched an assault on German positions in the St Mihiel salient near Verdun.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

(3 March 1918) peace treaty between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers that ended Russia’s participation in the Great War.

Gen John J. Pershing

Nicknamed “Black Jack,” he served as commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during the Great War. He insisted on maintaining an independent American army, resisting Allied demands to use US troops as replacement units for the British and French.

Marshal Ferdinand Foch

commanded French armies during key battles such as the First Marne and the Flanders and Artois campaigns, he became Supreme Allied Commander during the German spring offensive in March 1918. He successfully coordinated French, British and American armies to stop the German advance and launched the counteroffensive that ended the war He accepted Germany’s surrender in 1918.

Treaty of Versailles

(28 June 1919) the treaty that formally ended the Great War, it imposed harsh terms on Germany, including territorial losses, disarmament, and heavy financial reparations.