World War I Terms

Alsace-Lorraine

French region lost to German states in 1871

Militarism

A glorification of the military

Francis Ferdinand

Archduke of Austria-Hungary who was assassinated in 1914.

Western Front

Trenches that stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border with France, forming the battlefield between the Allies and the Central Powers in Western Europe.

Casualty

A killed, wounded, or missing soldier.

Contraband

Weapons and other war supplies

U-boat

A German Submarine

Lusitania

English passenger ship sunk by a German U-boat, killing American civilians.

Zimmermann Note

A telegram in which the German foreign minister proposed an alliance with Mexico against the U.S.

Selective Service Act

Law that established a military draft in 1917.

Bernard Baruch

Head of the War Industries Board, which regulated businesses related to the
war effort.

CPI

Committee on Public Information, which worked to convince the public that the war was just.

Conscientious Objector

A person whose moral or religious views forbid participation in war.

Espionage Act

A 1917 law that gave postal authorities power to ban treasonable or seditious
materials from the mail.

Great Migration

The movement of more than 1.2 million African Americans from the South to northern cities between 1910 and 1920.

Convoy

A group of ships that traveled together for protection against German U-boats.

Vladimir Lenin

A radical communist leader who took over Russia in March 1917.

Fourteen Points

Wilson’s plan for lasting peace through international openness and cooperation.

Self-Determination

The right of people to choose their own form of government.

League of Nations

World organization to promote peaceful cooperation between countries.

Reparations

Payments for war damages.

“Irreconcilables”

Senate isolationists who opposed any treaty that included a League of
Nations.

“Reservationists”

Senators who opposed the Treaty of Versailles as written but were open to compromise.

Influenza

The flu virus, which caused a deadly epidemic in 1918

Inflation

Rising prices

Red Scare

A widespread fear of radicals and communists.

Palmer Raids

A series of raids, arrests, and deportations of suspected radicals, most of whom never received a trial.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Italian anarchists convicted and executed for murder despite scarce evidence against them.

Warren G. Harding

He was elected president in 1920 by promising Americans a “return to normalcy”.

Creditor Nation

A nation that lends more money than it borrows.